Nikolai Bondarenko
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Nikolai Nikolayevich Bondarenko (; born 3 June 1985) is a Russian opposition politician and blogger. He served as a deputy of the
Saratov Oblast Duma The Saratov Oblast Duma () is the Regional parliaments of Russia, regional parliament of Saratov Oblast, a federal subject of Russia. A total of 45 deputies are elected for five-year terms. History The 2017 Saratov Oblast Duma elections took pl ...
from 2017 until his expulsion in 2022. A member of the Communist Party, he was a candidate at the
2021 Russian legislative election Legislative elections were held in Russia from 17 to 19 September 2021. At stake were 450 seats in the 8th State Duma, 8th convocation of the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly. Going into the election ...
. Bondarenko was previously a deputy of the
Saratov City Duma The Saratov City Duma () is the city duma of Saratov, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and ...
from 2011 to 2016, and he is well known for his confrontational nature and criticism of the ruling
United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...
party.


Early life

Nikolai Bondarenko was born in
Saratov Saratov ( , ; , ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Saratov Oblast, Russia, and a major port on the Volga River. Saratov had a population of 901,361, making it the List of cities and tow ...
on 3 June 1985. After finishing school, he attended the
Saratov State Academy of Law Saratov State Academy of Law ( Russian: ''Саратовская государственная юридическая академия'') is a Federal State Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education in the Saratov region of the Rus ...
and graduated in 2007.


Career

In 2011, Bondarenko was elected to the
Saratov City Duma The Saratov City Duma () is the city duma of Saratov, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and ...
through
party lists An electoral list is a grouping of candidates for election, usually found in proportional or mixed electoral systems, but also in some plurality electoral systems. An electoral list can be registered by a political party (a party list) or can c ...
, despite losing in his constituency. In 2017, he was elected to the
Saratov Oblast Duma The Saratov Oblast Duma () is the Regional parliaments of Russia, regional parliament of Saratov Oblast, a federal subject of Russia. A total of 45 deputies are elected for five-year terms. History The 2017 Saratov Oblast Duma elections took pl ...
as a member of the Communist Party. In 2018, Bondarenko became known for his harsh criticism of the government in regards to the pension reform and supported the
protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
against the reform. In October, he was detained after attending a protest in Saratov. Bondarenko also staged an experiment trying to survive on the monthly pension of 3,500 rubles and called it "genocide". In 2020, Bondarenko was put forward as a candidate for post of representative to the
Federation Council The Federation Council, unofficially Senate, is the upper house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, with the lower house being the State Duma. It was established by the Constitution of the Russian Federation in 1993. Each of the 89 federal s ...
from the
Saratov Oblast Duma The Saratov Oblast Duma () is the Regional parliaments of Russia, regional parliament of Saratov Oblast, a federal subject of Russia. A total of 45 deputies are elected for five-year terms. History The 2017 Saratov Oblast Duma elections took pl ...
(In Russia, half of the Senators are elected by the regional parliaments, of the subjects which they represent). On 8 February 2021, Bondarenko was detained on charges of violating protest rules. His colleagues said he attended the
protests A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...
in support of
Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (, ; 4 June 197616 February 2024) was a Russian Opposition to Vladimir Putin in Russia, opposition leader, anti-corruption in Russia, corruption activist and political prisoner. He founded the Anti-Corruption Found ...
on 31 January as an observer.
Olga Alimova Olga Nikolaevna Alimova (; born 10 April 1953) is a Russian politician who was a member of the State Duma for Saratov Oblast from 2011 to 2016 and from 2018 to 2021. She was re-elected to the State Duma in the 2021 Russian legislative elections. S ...
, the Saratov regional branch leader of the Communist Party, linked Bondarenko's detention with his stated plans to run for the State Duma elections later in the year, where he would compete with State Duma speaker
Vyacheslav Volodin Vyacheslav Viktorovich Volodin (, ; born 4 February 1964) is a Russian politician who currently serves as the 10th Chairman of the State Duma since 2016. He is a former aide to President Vladimir Putin. The former Secretary-General of the Unit ...
and is considered a strong challenger. The leader of the Communist Party,
Gennady Zyuganov Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov (; born 26 June 1944) is a Russian politician who has been the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and served as Member of the State Duma since 1993. He is also the Chair of the Union ...
, said he would defend him in court and fight for his release. A commission of the Saratov Oblast Duma also accused Bondarenko of corruption for receiving advertising revenues and donations through his YouTube channel. In response, he called the accusation "absurd" and politically motivated. The Saratov Oblast Duma, by a majority vote, adopted a draft resolution declaring that Bondarenko violated the law. A court also fined him 20,000 rubles, which he appealed. In 2021, Bondarenko announced that he is running for the
State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...
from the
Balashov constituency The Balashov single-member constituency (No. 165) is a Russian legislative constituency in the Saratov Oblast. Nikolai Bondarenko, a famous youtuber and Communist member of the Saratov Oblast Duma, announced that he is running for the State Dum ...
in the 2021 election. However, there have been rumors that the
Central Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
may ban Bondarenko from running. Indeed, he was investigated for “extremist” association, though the matter was ultimately dismissed in court. Bondarenko lost the election to the
United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...
candidate by a significant margin. In February 2022, Bondarenko was
impeached Impeachment is a process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In Eu ...
from the
Saratov Oblast Duma The Saratov Oblast Duma () is the Regional parliaments of Russia, regional parliament of Saratov Oblast, a federal subject of Russia. A total of 45 deputies are elected for five-year terms. History The 2017 Saratov Oblast Duma elections took pl ...
by a vote from other deputies on the grounds of improperly declaring donations to his
YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel. He argued that the expulsion was politically motivated, and his fellow Communist deputies walked out of the session in protest. Bondarenko unsuccessfully ran for his old seat (4th constituency) in the
2022 Saratov Oblast Duma election The 2022 Saratov Oblast Duma election took place on 9–11 September 2022, on 2022 Russian regional elections, common election day, coinciding with the 2022 Saratov Oblast gubernatorial election, gubernatorial election. All 40 seats in the Oblast ...
in September. Both the 2021 and 2022 elections were marred with allegations of voter fraud, including due to the novel use of electronic voting, the results of which tend to favor the ruling party by a significant margin.


Electoral history

, - ! colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" , Candidate ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" , Party ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % , - , style="background-color: " , , align=left,
Andrey Vorobiev Andrey Victorovich Vorobiev (; born 24 July 1985, in Loshchinnyy, Engelssky District) is a Russian political figure and a deputy of the 8th State Duma. From 2008 to 2017, he worked as the commercial director of several enterprises, such as M ...
, align=left,
United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...
, 121,326 , 52.50% , - , style="background-color: " , , align=left, Nikolai Bondarenko , align=left,
CPRF The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF; ) is a communist political party in Russia that officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist philosophy. It is the second-largest political party in Russia after United Russia. The youth o ...
, 67,352 , 29.14% , - , style="background-color: " , , align=left, Dmitry Arkhipov , align=left,
Communists of Russia The Communist Party "Communists of Russia" (CPCR; ; ''Kommunisticheskaya partiya «Kommunisty Rossii»'', ''KPKR'') or simply Communists of Russia (CR; ; ''Kommunisty Rossii'', ''KR'') is an Anti-revisionism, anti-revisionist Marxism–Leninism ...
, 7,861 , 3.40% , - , style="background-color: " , , align=left, Oleg Meshcheryakov , align=left,
LDPR LDPR – Liberal Democratic Party of Russia () is a Russian ultranationalist and right-wing populist political party. It succeeded the Liberal Democratic Party of the Soviet Union (LDPSU) in Russia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. T ...
, 6,851 , 2.96% , - , style="background-color: " , , align=left, Sergey Gromyko , align=left, Party of Pensioners , 6,382 , 2.76% , - , style="background-color: " , , align=left, Aleksandr Fedorchenko , align=left,
A Just Russia – For Truth Socialist Political Party "A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth" (SRZP), officially abbreviated as A Just Russia – For Truth, is a Social conservatism, social conservative and Social democracy, social-democratic Political parties in Russ ...
, 6,364 , 2.75% , - , style="background-color: ", , align=left, Vladimir Morozov , align=left, New People , 4,409 , 1.91% , - , style="background-color: ", , align=left, Sergey Demin , align=left, Rodina , 2,604 , 1.13% , - , style="background-color: " , , align=left, Ilya Kozlyakov , align=left,
Yabloko The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko (RUDP Yabloko; rus, Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко», Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko" ...
, 1,404 , 0.61% , - , colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9;", , - style="font-weight:bold" , colspan="3" style="text-align:left;" , Total , 231,098 , 100% , - , colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9;", , - style="font-weight:bold" , colspan="4" , Source: ,


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bondarenko, Nikolai 1985 births 21st-century lawyers 21st-century Russian politicians Living people Politicians from Saratov Communist Party of the Russian Federation members Russian atheists Russian Internet celebrities Russian lawyers Russian people of Ukrainian descent Russian male bloggers Russian YouTubers