Russian anti-war politician Nadezhdin says he has been detained

MOSCOW, July 13 - Boris Nadezhdin, an anti-war Russian politician who attempted to run against President Vladimir Putin in the 2024 presidential election, said on Monday he had been detained by police, days after being designated a "foreign agent" by authorities.

Nadezhdin, a former liberal member of Russia's parliament from 1999 to 2003, wrote on Telegram: "The police have come", and that he was being taken to the police station in his hometown of Dolgoprudny, north of Moscow.

Russian media cited Nadezhdin's lawyer as saying that the politician had been charged with displaying an extremist symbol. It was not clear what symbol the charges concerned.

An opponent of the war in Ukraine, Nadezhdin attempted to register as a candidate in Russia's 2024 presidential election, but was blocked by the electoral commission, which cited errors among the 105,000 voter signatures he submitted.

Last Friday, Nadezhdin was designated a "foreign agent" by Russia's justice ministry, a legal category that has been widely used against critics of the Kremlin. REUTERS