Russia Bars Anti-War Yabloko Party From Contesting September Parliamentary Elections

Russia’s Supreme Court on Monday barred Yabloko, the country’s only political party openly opposed to the war in Ukraine, from contesting September’s parliamentary elections. The ruling upheld a legal challenge brought by a pro-Kremlin nationalist party and effectively removes Yabloko’s federal candidate list from the ballot for the State Duma elections. The decision leaves voters who oppose the war without the party as an electoral option in the upcoming parliamentary contest. Judge Vyacheslav Kirillov announced the court’s decision during the hearing, saying claims seeking to annul the registration of Yabloko’s federal list of candidates for the State Duma’s ninth convocation had been granted.

The court’s ruling prevents the party from participating in the election with its federal list. Yabloko leader Nikolay Rybakov said after the hearing that the party would appeal the decision, indicating that the legal dispute over its participation is expected to continue. Yabloko has maintained a liberal political position and has been critical of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine. According to the supplied report, it is the only liberal party still operating in Russia after years of pressure on opposition groups and political figures. Most of President Vladimir Putin’s prominent opponents have been jailed, driven into exile or are dead. The party has also received support from several opposition figures living outside Russia, including Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Russian authorities have designated both Navalnaya and Navalny as “extremists.” The court ruling therefore carries significance beyond Yabloko’s immediate participation in the September election. The party has represented one of the few remaining avenues for voters seeking a political platform that openly opposes the war and advocates liberal positions. Its exclusion means supporters who had planned to use their ballots to express opposition to the government or its policies will no longer have Yabloko’s federal candidate list available to them. The ruling also comes against the backdrop of an increasingly restricted political environment in which prominent opposition figures have faced imprisonment, exile or other legal pressure.

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The decision prompted a visible reaction outside the courthouse, where about 100 Yabloko supporters, many of them young people, gathered after the verdict. The group chanted “Shame! Shame!” as news of the ruling spread. Speaking to the supporters after the hearing, Rybakov said the party would continue its efforts and appeal the decision. He said Yabloko had an important task ahead of it, including working to “stop deaths and bring the peace back,” referring to the party’s opposition to the war in Ukraine. His comments reinforced the central role that the conflict has played in Yabloko’s political messaging.

The ruling also highlighted the importance supporters attach to the party’s presence on the ballot. Yevgenia, a 22-year-old Yabloko supporter, told AFP before the decision that she intended to vote for the party as a way of showing the government that voters were dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. With Yabloko now barred from the election, those voters face a different political landscape in September. The party’s planned appeal could still alter its electoral prospects if the ruling is overturned, but for now the Supreme Court decision prevents Russia’s prominent anti-war liberal party from contesting the parliamentary election. The development is likely to intensify debate over the space available to opposition parties and anti-war voices in Russia’s political system.

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