Russian court bars only anti-war party from standing in parliamentary elections

Russia's only liberal, anti-war party will not be able to take part in next month's parliamentary elections, a Moscow court has ruled.

Yabloko was the only registered party to oppose Russia's war on Ukraine.

The case against it was brought forward by Rodina, a pro-Kremlin nationalist party.

Hundreds of people - mostly very young - on Monday had stood outside the Moscow courthouse where the hearing was taking place in support of Yabloko, singing songs and waving flags.

Videos posted on social media showed that when news of the verdict spread among the crowd, many started chanting: "Shame! Shame!"

The lawsuit by the Rodina party accused Yabloko of publicly supporting an extremist organisation by publishing material on its website in support of the "international LGBT movement", which Russia's Supreme Court designated as extremist in 2023.

Rodina also said Yabloko was guilty of copyright infringement after a senior party member had quoted the lyrics of a Soviet-era song - "Let there always be sunshine" - in an interview.

At the hearing, Russia's financial monitoring service also claimed that Yabloko received money through third parties from foreign countries, including Germany and the US.