Navalny’s widow Yulia Navalnaya urges Russians to vote for any party except United Russia in State Duma election

Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of Alexei Navalny and head of the Anti-Corruption Foundation he established, delivered a video statement following Russia’s Supreme Court decision to disqualify Yabloko from the State Duma race. Yabloko, a party she had encouraged Russians to support, was removed from the ballot just days after being cleared to run.

The party, which united a diverse range of political forces and seemingly did so without much effort, had initially emerged as a rallying point for Russia’s antiwar majority. This group saw an opportunity to express their opposition to the ongoing conflict by casting a vote against the war. However, the Kremlin swiftly intervened, removing Yabloko from the election roster just days after its approval.

Yulia Navalnaya urged Russians to vote for any party except United Russia in the upcoming State Duma elections. For single-member districts, she advised voters to follow the recommendations of “Smart Voting.” Initially, Rodina, a party, petitioned the Supreme Court to remove Yabloko from the race, arguing that the party had violated copyright laws and used "extremist" slogans in its campaign materials.

The court agreed with Rodina and disqualified Yabloko from participating in the election. Yabloko intends to appeal the ruling. Meduza, the news outlet responsible for this story, is dedicated to transparency regarding its use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. This piece was written by one of their human journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model that adheres to their stringent editorial guidelines.

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