Russian Court Bars Anti-War Party From Elections

On Monday, the Russian Supreme Court barred the Yabloko party from contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections in September. The decision sidelines the only officially registered political party in the country that openly opposes the war in Ukraine.

The court granted a petition filed by Rodina, a small pro-Kremlin party seeking to disqualify Yabloko. Rodina alleged that the opposition party had received undeclared financial support for its campaign, including from Western sources.

During the hearing, Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov rejected the allegations as baseless. He described the case as an unconstitutional attack on freedom of thought and an attempt by political rivals to eliminate any real opposition from the election. The party has already announced that it will appeal the ruling and called on its supporters not to give in to a sense of helplessness.

In a rare show of defiance, a few hundred supporters, mostly young, attended the hearing as police stood by. Some carried apples – a symbol of Yabloko, whose name means “apple” in Russian – while one wore a Russian flag as a cape.

(Reuters, Max)