Russia election 2024: Boris Nadezhdin submits papers to stand against Vladimir Putin in presidential elections

Boris Nadezhdin has previously called for Vladimir Putin to be replaced

Veteran Russian politician Boris Nadezhdin has formally submitted his documents to stand against Russian leader Vladimir Putin as a candidate in the coming presidential election.

Mr Nadezhdin, who has spoken out against the war on Ukraine, said he understood the risks associated with standing against Mr Putin. He is only the second person to have expressed plans to do so.

This comes as jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny has finally turned up in a high security Siberian prison – three weeks after his support and legal team said they had lost contact with him.

Boris Nadezhdin speaks to journalists after submitting his documents as a presidential candidate for the upcoming presidential election in the Russia's Central Election Committee in Moscow. The Civic Initiative party, which is not represented in the Duma, is expected to back the nomination of independent candidate Nadezhdin, who is known for campaigning against Russia's actions in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

The Civic Initiative party, which is not represented in the Duma, is expected to back the nomination of independent candidate Mr Nadezhdin, who is known for campaigning against Russia's actions in Ukraine.

He has called the invasion of Ukraine “a disastrous mistake”. Under Russian laws, speaking out against the Ukraine conflict can be punishable by 15 years in prison.

Mr Nadezhdin, 60, was in the State Duma from 1999 to 2003. He was previously a municipal councillor in Moscow and was considered to be a close ally of murdered opposition politician Boris Nemtsov.

“It is a very strange election because there is no real choice,” Mr Nadezhdin said as he announced his plans to stand. In October, he called for a new government in Russia to stop the war against Ukraine and build relations with Europe. Three months earlier, in an interview on state TV, r Nadezhdin called for Mr Putin to be replaced.

“I am ready for everything,” he said.

Last week, former TV journalist Yekaterina Duntsova was disqualified from running against Mr Putin in Russia’s presidential election because of alleged flaws in her application to register as a candidate.

In Russia, there is a requirement to gather tens of thousands of signatures across multiple regions if standing outside of the five main parties in the Duma.

Separately, Mr Navalny confirmed he had been transferred to the IK-3 penal colony, nicknamed "Polar Wolf", in the northern town of Kharp, around 1,200 miles north-east of Moscow.

Mr Navalny’s team raised the alarm over his disappearance after he failed to appear in court via video link multiple times following a "serious health incident".

Writing on X, Mr Navalny said he had been transported with "such precaution" and along "such a strange route" that he was surprised when he was told his lawyer was there to see him, as he did not think he would be found before "mid-January".

Mr Navalny, 47, is a long-time anti corruption activist in Russia, who has been sentenced to more than 30 years behind bars on what he claims are politically motivated charges. He was issued with new charges earlier this month.

He announced his intent to run against Mr Putin in the presidential elections in 2018. However, Mr Navalny was barred from doing so due to a prior criminal conviction for corruption. In 2020, he was hospitalised in Omsk, Russia, on suspicion of poisoning.