Outspoken St. Petersburg opposition politician resigns seat in city legislature

Boris Vishnevsky, one of the few opposition figures still to hold political office in Russia, has announced his resignation from St. Petersburg’s Legislative Assembly, where he led the liberal Yabloko party caucus.

Vishnevsky, who, according to the party’s press service, is to be replaced by his Yabloko colleague Olga Shtannikova, cited his “foreign agent” status, against which he has mounted an ongoing legal challenge, as one of the factors influencing his decision to resign.

“My 13-year stint in the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly has come to an end. But times and circumstances change. Change will come. And I’ll be back,” he promised after serving his last day as a member of the chamber on Wednesday.

Since being elected to the body in 2011, Vishnevsky has become well known for his increasingly brave public criticism of the Kremlin and for his refusal to stand by as the authorities trampled all over his constituents' constitutionally guaranteed rights.

Russia’s Justice Ministry named him a “foreign agent” in March, citing his work with foreign media outlets and his condemnation of the war in Ukraine. Shortly afterwards, the St. Petersburg authorities began investigating him for his alleged collaboration with an “undesirable organisation” — independent election monitor Golos — despite the fact that Golos had never been classed as such.

Vishnevsky bemoaned the situation faced by free-thinking politicians in Russia today in an interview on Tuesday, telling independent radio station Ekho Moskvy that “an opposition politician in today’s Russia must be prepared for any kind of persecution.”

“Since 2014 and Crimea, it has finally become clear that loyalty, not intelligence, is required,” Vishnevsky continued. “Any disloyalty, dissent or … political resistance will be punished.”