Refugee from Kursk Border Town Forced to Withdraw from Election

A refugee from Sudzh in Kursk reported that he was forced to withdraw from elections following posts about border issues.

Consensus

Nikolai Skrynnik, a 75-year-old former police officer, is a refugee from the Kursk border town of Sudzha.
Skrynnik was running for the Kursk Regional Duma as a candidate for LDPR.
He submitted a resignation statement to the regional election commission on August 31.
He stated that he was pressured by the regional LDPR leadership to withdraw from the election.
The pressure included demands to remove critical social media posts about regional authorities and United Russia.
This is the third reported case of a candidate being forced to withdraw from the 2026 autumn elections in Kursk Oblast.
Skrynnik claimed he withdrew in a 'voluntary-coercive' manner.

Skrynnik stated that his candidacy had a clear advantage over the United Russia candidate and that his removal was necessary to prevent the defeat of the United Russia candidate. — tg_govorit_nemoskva
Skrynnik had previously criticized the federal leadership and even mocked Putin, despite initially supporting him at the start of the war. — tg_govorit_nemoskva
In January 2025, refugees from the border area nominated Skrynnik for a 'people's list' of eight individuals to represent them in negotiations with authorities. — tg_govorit_nemoskva
Skrynnik expressed disappointment that the pressure came from the party he trusted, calling its ideals empty slogans. — tg_astrapress
Skrynnik said the regional LDPR leadership 'offered' him to remove critical posts during his candidacy. — tg_horizontal_russia