Russia's supreme court upheld a lawsuit brought by the pro-Kremlin Rodina party against Yabloko, barring its candidates from September's parliamentary elections. Rodina accused Yabloko of copyright infringement, extremism, and illegal foreign financing; the case was decided by the same judge who banned Memorial and dismissed Navalny's prison complaints.
Some 500 supporters gathered outside the court distributing apples, Yabloko's namesake symbol, while security services warned young men in the crowd they could be sent to army enlistment offices. Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov denied any lawbreaking and vowed to appeal.
Analysts offered competing theories for the ban, from an internal Kremlin power struggle to a calculated move to prevent Yabloko from either embarrassing the war effort with strong turnout or embarrassing itself with a weak one. Yulia Navalnaya said officials 'got scared' after seeing opposition figures rally support for the party. The ban also strips Yabloko of its right to send independent election monitors to polling stations.
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