Boris Nadezhdin, a prominent critic of the Kremlin, has submitted the documents needed to register as a candidate for Russia’s presidential elections in March.
He shot to fame with his calls to end the war, bringing out crowds of Russians across the country eager to add their signatures to his bid to get on the ballot.
He described the war as “catastrophic” in an interview with the AFP news agency, and said he wanted to “free political prisoners” in Russia.
The 60-year-old local councillor, who has promised to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, said on Wednesday that he had collected more than 100,000 signatures of support across 40 regions and submitted them and other documents to the Central Election Commission (CEC), which is technically enough to challenge President Vladimir Putin.
Election officials will next check the authenticity of the signatures submitted by Nadezhdin and other potential candidates and announce next month who will join Putin on the ballot for the March 15-17 elections.
The electoral body has in the past uncovered what it claimed were irregularities in signatures or documents collected by some candidates and disqualified them.
Putin, who will be running as an independent rather than as the candidate of the ruling United Russia party, needs 300,000 signatures but has already collected more than 3.5 million, according to his supporters.
In December, the 71-year-old incumbent announced his decision to seek to extend his rule. He is almost certain to win a fifth term as president, extending his 24-year leadership of Russia, including eight years as prime minister.
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