Russia Upholds Yabloko Ban, Jails Deputy Leader 11 Years
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- Russia's Supreme Court Appeals Chamber upheld the revocation of Yabloko's federal candidate list for September's State Duma elections, prompting the party to announce it would seek a supervisory review.
- Yabloko was the only registered Russian political party openly calling for an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, making the ban a removal of the sole anti-war option from the ballot.
- The case was filed by the pro-Kremlin nationalist party Rodina, which accused Yabloko of being backed by Western countries and seeking to undermine Russia's election process and the country itself.
- Yabloko's deputy leader Lev Shlosberg was sentenced to 11 years and one month in a penal colony for harming the reputation of Russia's armed forces and lying about them.
- Shlosberg's conviction rests on legislation passed since Russia's February 2022 invasion that criminalizes criticism of the military, carrying lengthy terms for those found guilty of 'discrediting' the armed forces.
- Police detained dozens of supporters and journalists who came to hear the verdict; Yabloko's Moscow branch head Kirill Goncharov told Novaya Gazeta the officers 'are very nervous today.'
Why it matters: With September's parliamentary vote approaching, Russia's top court has stripped the ballot of the only registered party opposing the war in Ukraine, and an 11-year sentence against deputy leader Lev Shlosberg — delivered the same day Yabloko's appeal failed — shows that courtroom defiance now carries decade-plus prison terms under post-2022 'discreditation' laws. The politically theatrical prosecution, brought by pro-Kremlin Rodina, leaves virtually no legal path for organized dissent before the vote.
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