Nikolai Bondarenko, a Communist Party candidate for the State Duma, was detained in Saratov.

In his own words Nikolai Bondarenko, of his detained Ten police officers were immediately detained and forcibly taken to court. The candidate is charged with "displaying extremist symbols"—a charge that disqualifies him from participating in the elections.

A few days before this, the politician claimed about provocations on the part of United Russia, which spread information that he allegedly gave interviews to Polish media on forbidden topics and made anti-Russian statements.

"This is a complete lie. I haven't given any interviews to foreign media," Bondarenko claimed.

The communist gained notoriety several years ago when, as a deputy of the Saratov Regional Duma, he essentially asked uncomfortable questions of the authorities live on air.

His YouTube channel, "Diary of a Deputy," had two million subscribers, and one of his most popular campaigns was an attempt to live on three and a half thousand rubles a month (he was testing a government official's claim that this was enough).

In 2022, he was stripped of his mandate due to the prosecutor's office's claims regarding his declaration of income from the YouTube channel.

Bondarenko is currently heading a united territorial group in the State Duma elections, which includes Udmurtia и Perm Territory.