Since Saturday, despite the freezing cold, thousands of Russians have been waiting to sign their initials in support of Boris Nadejdine, who is largely unknown to the general public. One by one they enter the election headquarters, the entrance to which is marked “Push open the door to the future.” If so, it is because the former elected official, who has worked in the liberal opposition but also in pro-government movements, says he opposes the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
So far, Boris Nadezhdine, who had ties to the regime, has not been the target of the repression, which has, however, decimated Russian civil society since the mass invasion of Ukraine by Moscow troops in February 2022.
“Without fear of arrest”
Also on Sunday, during a debate on YouTube with the now exiled Russian journalist Julia Latynina, he reiterated that he was for peace and wanted to put an end to the mobilization if elected. In recent months he has announced that Russia must “elect a new president” and called the intervention in Ukraine “a fatal mistake” by Vladimir Putin.
In order to take part in the presidential election, he must first collect 100,000 voter signatures by January 31st. His website claimed to have raised nearly 85,000 as of Monday evening. His positions are an exception in Russia, where almost all opponents of the attack on Ukraine have fled the country or been imprisoned. Just like thousands of anonymous people elsewhere. The other presidential candidates are careful not to express the slightest criticism of the Russian offensive and of Putin.
In the queue of signatories, a 19-year-old biotechnology student, Ivan Semionov, says he came to support Nadejdine because he was “moved by these amazing images that were broadcast on social networks this weekend, showing so many people, how they go (on) sustain”. . “For many people it is the opportunity to express their dissatisfaction with what is happening without having to fear arrest or dismissal,” explains the young man.
” Hope “
Originally from Omsk in Western Siberia, nurse Natalia Avdeeva rushed through Moscow to the opponent's election headquarters. She was “pleasantly surprised” to see such a crowd. “We are all united here to support a candidate who is against the special operation,” said the 53-year-old, using the necessary euphemism to talk about the conflict.
As a liberal member of the Duma, the lower house of parliament, Boris Nadeydine was close to his opponent Boris Nemtsov, who was murdered in 2015, in the early 2000s. In recent years he had drawn closer to factions close to the Kremlin without completely following his line.
Vladimir Putin, who has been in power for almost a quarter of a century, is still expected to be re-elected to the Kremlin in mid-March. But hundreds of anonymous people line up in front of Nadejdine's office with enthusiasm. Some note that they are even inspired by the candidate's surname, the root of which is identical to the word “nadejda”, “hope” in Russian.