Nikolai Bondarenko

Nikolai Bondarenko was born in Saratov on 3 June 1985. After finishing school, he attended the Saratov State Academy of Law and graduated in 2007.[2]

In 2011, Bondarenko was elected to the Saratov City Duma through party lists, despite losing in his constituency. In 2017, he was elected to the Saratov Oblast Duma as a member of the Communist Party.[2]

In 2018, Bondarenko became known for his harsh criticism of the government in regards to the pension reform and supported the protests against the reform. In October, he was detained after attending a protest in Saratov.[2][4] Bondarenko also staged an experiment trying to survive on the monthly pension of 3,500 rubles and called it "genocide".[5] In 2020, Bondarenko was put forward as a candidate for post of representative to the Federation Council from the Saratov Oblast Duma (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 pro-Navalny protests on 31 January as an observer. Olga Alimova, 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 and is considered a strong challenger. The leader of the Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, said he would defend him in court and fight for his release.[6] 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.[7] The Saratov Oblast Duma, by a majority vote, adopted a draft resolution declaring that Bondarenko violated the law.[8] A court also fined him 20,000 rubles, which he appealed.[9]

In 2021, Bondarenko announced that he is running for the State Duma from the Balashov constituency in the 2021 election. However, there have been rumors that the Central Election Commission may ban Bondarenko from running. Indeed, he was investigated for “extremist” association, though the matter was ultimately dismissed in court.[10] Bondarenko lost the controversial election to the United Russia candidate by a significant margin.

In February 2022, Bondarenko was impeached from the Saratov Oblast Duma by a vote from other deputies on the grounds of improperly declaring donations to his YouTube 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 in September.