Moscow Police Detain Two Yabloko Candidates Ahead of State Duma Vote

Moscow authorities detained two members of the liberal Yabloko party, Anna Shatunovskaya-Byurno and Grigory Grishin, each contesting a single-member constituency for the State Duma. The party’s press service said the arrests occurred at different times and the individuals were taken to local police stations, but no specific accusations have been made public. This follows the earlier detention of another Yabloko candidate, Artyom Snegovsky, who was charged with “discrediting” the Russian military before being released.

While Russia’s Supreme Court recently cancelled Yabloko’s federal candidate list, the party can still field candidates in individual districts, although at least 19 such candidates have already been disqualified for various alleged violations, according to the exiled outlet Vyorstka. Yabloko, Russia’s oldest liberal party and the only registered group campaigning on a pro-peace platform, now faces heightened obstacles to participating in the upcoming parliamentary elections.