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The former head of Boris Nadezhdin’s campaign office and activist from Crimea, Dmitry Kisiev, has reported that he has been stripped of Russian citizenship.

He said that today police detained him in Tomsk, a major city in Siberia, and took him to the station, where he was given a ruling from the 2nd Directorate of the Russian FSB.

The document stated that Kisiev had carried out “actions negatively affecting political and social stability in society.” The FSB deemed these a threat to national security. The document does not specify which events are being referred to. Nevertheless, the agency indicated that this was the reason for stripping Kisiev of his citizenship.

“I can’t help but note that this decision was made now, at a time when I am actively planning a campaign for the State Duma, meeting with people, discussing plans, looking for candidates. So it’s obvious that this is a political decision. Taking part in politics in Russia? No, they’ll push you to the margins, force you out of the country, don’t do anything,” Kisiev wrote on his Telegram channel.

Previously, the activist founded the ‘Candidates’ HQ,’ which helped independent candidates conduct their election campaigns. The project team organises the candidate’s headquarters, provides media support for campaigns, political advice and offers software to check submitted signatures. The project had planned to help candidates in the 2025 elections as well.

Kisiev intends to appeal the decision. He gained citizenship in 2014, after the occupation of Crimea. In his view, this case shows that other Crimeans who received Russian passports at that time are also at risk of losing their citizenship.

  • In 2024, Dmitry Kisiev headed the campaign office of the politician Boris Nadezhdin, who ran for president of Russia.
  • In 2017, when Kisiev was still living in Crimea, he was repeatedly detained. On 26 March, when the “He’s Not Dimon To Us” protests took place in cities across Russia, Kisiev staged a solo protest against corruption in Simferopol, the Crimean capital. After this, he was jailed for 10 days under charges of disobeying the police (Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). He was also detained on 29 April, when Russia-wide rallies “Fed Up” against Vladimir Putin took place. On that occasion, Kisiev said he was not involved in the protest, but he was nonetheless jailed for 15 days under the same article for disobeying the police.
  • In spring 2018, Kisiev’s house was searched in connection with the criminal case against Crimean anarchist Yevgeny Karakashev, who was accused of inciting terrorism. Although Kisiev had no links to left-wing activists, he was named as a witness in the anarchist’s case.