Pro-Kremlin activist asks Russian prosecutors to declare presidential hopeful Boris Nadezhdin a ‘foreign agent’

Vitaly Borodin, a pro-Kremlin activist who methodically files police reports against artists, has requested that Russia’s Prosecutor General declare presidential hopeful Boris Nadezhdin a “foreign agent,” according to a copy of Borodin’s statement published on Russian state media network RT.

Borodin said Nadezhdin should be investigated due to his opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his policies, including the war in Ukraine. “The Russian presidential candidate intends to impose on Russians what the Russian Federation is trying so hard to defend its people from, Nazism, extremism, LGBT propaganda,” Borodin said.

The pro-Kremlin activist added that opposition politicians, activists, journalists, and supporters of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny all support Nadezhdin. Borodin believes that “liberals” are promoting Nadezhdin as a candidate who is ready to push the agenda of “Western handlers” in Russia, writes RT.

Borodin also mentioned “rumors” that were “persistently circulating in the media” that exiled opposition figure and former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky serves as Nadezhdin’s main sponsor. Borodin called on Nadezhdin to be declared a “foreign agent” if he is found to have foreign funding.

Nadezhdin’s press office told Telegram channel Sotavision that they did not consider it necessary to make statements “after every initiative by urban loonies.” “There are no grounds to declare Boris Nadezhdin a ‘foreign agent.’ Our office doesn’t receive and has never received financial or organizational assistance from abroad or from other foreign agents,” said the press service.