{
  "id": 707730,
  "title": "Meduza’s sources close to the Kremlin say Putin’s team registered an antiwar party as an experiment and shut it down, banning Yabloko from the ballot, when the polling came back",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/12/meduzas-sources-close-to-the-kremlin-say-putins-team-registered-an",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-12T22:51:26.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Meduza (English)",
    "slug": "meduza-english",
    "url": "https://meduza.io/en/feature/2026/08/13/meduza-s-sources-close-to-the-kremlin-say-putin-s-team-registered-an-antiwar-party-as-an-experiment-and-shut-it-down-banning-yabloko-from-the-ballot-when-the-polling-came-back"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Yabloko, a liberal party led by Nikolai Rybakov, registered for the State Duma elections on July 29, 2026. However, on August 7, the Rodina party filed a lawsuit against Yabloko, accusing it of copyright violations, foreign funding concealment, and extremism in its slogan \"For Peace and Freedom!\" Despite the accusations, Yabloko denied all claims and continued to operate. On August 10, the Supreme Court ruled to remove Yabloko's candidate list from the Duma election. The decision came as a shock to many Russians, who saw it as an attempt to suppress an antiwar voice. Sources close to the Kremlin claimed that Putin's team registered Yabloko as an experiment, and then shut it down due to the unfavorable polling results. The move was seen as a risk mitigation strategy by the Presidential Administration, aimed at preventing an antiwar party from taking away votes from the Communist Party.",
  "summary": "On July 29, Russia’s Central Election Commission registered the liberal party Yabloko for elections to the State Duma, the lower house of parliament. On August 7, however, another party, Rodina, filed suit at Russia’s Supreme Court demanding that the decision be overturned. Rodina said Yabloko had repeatedly violated copyright in its campaign materials and on its website, and that it had…",
  "key_points": [
    "Yabloko registered as antiwar party on July 29, 2026",
    "Rodina party sued Yabloko for copyright violations and extremism",
    "Kremlin sources say Putin's team shut down Yabloko due to polling"
  ],
  "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."
}