Russian Opposition Party Opposing Ukraine War Stripped of Election Eligibility, Candidate Registrations Cancelled

Russian Supreme Court Ruling a Month Before the General Election
Pro-Government Minor Party Files Lawsuit Against Yabloko

On the 10th (local time), Nikolai Livakov, leader of Russia's Yabloko Party, held a press conference after the Supreme Court ruling. On this day, the Russian Supreme Court ruled to revoke Yabloko Party's eligibility for the upcoming September general election. AP Yonhap News

The Russian opposition party Yabloko, which has consistently opposed the war in Ukraine, has been stripped of its eligibility to participate in the Russian general election scheduled for next month. Allegations have emerged that Russian authorities are deliberately excluding the party ahead of the first general election that will allow residents of the occupied territories in Ukraine to vote.

According to TASS on August 10 (local time), the Russian Supreme Court ruled to revoke Yabloko’s election eligibility and cancel the party’s candidate registrations. The Supreme Court reached the verdict after a nine-hour hearing, and Yabloko immediately expressed its intent to appeal the decision, voicing strong opposition to the ruling.

The trial was prompted by a lawsuit filed on August 7 by the pro-government minor party Rodina, which requested the disqualification of Yabloko’s candidates for the general election. Rodina alleged that Yabloko had violated several election-related laws, including intellectual property law and anti-extremism law, that procedural issues were identified in the nomination process for its candidates, and that the party used campaign funds exceeding the legal limit. The Russian Supreme Court accepted all of Rodina’s claims.

Both domestically and internationally, these developments are being interpreted as a move to exclude Yabloko from the election due to its opposition to the Ukraine war. Founded in 1993, Yabloko is a Russian social-liberal party that has emphasized strengthening relations with the West. It has been the only Russian political party to openly oppose the war since its outbreak in 2022.

Earlier, in June, Yabloko’s deputy leader and former Moscow city council member, Maksim Kruglov, was sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of spreading false information about the military. In December last year, party leader Nikolai Livakov was fined after making a post on the social media account of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who died under suspicious circumstances in 2024.

Meanwhile, this year’s Russian general election will be held from September 18 to 20. For the first time, residents of Ukrainian regions occupied by Russia, such as Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk) and Novorossiya (the Black Sea coastal area), will be eligible to participate in the election.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.