Russia may be moving to pull the plug on letting the only anti-war candidate run for president because the Kremlin's worried he might take too many votes from Putin, experts say

• Russia appears poised to bar the only remaining anti-war candidate from presidential election.
• Election officials rejected almost 10,000 of the signatures Nadezhdin needed to run.
• Nadezhdin's popularity appears larger than expected, experts say, and may hurt perceptions of Putin and the war.

Ahead of next month's presidential election, Russian officials appear poised to bar the only anti-war candidate, Boris Nadezhdin, from running.

The move, experts say, suggests Nadezhdin was more popular than the Kremlin expected — and the votes he receives could cast negative light on Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.