Russia's Supreme Court on Monday barred the only officially registered anti-war party, Yabloko, from running in September's parliamentary elections. The motion to exclude the party was filed by Rodina, a nationalist party loyal to the Kremlin. Yabloko, whose name means "apple" in Russian, is the only liberal party that opposes Moscow's war in Ukraine.
After the ruling, about a hundred protesters gathered outside the courthouse, chanting "Shame! Shame!" A poll conducted earlier this year put Yabloko's support at three percent, below the five-percent threshold needed to win seats in the lower house. The party said it would appeal the decision and urged supporters not to despair. The ruling further narrows the limited space for dissent in Russian politics, more than four years after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.