Russia bars only party opposing war in Ukraine from parliamentary vote

The pro-Kremlin nationalist party Rodina accused Yabloko of receiving undeclared campaign support, notably from Western sources – an allegation Yabloko denied.Russia‘s Supreme Court has barred the only officially registered party opposing Moscow’s Ukraine" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="142386" data-entity-type="event">war in Ukraine from running in next month’s parliamentary elections.The court upheld a suit on Monday brought by the small pro-Kremlin nationalist party Rodina to annul the registration of Yabloko, stripping voters of the chance to express their discontent with the four-and-a-half-year conflict at the ballot box.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3‘Like the movies’: How Ukraine’s ground robots are changing rules of warlist 2 of 3‘Long-range sanctions’: Ukraine hopes strikes cause Russia fear and losseslist 3 of 3Pashinyan’s pro-Europe party wins Armenia electionend of listLast month, the Central Election Commission had initially allowed Yabloko on the ballot along with 10 other parties.“The claims seeking to annul the registration of the federal list of candidates for the State Duma of the ninth convocation, nominated by the Yabloko political party, were granted,” Judge Vyacheslav Kirillov said.Rodina alleged that Yabloko had received undeclared campaign support, including from Western sources, among other accusations.During a day-long hearing, Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov said there was no evidence to support the allegations and described the case as an unconstitutional attack on freedom of thought by political opponents seeking to clear the field of rivals.About 100 supporters, mostly young people, gathered outside the courthouse as police stood by, chanting “Shame! Shame!” after the ruling was delivered. Some carried apples to display their affiliation with Yabloko, which means “apple” in Russian.Addressing them after the hearing, Rybakov said the party would appeal the decision.“We have a long way ahead, and we have a big and important task: to stop deaths and bring the peace back,” he said. “Everything we do should be dedicated to that.”