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This is Svetlana Bronnikova from the independent media outlet 7x7. In September 2026, Russia will hold elections to the ninth convocation of the State Duma. The new parliament, elected for a five-year term, will shape the country's legislative agenda, budget allocation, and social policy through 2031. With the economy undergoing restructuring and the war in Ukraine ongoing, these elections will be a crucial test of the stability of Putin's regime.

The democratic Yabloko party, which advocates for a ceasefire, the release of political prisoners, and an end to political repression, has not cleared the 5% threshold required to enter the State Duma through party lists since 2003. In 2026, the party entered the race under the slogan “For Peace and Freedom.” However, on August 10, 2026, the Russian Supreme Court revoked the registration of its federal party list following a lawsuit filed by the pro-government Rodina party, even though the Central Election Commission had previously approved the candidates.

Following Yabloko's removal, no party representing an anti-war position remains on the ballot: all other registered political forces directly or indirectly support Putin's policies and Russia's military actions in Ukraine.

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Why Was Yabloko Removed from the Election?

The pro-government Rodina party filed a lawsuit seeking to remove Yabloko from the election, raising a range of complaints against the opposition party. The plaintiffs accused Yabloko of copyright infringement over its use of a photograph of bombed-out Hiroshima and a line from the Soviet song “May There Always Be Sunshine.” They also alleged foreign influence and pointed to the party's support for LGBTQ+ people. Rodina described Yabloko's calls to end the war in Ukraine as extremism and identified a procedural flaw in its documents: 218 of Yabloko's 269 candidates had obtained certificates confirming that they held no foreign bank accounts even before they were officially nominated.

How Did the Hearing Go?

During the hearing, Yabloko chairman Nikolay Rybakov compared Rodina's lawsuit to television propaganda. According to him, the plaintiffs had mistaken the Supreme Court courtroom for a television talk show, where loud slogans and labels such as “extremism” take the place of the law. He added that the lawsuit effectively called on the court to reject the Constitution. The copyright claims were addressed separately. Mikhail Ostrovsky, the son of the composer who wrote the music for “May There Always Be Sunshine,” weighed in on the dispute over the rights to the phrase. He officially authorized Yabloko to use the song in its campaign, emphasizing that he sympathized with the party's agenda and wanted his father's music to live on.

About 500 Yabloko supporters remained outside the Supreme Court building during the hearing. They campaigned for the party, drew Yabloko symbols and Russian flags on the pavement, and released a balloon bearing the words “For Peace and Freedom.” One particularly memorable moment came when a car drove past the court blasting IOWA and Yolka's song “Yabloko” (“Apple”). People in the crowd ran up to the car to shake the driver's hand.

How Yabloko’s Popularity Changed before the Hearing

Yabloko saw a sharp rise in popularity ahead of the hearing. In August, the party topped the rankings by audience size on Telegram. Between August 6 and 10, its channel's subscriber count grew from 107,000 to 194,000. According to the Atlas of Elections project, over a two-week period, user engagement with the party's posts, including likes, comments, and shares, increased 4.5-fold.

The surge in attention coincided with the start of Yabloko's election campaign and mounting pressure on its members. Several regional candidates were unable to run because of fines for “extremist symbols,” while criminal cases were opened against prominent party figures Lev Shlosberg and Maksim Kruglov. On August 10, the media outlet Mozhem Obyasnit (“We Can Explain”) highlighted Yabloko's leading position in election-preference polls conducted by local social media groups and Telegram channels. In Zelenograd, in particular, the poll was restarted twice to rule out manipulation, but Yabloko came first both times.

Political scientist Ekaterina Shulman noted that such polls reflect only the views of specific channels' audiences and are not representative. Nevertheless, she acknowledged that Yabloko's appearance on the ballot had significantly reshaped the electoral landscape. She added that either a scandalous court-ordered removal of Yabloko or the need to take votes away from the party if it performed too well could become the Presidential Domestic Policy Directorate's “last shady scheme.” 

Political scientists Alexander Kynev and Ivan Preobrazhensky also linked the pressure on the party to its growing success. Kynev described the surge in support as “conspicuously defiant,” saying that it was bound to provoke a response from the authorities. Preobrazhensky described Yabloko supporters as the broadest coalition of opponents of the regime in a long time.

Stay Home or Spoil the Ballot: What Will Yabloko Supporters Do Next

In an interview with 7x7, historian and publicist Ilya Budraitskis said that Yabloko had attracted not only voters who directly supported the party's platform, but also Russians who were simply tired of the war, a group he estimated at 25–40% of the population. In his view, if the party is removed from the election, this electorate will have only two legal options: vote for parties opposed to United Russia or stay away from the polls altogether because the outcome has already been predetermined.

Budraitskis believes that most voters will opt for the latter. He also added that, in theory, New People and the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) could offer an alternative, as their positions overlap with Yabloko's on certain issues, such as opposition to internet blocking. However, there are no avenues for public political participation in the country, and the widespread demand for peace and an end to repression is likely to remain a passive sentiment.

Economist and sociologist Vladislav Inozemtsev also told 7x7 that he did not expect large-scale protests or calls for civil disobedience from Yabloko's leadership. He predicted that voters would either stay home or spoil their ballots, stressing that neither New People nor A Just Russia would be able to attract Yabloko voters because of deep ideological differences.

Meanwhile, viewers filled the chat during the YouTube livestream of the hearing with messages such as “Peace is more important than war” and “Vote for peace.” On social media, Yabloko supporters have been engaged in a heated debate over whether there is any point in participating in the election now that the party has been removed from the ballot. 

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