Russia's Supreme Court barred the liberal Yabloko party from the ballot in parliamentary elections next month, blocking what would have been the only group that is calling for an end to Moscow's war against Ukraine.
The August 10 decision, in a hearing held with hundreds of mostly young Russians outside the courthouse, dashed hopes of opponents of the war that they would have an outlet for their views in the September 18-20 elections.
It underscored the extent of the Kremlin's intolerance of dissent, which has become even more severe since President Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The Central Election Commission had unexpectedly registered Yabloko late last month for the first elections of the 450-seat State Duma, the lower parliament house, since the start of the all-out war.
The nationalist party Rodina filed a lawsuit last week seeking to annul Yabloko's registration, alleging an array of violations including improper funding, copyright handling, and extremism.
At the hearing, Yabloko chairman Nikolai Rybakov rejected the accusations and said the party is defending the interests of the majority -- "because preserving human lives is in the interest of the majority of Russian citizens."
Rybakov said Yabloko will do everything it can to make Russia "a thriving democratic state." The party announced it would appeal, saying "let's not despair."
Court rulings in high-profile cases are widely believed to be handed down by or closely coordinated with the Kremlin, and the Supreme Court judge who heard the suit against Yabloko, Vyacheslav Kirillov, is the author of other hard-line rulings, such as the decision to brand the respected rights group Memorial "extremist" earlier this year.
But analysts suggested the developments surrounding Yabloko -- first registered, then barred from the ballot -- may reflect infighting between interest groups in the Russian elite: roughly speaking, security officials and other hawks whose instinct is to crush dissent, especially opposition to the war, and those hoping it will end soon.
Polls show a majority of Russians want negotiations to end the war, which has killed hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers. Recent Ukrainian attacks on oil-and-gas infrastructure and other targets, sometimes far from the border with Ukraine, have caused civilian casualties and brought the war closer to many citizens.
Putin has rejected Ukrainian and US calls for a cease-fire that would freeze the front lines in place, instead demanding Ukraine hand over territory Russia has been unable to seize in battle. He has repeatedly vowed to achieve his goals through diplomacy or by force.
Yabloko emerged in the 1990s and was a significant force in the Duma. But Putin rolled back Russia's democratic progress after first becoming president in 2000, and the party has not won any seats in elections held since 2003 that have been increasingly marred by evidence of fraud in favor of the Kremlin-controlled United Russia party.
