Russian Supreme Court bars opposition party Yabloko from the elections. Raids in Odessa and Sumy
Russian missile strikes launched last night caused damage to people and residential buildings
The Russian Supreme Court has barred the opposition party Yabloko from the forthcoming Duma elections following an appeal lodged by the Rodina party. This was reported by the Tass news agency. “The Rodina party’s request is upheld in full,” reads the court’s ruling. Rodina had accused Yabloko of a series of offences, including copyright infringement, illegal election campaigning and support for extremism. The case was heard by Judge Vyacheslav Kirillov, the same judge who, in the spring, had declared the International Memorial Society to be “extremist”.
Hundreds of people, mainly teenagers and young adults, gathered outside the courthouse to show their support for Yabloko. They ate apples – given that ‘Yabloko’ means ‘apple’ – chanted the party’s name and wrote messages of support on pieces of paper. No mass arrests were reported, although riot police stopped two girls who were handing out Yabloko leaflets and fined a motorist who was driving near the courthouse with a Yabloko song playing in the background. After the verdict was read out, those who had come to support Yabloko began shouting “Shame!”. The police ordered the crowd to disperse. This was reported by the independent Russian news outlet Meduza.
New Russian raids on Odessa
A Russian missile attack launched last night against Odessa caused damage to residential buildings and injured at least 14 people, according to Ukrainian authorities. Eleven of the injured have been admitted to hospital. One of them is in a serious condition, the governor of the Odessa Oblast, Oleh Kiper, has said. In two different districts, residential buildings were damaged or partially destroyed, whilst residents’ cars were destroyed or set alight. Bombs also struck the city of Sumy last night: the initial toll stands at five injured, with damage to blocks of flats and private homes.
Meanwhile, in Kyiv and across several regions of Ukraine, an alert had been triggered for the second time that night due to the threat of ballistic weapons. This was reported by Ukrinform, citing the Ukrainian Air Force and the air raid alert map. “Threat of ballistic weapons from the north,” was the warning issued by the military.
Russia, Ukrainian drones: 18 dead in Tatarstan and Belgorod over two days
