Russia Court Removes Anti-War Yabloko From September Elections
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- Yabloko was barred from September's parliamentary elections by a Moscow court after pro-Kernel party Rodina sued, accusing it of supporting the "international LGBT movement" (designated extremist by Russia's Supreme Court in 2023) and committing copyright infringement over a Soviet-era song lyric quoted in an interview.
- Hundreds of mostly young supporters gathered outside the Moscow courthouse during the eight-hour hearing, chanting "Shame!" when the verdict was read; many carried apples, since "yabloko" means "apple" in Russian.
- Deputy leader Maxim Kruglov was sentenced in June to seven years in prison for social media posts about civilian casualties in Bucha and Mariupol; two deputy chairmen were also barred from running.
- Russia's Central Electoral Commission had approved Yabloko's candidate list in late July, and the party had launched a donations appeal before suffering a cyberattack; the financial monitoring service also alleged Yabloko received foreign funding from Germany and the US.
- All 10 other parties contesting the election either support Russia's war on Ukraine or do not openly criticize it; Yabloko last won Duma seats in 2003 and took just 1.34% of the vote in 2021.
- United Russia's ratings have fallen to 33% amid inflation, internet blackouts and drone strikes, and signs of growing war dissent appear to have shifted the Kremlin's calculation to remove even a token opposition from the ballot.
Why it matters: The ruling strips the only anti-war voice from Russia's September ballot, eliminating any political channel for opposition to the war in Ukraine ahead of a vote held under wartime censorship. A lower-turnout election — which the absence of opposition candidates encourages — benefits the Kremlin, which still has the resources to deliver the outcome it wants despite United Russia's 33% ratings.
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