St. Petersburg opposition lawmaker Boris Vishnevsky said Monday that he would step down from the regional legislative assembly to comply with new amendments to Russia’s “foreign agent” law.
In May, federal lawmakers passed legislation prohibiting “foreign agents” from running in elections, changes introduced after several people hit with designation said they planned to run for local office in Moscow. According to the new law, “foreign agents” already serving in public office can be stripped of their mandates.
Russia’s Justice Ministry designated Vishnevsky, a member of the liberal Yabloko party, as a “foreign agent” in March, citing his opposition to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and commentary to foreign media outlets.
Vishnevsky said his term as a St. Petersburg legislative assembly deputy would end this Wednesday, requiring him to step down under the new law.
“Realizing that it’s almost impossible to achieve justice in political cases today, I challenged the decision in court and will continue to do so,” he wrote on Telegram.
“Yabloko has consistently opposed the repressive ‘foreign agents’ legislation,” Vishnevsky wrote, describing the measure as an “unconstitutional pathway to dictatorship.”
Following his designation, St. Petersburg’s legislative assembly had already stripped Vishnevsky of two committee seats. He remains one of the few high-profile opposition figures who stayed in Russia after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Last week, the state council in northern Russia’s republic of Komi also stripped “foreign agent” deputy Viktor Vorobyov of his mandate.