{
  "id": 5615142,
  "title": "At least 36 Russian opposition candidates have been forced out of upcoming elections — more than half from Yabloko",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/04/at-least-36-russian-opposition-candidates-have-been-forced-out-of",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-04T17:50:09.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Insider",
    "slug": "the-insider",
    "url": "https://theins.press/en/news/296824"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "At least 36 Russian opposition candidates have been barred from upcoming elections, with more than half belonging to the Yabloko party. Verstka, an independent outlet, has calculated this figure, noting the cases of disqualification across various districts. Yabloko's 19 candidates, along with 8 from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, 6 from other Kremlin-approved parties, and 3 independents, were among those affected. The primary reason for their exclusion was allegations of displaying \"extremist symbols,\" affecting 27 candidates. Other grounds included posts about Alexei Navalny, sharing links to social networks deemed \"forbidden,\" and owning foreign securities. In Kaliningrad, Yabloko candidate Anton Gendrikson faced a 10-day jail sentence for a post featuring the Facebook logo. Nikita Bondarenko, a Communist Party candidate in Saratov, was fined 1,000 rubles for a post featuring Navalny on his Telegram channel, despite denying any connection to it. In the Moscow Region, Yabloko's Viktor Bystrov had his registration canceled due to errors in his paperwork, which his defense attributed to technical issues. The cancellation of party list registrations also impacted Yabloko's federal list, consisting of 269 candidates. This decision, made by Russia's Supreme Court, has had cascading effects on other opposition parties as well. In Kostroma, Yabloko-nominated candidate Andrei Tarasov reported that advertising contractors refused to display his campaign banners, citing a ban on election-related information due to the ongoing \"special military operation.\" Tarasov appealed to the Investigative Committee head, but no resolution has been reached yet. The security services have secured their position in the electoral landscape, as Russia's Supreme Court barred Yabloko, the country's only anti-war party, from participating in the parliamentary elections.",
  "summary": "At least 36 single-mandate district candidates dropped out of races for Russia’s State Duma and regional parliaments, the independent outlet Verstka has calculated . Among them are 19 representatives of the opposition Yabloko party, eight from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, six candidates from other Kremlin-approved parties, and three independents. The outlet counted cases in…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}