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Russia’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the Yabloko party — the only officially registered political party in Russia that openly opposed Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine — upholding its removal from the ballot for September’s State Duma elections. The ruling came on the same day a Moscow court sentenced Lev Schlosberg, Yabloko’s most prominent politician, to eleven years and one month in prison on charges of “discrediting” the Russian armed forces.
The double blow eliminates any organized electoral opposition to the Kremlin heading into September’s parliamentary vote. Yabloko had been the last opposition party with official registration status capable of running candidates nationally. Its removal from the Duma ballot was first ordered on August 10th; Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling confirmed the decision is final.
Schlosberg, who had publicly criticized the military campaign since 2022, condemned the verdict as political. “This is not a conviction for any crime,” he said in a statement before sentencing. “This is punishment for my political position.” The eleven-year sentence is among the harshest handed down to an opposition politician who remained inside Russia after 2022.
Russian authorities justified the removal of Yabloko from the September ballot on procedural grounds, citing alleged violations in the party’s candidate registration documents. Party officials say the charges were manufactured to clear the field before an election where the Kremlin’s United Russia party is expected to consolidate its supermajority in the Duma.
The September elections, scheduled for the 20th, will determine the composition of the State Duma for the next five years. With Yabloko eliminated, the ballot consists exclusively of parties that have either explicitly supported the military campaign or maintained studied silence on it. The three other parties permitted to run — the Communist Party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, and A Just Russia — have each backed the government’s military posture.
Amnesty International called Schlosberg’s conviction “a devastating blow to what little civic space remains in Russia,” and designated him a prisoner of conscience. The organization noted the verdict came as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has promised unprecedented new sanctions packages targeting Moscow.
With all organized opposition either imprisoned, exiled, or barred from the ballot, the Kremlin is positioning for a fully stage-managed legislative result that will extend its domestic political control well into the next decade.
