Russia's Supreme Court bars anti-war party Yabloko from September parliamentary election

Court ruling

Russia's Supreme Court ruled on August 10 to exclude the liberal opposition party Yabloko from the parliamentary election scheduled for September 18 to 20. Judge Vyacheslav Kirillov granted a lawsuit filed by the pro-Kremlin nationalist party Rodina, which had accused Yabloko of multiple violations of Russian electoral law. The ruling reverses a unanimous decision by the Central Election Commission in July to admit Yabloko as one of 11 parties to the Duma ballot. Kirillov explicitly allowed an appeal, and Yabloko announced it would challenge the verdict. Five forces are currently represented in the parliament.

The charges against Yabloko

Rodina's 40-page lawsuit alleged that Yabloko violated copyright in campaign materials, including depictions of peace doves, and spent impermissible amounts on internet advertising. The complaint also accused Yabloko of receiving 16,900 rubles (approximately 178 euros) in election financing from the United States and Germany. A Rodina representative further criticized that Yabloko's election program consisted of only 43 words and that its call for a ceasefire in the war against Ukraine contradicted the Kremlin's stated war goals, specifically the claimed annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. The prosecution supported Rodina's complaint. An election commission representative drew attention to the foreign financing point in his closing statement, saying it gave him pause.

Yabloko's defense

Party leader Nikolai Rybakov told the court that Yabloko had committed no legal violations and that millions of Russians were ready to vote for his party. He called the case a "historical process" because no party admitted to an election had ever been subsequently excluded. Rybakov argued that Rodina had presented no evidence, only "inventions and absurd thoughts," and said the most important thing was that the killing stop.

Political competition is the essence of elections.

He said the lawsuit aimed to deny people a free choice.

The plaintiff confuses the courtroom with a television talk show, where loud slogans, labels like "extremism" and subjective associations take the place of the law.

He described Yabloko as an "exclusively peaceful, civilized, lawful political organization." Rybakov also argued that Rodina's lawsuit undermined the authority of Central Election Commission chair Ella Pamfilova, who had said voters should decide for themselves between Russia's political poles, for or against the war.

Public support and political context

Hundreds of supporters, many of them young people, gathered outside the Supreme Court in Moscow, chanting "Yabloko, Yabloko." The courtroom, which seats only 150 people, was filled to capacity. Yabloko's social media officer Mariyat Ramazanova, 28, said the party had fielded many candidates under 30 and that a "veritable army of supporters" had formed among young people, including some too young to vote who urged their families to support Yabloko. In social networks, opponents of Putin had urged voting for Yabloko, including the widow of the most prominent opposition figure Alexei Navalny. The party's name means "apple," and supporters used a green apple emoji to signal their allegiance.

Yabloko had seen a surge in support since its admission to the election, and polling suggested the party had a chance of clearing the 5% threshold and entering the Duma for the first time in over 20 years. The party's most prominent members had not been admitted as candidates because they were classified as "foreign agents," faced trial, or were in detention. Several Duma deputies who support Russia's war against Ukraine had denounced Yabloko members as traitors and agents of the West, and criticized that not a single war participant appeared on the party's electoral list. Other pro-Kremlin parties had also demanded Yabloko's exclusion from the September vote.