Russian election observer loses consciousness during arrest by police, opposition party says

Russia’s liberal opposition Yabloko party said that one of its election observers lost consciousness while being arrested by police at a St. Petersburg polling station on Saturday, the second day of a tightly controlled parliamentary election.The voting to elect members of the State Duma is Russia's first parliamentary election since Moscow launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022. The three-day election, which began Friday and ends Sunday, features virtually no opposition and is all but certain to secure the Kremlin’s political dominance.Yabloko said that officials at the polling station accused a party election observer of attempting to “disrupt the elections” and called the police, which “used force” against him. It was unclear whether he received prompt medical attention after falling unconscious, the party said in a statement on Telegram Saturday, adding that he was taken to a police station and charged with disobeying police orders. Russian officials didn't immediately comment on the incident.Yabloko, the only registered political entity that dared to criticize Russia's war with Ukraine, was removed from the ballot last month by Russia’s Supreme Court, and o...