World News | Russia's Top Court Upholds Decision Barring Anti-Ukraine War Hopeful from Presidential Race

Moscow, Mar 4 (AP) Russia's Supreme Court upheld on Monday a ruling barring liberal politician Boris Nadezhdin from running in the upcoming presidential election.

Nadezhdin, a city council member in the town of Dolgoprudny near Moscow, was nominated by the Civic Initiative party to run in an election President Vladimir Putin is all but set to win. He has been vocal against the war in Ukraine, garnering support among opposition-minded Russians.

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In a statement on social media, Nadezhdin said he would continue to appeal his case. “We're now writing a complaint to the presidium of the Supreme Court. From there we're only one step away from the Constitutional Court,” he wrote. “For now, we are guided by Russian law.”

Nadezhdin's backer, the Civic Initiative party, doesn't have representatives in the parliament. Russian election law requires such candidates to attain at least 100,000 signatures to qualify to run for the presidency. Nadezhdin secured 105,000 signatures after his call for a halt to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine became a key part of his campaign.

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However, on February 21, Russia's Central Election Commission declared more than 9,000 of the signatures submitted by Nadezhdin's campaign invalid — enough to disqualify him from the race. In Russia, potential candidates can have no more than 5 per cent of their submitted signatures invalidated.

So far, four candidates have been approved to contest in the March 15-17 election, including Putin. The other three are nominated by Kremlin-friendly parties represented in parliament and viewed by many as token contenders. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)