Pressure is mounting on Russia's liberal opposition party Yabloko ahead of parliamentary elections, with a lawsuit filed seeking to strip the party of its right to stand, the Russian state news agency TASS reported on Friday, citing court sources.
Yabloko, which is running under the slogan "For Peace and Freedom," is the only political force openly opposing Russia's war against Ukraine.
The lawsuit was filed by Aleksei Zhuravlyov, a member of the State Duma from the far-right Rodina (Motherland) party, according to TASS.
Russia's Central Electoral Commission unexpectedly approved Yabloko's participation in the parliamentary election, scheduled for September 18-20, at the end of July.
Many of the party's members are considered victims of political persecution and judicial arbitrariness. It had been speculated that the Kremlin wanted to create a limited outlet for dissatisfied voters.
Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov wrote on Telegram that the party has not yet received the lawsuit. He accused Zhuravlyov of making defamatory statements and said he would file a counter-lawsuit.
Yabloko distances itself from exiled opposition
Yabloko distanced itself from calls made by prominent critics in exile. "In recent days, Yabloko has been publicly supported on social media by those whose support, under current conditions, could lead to our party being excluded from the elections," Rybakov wrote on Telegram late on Thursday evening.
Yabloko has no foreign sources of funding and no ties to organizations classified as undesirable in Russia, he said. The party does not regard statements, appeals and events by anyone abroad as part of its election campaign.
"We are continuing to run a fair and honest campaign - for a ceasefire agreement, diplomacy, the achievement of peace, for freedom, for human rights and a life without fear," Rybakov wrote.
Prominent opposition figures in exile have called on Russians to vote for Yabloko in the election. Among them were opposition politicians Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin, who were freed two years ago in a high-profile prisoner exchange.
The widow of leading Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny, who was tortured to death in a prison camp, also called on voters to back Yabloko.
