A Moscow court has barred the Yabloko party from participating in the parliamentary elections
A court in Moscow, in the Russian Federation—an aggressor state—has ruled to bar the liberal Yabloko party from participating in the parliamentary elections scheduled for next month. “Yabloko” was the only registered party in the country that opposed Russia’s war against Ukraine, according to BBC News.
The lawsuit against the party was filed by the pro-Kremlin nationalist party “Rodina.” It claimed that “Yabloko” had publicly supported the “international LGBT movement,” which Russia’s Supreme Court designated as extremist in 2023. Rodina also accused the party of copyright infringement after one of its senior officials quoted lines from a Soviet song in an interview.
During the hearing, Rosfinmonitoring claimed that “Yabloko” had received funds from abroad—specifically from Germany and the United States—through intermediaries. In late July, the Kremlin-controlled Central Election Commission approved the party’s list of candidates, though several of its members had already been barred from running.
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Among them was Yabloko’s deputy leader, Maxim Kruglov, who was sentenced in June to seven years in prison for social media posts about civilian casualties in Bucha, Mariupol, and other Ukrainian cities. Last week, the party also suffered a cyberattack after announcing a fundraiser for its election campaign.
Hundreds of people, mostly young, gathered outside a Moscow court on Monday to support Yabloko. They sang, chanted the party’s name and “Russia,” and brought apples. After the decision was announced, in videos widely shared on social media, the protesters chanted, “Shame! Shame!”
The party ran its campaign under the slogan “For peace and freedom! For a life without fear!” and advocated for a ceasefire, diplomacy, and peace. “Yabloko” has not won any seats in the State Duma since 2003, although it has participated in every election since then. According to BBC News, all ten other parties admitted to the election either support the war against Ukraine or do not publicly criticize it.
