Bulletin of doubt: why the Supreme Court removed Yabloko from the State Duma elections

On August 10, the Central Election Commission of Russia approved the text of the ballot paper for the State Duma elections, initially including the Yabloko party under the second number. However, on the same day, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, at the request of the Rodina party, excluded Yabloko candidates from the election race, agreeing with the arguments about violations of the law. What exactly, in the opinion of the Supreme Court, are the violations, and whether Yabloko has a chance to return to the election race is in the Izvestia article.

Supreme Court session

The Supreme Court granted the claim of the Rodina party and canceled the registration of the federal list of candidates from Yabloko in the elections to the State Duma. The grounds for the withdrawal of the party from the election race were two key violations indicated by the plaintiff.

Firstly, Yabloko used other people's texts, images and videos in its propaganda without the consent of the copyright holders. Secondly, the party's accounts received money from individuals who received foreign funding, and some of the campaign materials were distributed through foreign Internet sites.

During the court session, Rosfinmonitoring's documents on foreign financing of Yabloko through third parties were announced. The agency identified 72 people whose accounts received funds from the United States, Germany, India, Azerbaijan and Georgia from April to July 2026. Even before the trial began, the leader of Rodina, Alexei Zhuravlev, publicly accused Yabloko of receiving money from Mikhail Khodorkovsky's structures (recognized in the Russian Federation as a foreign agent, terrorist and extremist).

A representative of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation also spoke out against the party in court. According to him, the party clearly violated the legislation on countering extremism. However, this accusation was not considered convincing in court.

"The plaintiff's arguments that the party's propaganda materials contain calls for extremist activities cannot be verified in this case and must be considered in a separate proceeding upon presentation of relevant evidence," the press service of the Supreme Court said.

Representatives of Yabloko did not recognize the court's decision. According to the law, Yabloko has five days to appeal the verdict. The party has already stated that the lawyers will definitely file an appeal within the prescribed period. At the same time, Yabloko is preparing a retaliatory step. Nikolai Rybakov, the chairman of the party, told reporters that they intend to file a lawsuit to protect their business reputation against Rodina and its leader Alexei Zhuravlev, but he did not disclose the details of future legal claims.

Meanwhile, on August 10, the Central Election Commission approved the text of the federal election bulletin, which included all 11 participating parties, including Yabloko under the second number. Despite the verdict of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the Central Election Commission does not need to reprint or change the approved bulletin yet. As explained by Nikolai Bulaev, deputy chairman of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, the issue of correcting the text will arise only after the court's decision officially enters into force — that is, if Yabloko loses the upcoming appeal.

It is worth noting that the party lost its representation in the State Duma back in 2003. At that time, Yabloko won 4.3% of the vote and failed to overcome the mandatory five percent barrier.

Voting in the State Duma elections

The State Duma elections are scheduled for September 18-20. It is noteworthy that earlier, some citizens who had gone abroad and were recognized in the Russian Federation as foreign agents, terrorists and extremists had already called for voting for Yabloko. At the same time, back in April, President Vladimir Putin warned that the election campaign would be difficult due to attempts by external opponents to split society. The Head of State stressed that any such interference would be severely suppressed, and the voters themselves, the Russian leader is sure, would eventually support constructive programs.

At the same time, the placement of places on the ballot was determined shortly before the court proceedings. On August 5, the Central Election Commission approved the procedure for placing parties based on the results of the draw, in which all 11 registered associations participated. According to its results, Yabloko just won the second place.

It is worth noting that the leaders of other parliamentary factions also criticized Yabloko. Earlier, Communist Party Chairman Gennady Zyuganov said that the party does not support the strengthening of Russian statehood in the current military conflict. The head of Just Russia, Sergei Mironov, spoke even harsher, calling the association a "party of traitors." In his opinion, Yabloko should not use the election campaign to the State Duma to promote anti-Russian ideas.

Mironov recalled that Yabloko had condemned the start of its operation back in 2022. The MP added that the position of the association has not changed even after the numerous crimes of the Kiev regime, and called on the Prosecutor General's Office and the Ministry of Justice to carefully study the activities of the party in order to give a legal assessment of the actions of its leadership.

Leonid Slutsky, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party and chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, joined the criticism. He called Yabloko's proposal to conclude a peace agreement with Kiev a betrayal, comparing this initiative with the Brest Peace Treaty of 1918. The deputy recalled that at that time the country had lost vast territories and millions of people, and stressed that Yabloko was trying to impose a similar scenario on Russia.