Russia Bars Anti-War Yabloko Party From Parliamentary Elections

Russia's Supreme Court on Monday barred the liberal Yabloko party from participating in the country's parliamentary elections scheduled for September 18-20, removing the only registered political group that openly opposed the war in Ukraine from the ballot. The ruling, delivered after an eight-hour hearing, upheld a lawsuit filed by the pro-Kremlin nationalist party Rodina, which accused Yabloko of extremism, copyright infringement, and receiving foreign funding.

The decision was met with immediate protest. Hundreds of supporters, many of them young people, gathered outside the courthouse in Moscow throughout the day. When the verdict was announced, the crowd chanted "Shame! Shame!" and waved flags. Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov addressed the demonstrators, stating the party would appeal the ruling. "We have a long way ahead and we have a big and important task to stop deaths and bring the peace back," he said.

The lawsuit that led to the ban centered on several allegations. Rodina claimed Yabloko supported an "extremist organization" by publishing material on its website in support of the "international LGBT movement," which Russia's Supreme Court designated as extremist in...