Russia bars only anti-war party 'Yabloko' from September parliamentary elections

The court thereby upheld a suit brought by a pro-Kremlin nationalist party, stripping voters opposed to the four-and-a-half-year war in Ukraine of their last option on the ballot. "The claims seeking to annul the registration of the federal list of candidates for the State Duma of the ninth convocation, nominated by the Yabloko political party, were granted," judge Vyacheslav Kirillov said. About a hundred supporters, mostly young people, gathered outside the courthouse, chanting "Shame! Shame!" after the ruling was delivered. Addressing them after the hearing, Yabloko leader Nikolay Rybakov said the party would appeal the decision. "We have a long way ahead and we have a big and important task: to stop deaths and bring the peace back," he said. "Everything we do should be dedicated to that," Rybakov added. Putin opponents jailed, exiled or dead Russia opened a criminal case in 2024 against Yabloko's Lev Shlosberg, one of the few remaining anti-war Kremlin critics still in the country. He was charged again in 2025 for allegedly spreading false information about Russia's army, a new charge announced three days before he was to be released from house arrest. With most of President Vl...