In a move that further narrows political opposition ahead of September’s parliamentary elections, Russia’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Yabloko, the country’s only openly anti-war political party, confirming the organization’s exclusion from the upcoming vote. Following the court’s ruling, security forces carried out detentions of dozens of people connected to the party, according to on-the-ground reports. Yabloko, which has long positioned itself as a voice for liberal opposition and outspoken criticism of Russia’s military operations, had challenged the initial ban that barred it from placing candidates on the ballot. The party’s leadership had argued that the exclusion was a politically motivated attempt to eliminate anti-war sentiment from the official electoral process. The Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the ban solidifies the elimination of any registered anti-war opposition from the September election ballot, drawing quiet concern from international observers who have repeatedly raised alarms about the shrinking space for political dissent in Russia in recent years. The detentions of dozens of Yabloko supporters and members following the ruling add to a pattern of crackdowns on opposition voices that have intensified since the start of the full-scale military campaign in Ukraine. Rights groups note that this ban is part of a broader series of actions targeting any political organization that does not align with the Kremlin’s current policy agenda, leaving voters with no officially registered option to express opposition to the ongoing war through the parliamentary election process.