Russia’s Supreme Court Upholds Yabloko Ballot Ban 1 Month Before Duma Vote

Q: With their nationwide ballot access erased, what secret 'Plan B' is Russia's oldest liberal party preparing for disenfranchised voters?

There is no publicly confirmed “secret” Plan B yet. Yabloko chairman Nikolai Rybakov said only that the party is preparing an alternative for supporters who can no longer vote for its federal party list, but he did not disclose details. What is known is that Yabloko still can run candidates in single-member districts, and the party says it will keep using legal avenues, including an appeal to Russia’s Constitutional Court and other review procedures. That suggests Plan B is likely to combine courtroom challenges with an electoral fallback aimed at keeping anti-war and liberal voters engaged despite the loss of nationwide ballot access. Broader reporting points to the most plausible elements of that fallback: urging supporters to back Yabloko candidates where they remain on district ballots, and possibly coordinating some form of protest or tactical voting to register opposition to the ruling United Russia party. Exiled opposition figures and analysts have discussed such options publicly, but Yabloko itself has not formally unveiled them as its official plan. So the short answer is that the plan remains undisclosed. The party has confirmed only that it is working on an alternative strategy for disenfranchised supporters after being stripped from the proportional party-list ballot.

3 articles · Updated · The Bulwark · Aug 19

September’s Duma election will proceed without Yabloko after Russia’s Supreme Court appellate panel upheld the antiwar party’s removal from the federal ballot at a tightly controlled hearing.
Rodina’s challenge cited alleged foreign-linked donations, campaign spending breaches and copyright violations, but the broader trigger was Yabloko’s antiwar platform and unexpectedly rising support.
Closed government polling reportedly showed about 10% backing for Yabloko—double the 5% threshold for Duma seats—while United Russia’s rating sat near a record-low 32%.
The clampdown widened the same day when former Yabloko lawmaker Lev Shlosberg received 11 years and 1 month in prison for allegedly spreading false information about the army.
The case underscores how the Kremlin is pairing legal exclusion with repression as the Ukraine war nears its fifth year, even as antiwar sentiment appears to be spreading among younger Russians.