Russia's Supreme Court bars only 'pro-peace' party from parliamentary elections

Russia's Supreme Court barred the Yabloko party from participating in September's parliamentary elections, citing alleged violations of election campaigning rules, according to a ruling published Aug. 10.

The decision comes just weeks after Russia's Central Election Commission registered Yabloko's candidate list, allowing the party to participate in the election. The case was brought by the nationalist, pro-Kremlin Rodina party, which is also running in the election.

Rodina leader Alexei Zhuravlev told state-owned media outlet TASS that his party had identified numerous violations, particularly those involving campaign financing.

Zhuravlev also told the pro-state outlet Kommersant that Yabloko had placed advertisements on social media platforms banned in Russia and violated copyright rules by using Soviet songs.

The decision removes Russia's only remaining liberal political group from an election in which Yabloko had campaigned on a platform calling for an end to the war against Ukraine.

After its registration, Yabloko published what it described as "the shortest in the party's history" campaign platform.

"For peace and freedom! For a life without fear! For a ceasefire agreement, diplomacy, and the achievement of peace!" the platform says.

Yabloko's registration had already prompted attacks from lawmakers, who accused the party of "betraying the motherland" and failing to support Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.

On Aug. 6, allies of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, including his widow, Yulia Navalnaya, and other opposition figures in exile, urged voters to support Yabloko.

"We must view the upcoming elections — no matter how unfair they may be — as the only legitimate and safe opportunity to express our disagreement with the government," Navalnaya said.

Yabloko members across Russia have also faced pressure that has prevented some candidates from participating in elections.

Regional party members have been fined under legislation targeting extremist symbols, with some cases triggered by photographs of Navalny posted on social media, whose organizations have been designated as "extremist" and "terrorist" by Russian authorities.

Yabloko is not a totally Kremlin-controlled party, but its ability to operate has been sharply constrained under Russian President Vladimir Putin's political system.

The party entered the State Duma in 1993, 1995, and 1999 but has failed to clear the 5% electoral threshold in federal elections since 2003.

Some independent pollsters had assessed that Yabloko had a small chance of crossing the threshold in September. The state-run Russian Public Opinion Research Center, known as VTsIOM, previously put the party's support at around 3%.