Russian anti-war Putin rival Nadezhdin says he has been barred from election

Russian anti-war presidential candidate Boris Nadezhdin said on Thursday that the Central Election Commission (CEC) had refused to register him as a candidate for a March election in which he wanted to challenge incumbent Vladimir Putin.

The CEC had previously said that it had found flaws in signatures he and his allies had collected in support of his candidacy.

Nadezhdin said on his official Telegram channel that he did not agree with the CEC's decision and would challenge it in Russia's Supreme Court.