Boris Nadezhdin, Russian opposition figure: From Putin's perspective, the only possible end to the war is Ukraine's capitulation'

"Nothing stood between Vladimir Putin and his fifth term when Boris Nadezhdin [Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 62 years old] challenged the Russian leader by running in the March 2024 presidential elections. This veteran politician, a critic of the war against Ukraine and until then a regular on Kremlin television, gathered around 250,000 signatures in just three weeks to register as an independent candidate."

"But Nadezhdin, whose surname sounds like the Russian word for hope, is not giving up and will run again in the 2026 parliamentary elections to try to bring a critical voice within his means to the subservient State Duma. From Putin's perspective, the only possible end to the war is Ukraine's capitulation, he emphasized during an interview at his home in late December, on the outskirts of the Russian capital. Capitulation means that Ukraine will be governed by political forces completely under Moscow's control."

"He was a deputy for the Union of Right Forces during Putin's first term; in the 1990s he worked as an assistant to Sergey Kiriyenko, the powerful current deputy chief of staff of the Presidential Office; and in the 2000s he was second-in-command to opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was assassinated in 2015. A long-term truce and the establishment of a lasting peace are unlikely while Putin is in power,"

Boris Nadezhdin challenged Vladimir Putin in the March 2024 presidential elections and gathered around 250,000 signatures in three weeks but was blocked when the Kremlin invalidated his signatures. Nadezhdin will run in the 2026 parliamentary elections to bring a critical voice to the State Duma. Nadezhdin criticized the war against Ukraine and described Putin's only acceptable outcome as Ukrainian capitulation and governance by Moscow-controlled political forces. Nadezhdin has a long career, including roles with the Union of Right Forces, as an assistant to Sergey Kiriyenko in the 1990s, and as second-in-command to Boris Nemtsov in the 2000s. Most Russian opposition figures are imprisoned, exiled, or dead.

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