CNN — Anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin has been barred from standing in Russia’s presidential election next month, in a move that further clears the country’s political landscape of opponents to Vladimir Putin. The decision was made during a ruling on Thursday by the Central Election Committee (CEC) of Russia, the body tasked with registering and verifying potential candidates. According to the CEC, Nadezhdin only collected 95,587 legitimate signatures, 5,000 short of 100,000 benchmark. Boris Nadezhdin/TelegramThe Kremlin leader is running for a fifth term as Russia’s president in next month’s election. In his 24 years as the dominant figure in Russian politics, Putin has marginalized his political opponents and muzzled the country’s press.
