Who is Putin's biggest political threat, Boris Nadezhdin?
Boris Nadezhdin has become a dilemma for the Kremlin.
The 60-year-old local legislator and academic is planning to run in the Russian presidential election on March 17.
And the liberal politician appears to be popular: Thousands of people across Russia have lined up in the bitter cold for a chance to sign petitions to support him.
The question now is whether Russian authorities will allow him on the ballot.
His policies are almost opposite to President Vladimir Putin's - he's openly calling for a halt to the conflict in Ukraine, the end of mobilising Russian men for the military and starting a dialogue with the West.
He also has criticised the country’s repression of LGBTQ+ activism.
Why would Mr Nadezhdin not be allowed to be on the ballot?
Mr Nadezhdin is running as a candidate for the Civic Initiative Party but as the party is not represented in parliament, he is not guaranteed a spot on the ballot.
He must collect over 100,000 signatures, with a limit of 2,500 from each of the country’s regions, not just the more progressive cities.
Putin, who is running as an independent candidate rather than as the candidate of the United Russia ruling party, has collected over three million signatures.
So far, Russia’s Central Election Commission has approved three candidates who were nominated by parties represented in parliament that largely support Kremlin policies: Nikolai Kharitonov of the Communist Party, Leonid Slutsky of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party and Vladislav Davankov of the New People Party.
Although there have been claims that Mr Nadezhdin secretly has the Kremlin’s approval to run and is seen as kind of a spoiler candidate, he still could be ruled ineligible.
Mr Nadezhdin told AP he believes he has been allowed to run because he is a known entity and has not specifically criticized Putin.
“I personally know Putin,” he said, adding that he met him before he became president in 2000.
Could Nadezhdin beat Putin?
It is highly unlikely he will defeat the still-popular Putin.
But his widespread support is a rare sign of protest, defiance and optimism that Russia has not seen since its troops rolled into Ukraine nearly two years ago.
Analysts say the election’s outcome is a foregone conclusion and that Putin will stay in power for another six years.
But some suggest it’s still a moment of genuine political risk for the Kremlin, as “he provides a shadow of hope,” political scientist Ekaterina Schulmann said.
“This is why Nadezhdin is such a problem,” she said in an interview.
Although Nadezhdin indicated he believes Putin’s team did not initially perceive him as a risk, he said “the Kremlin administrators are now in a difficult position.”
If he were in their shoes, he said, “I would now be thinking, ‘Why did we let him do this?’”
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