Anti-war politician and Kremlin critic Boris Nadezhdin flees Russia for France

Russian anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin announced on Monday, August 3, that he had left Russia and is now in Paris. Nadezhdin had been trying to run for parliament in September elections after previously attempting a long-shot 2024 presidential bid against Vladimir Putin, which electoral authorities blocked. In the weeks before his departure, authorities labeled him a foreign agent, briefly detained him, and fined him 1,000 rubles for displaying extremist symbols, after which he announced he was quitting his campaign. He posted a video from Paris confirming he was safe but no longer in Russia, saying he would share his future plans later.