The first anti-war party appeared in Russia, and its ratings began to soar.

A new anti-war political party has emerged in Russia, gaining significant public support before being swiftly banned from participating in parliamentary elections. The party, known as Yabloko, was the only registered federal-level group openly opposing Russia's war in Ukraine. Within days of its rise, the Russian Supreme Court accepted a lawsuit filed by the Rodina party, leading to Yabloko’s removal from the electoral roll ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections. The court action was initiated by Aleksey Zhuravlev, leader of Rodina, who accused Yabloko of financial violations, copyright infringement, and displaying signs of extremism. According to the ruling, Yabloko used a quote from the song "Let There Always Be Sunshine," along with the phrase "If only there were no war," without obtaining permission from the rights holders. Additionally, the court cited the use of an image generated by ChatGPT on Yabloko’s website as a violation of OpenAI’s copyrights. Another issue raised was the use of a still from Sergei Bondarchuk’s 1967 film "War and Peace," which the court deemed a breach of rights held by Mosfilm. The lawsuit also claimed that Yabloko had significantly increased its informational activities, including on platforms associated with foreign agents, though Yabloko’s leader, Grigory Yavlinsky, denied these allegations. No evidence of such payments was presented in the legal documents. Judge Vyacheslav Kirilov accepted the case and ruled against Yabloko, removing it from the election list. Kirilov previously declared Memorial, a human rights organization awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, as an extremist entity, enabling authorities to target individuals supporting its work. The court’s decision has not yet taken effect, and Yabloko plans to appeal, although they acknowledge their chances are slim given the Kremlin’s stance against opposition groups. Last time Yabloko entered the State Duma was during the 1999 campaign, securing 5.93 percent of the vote. In the 2021 parliamentary elections, the party received just 1.34 percent. According to a survey by a socio-research center cited by the newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Yabloko’s approval rating reached 9.38 percent by late July, indicating it would have secured representation in parliament. As a result, the Russian regime recently began labeling prominent members of Yabloko as “foreign agents,” stripping them of voting rights. Several key figures have been targeted, including Lev Shlosberg, who was listed in a registry of terrorists and extremists and is currently in custody on charges of spreading false information about the military. Maxim Kruglov was sentenced to seven years in prison in June under similar accusations. Yuriy Rybakov could soon face similar treatment after stating among Yabloko’s main goals the preservation of human lives and moving the world away from the brink of nuclear war. He emphasized that peaceful resolution of the conflict in Ukraine should follow as soon as possible. Irina Kopykina, deputy head of Yabloko in Moscow, concluded her speech thanking middle school students and university attendees who supported the party in court with the words: "For peace and freedom!" Julia Navalnaya, wife of the deceased opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and other exiled Russian dissidents urged Russians to support Yabloko, but the party instructed them not to interfere, citing concerns over increased threats to its members. Rodina expressed satisfaction with the Supreme Court’s decision to disqualify Yabloko from the parliamentary elections, according to RIA Novosti. Zhuravlev also criticized Yabloko, accusing it of undermining national unity.