Anti-War Candidate Blocked from Challenging Putin in Russian Presidential Election

Boris Nadezhdin, a critic of the Ukraine war, has been blocked from running in Russia's presidential election in March, with the election commission citing flaws in 15% of the signatures he submitted. Nadezhdin plans to challenge this decision in the Supreme Court. He has garnered attention for his antiwar stance and vows to unseat incumbent Vladimir Putin, who is expected to win re-election. Putin, who has not allowed real electoral opposition during his rule, is running as an independent and has already collected over 3.5 million signatures in support of his candidacy.