Russia's Supreme Court barred the liberal Yabloko party from participating in the September 2026 State Duma elections, overturning the party's registration days after it had been approved by the Central Election Commission. The court accepted a lawsuit filed by the pro-government Rodina party alleging campaign-related legal violations, including foreign funding and copyright infringements. Yabloko was the only officially registered party campaigning against Russia's war in Ukraine and advocating for a ceasefire. The decision thus removed the sole anti-war option from the national ballot and further narrowed political competition ahead of parliamentary elections. Human Rights Watch and opposition groups criticized the ruling as a violation of political participation and freedom of expression 

On 10 June 2026, President Vladimir Putin signed legislation allowing the government to confiscate property, seize bank funds, and take a range of other punitive measures against Russians abroad for a range of offenses. Effective 1 September, courts may freeze Russian bank accounts and other domestic assets before deciding the underlying case, including for alleged military ‘discrediting’, sanctions advocacy, ‘foreign agent’ violations and involvement with ‘undesirable’ organizations. On 22 July, the State Duma adopted a further package targeting people abroad who were convicted in absentia. It provides for a public register and restrictions on banking, property transactions, electronic state services and consular assistance. Rights advocates described the measures as ‘civic death’. Together, the laws expand Russia’s capacity to penalize anti-war activists, journalists and other critics beyond its borders, and their vague criteria allow for even broader application in the future.  

Sources: ICNL, The Moscow Times (1), The Moscow Times (2) 

Independent Russian media discovered in April 2026 that Russia’s Judicial Department, which operates under the Supreme Court, had removed public access to judicial statistics and failed to publish data for 2025 by its own reporting deadline. The withdrawn database had provided biannual information on convictions, sentencing patterns, defendants’ demographic characteristics, and prosecutions under specific articles of the criminal code. Officials stated that access was suspended because regulations governing publication were being revised, but provided no details regarding the scope of the changes or whether the data would be restored. Journalists, researchers, and human rights organizations had relied on the statistics to monitor judicial practices and track politically sensitive prosecutions, including cases involving extremism, treason, and anti-war activity. The removal of the database further reduces transparency and public oversight of the judiciary, part of a broader policy of restricting access to official data since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Sources: Meduza, The Moscow Times, Vyorstka 

All members of a St. Petersburg rock band, Stoptime, were sentenced to repeated periods of administrative detention in October and November for performing songs by artists the state considers ‘foreign agents’. The band had performed street concerts for years without permits but had not been threatened with arrest until videos of their performances began to be shared widely on Russian social media. The case marks a new level of restrictions on speech in modern Russia, as the street musicians have neither taken any political stances nor played political songs. It remains unclear what specific actions the state considers sufficient to have warranted this action, and the lack of clarity marks a deepening of an already restricted space for free speech. Diana Loginova, Alexander Orlov and Vladislav Leontiev were first sentenced to 12- or 13-days imprisonment for ‘organizing a rally that causes public disorder,’ and then re-arrested and sentenced on different administrative charges twice more immediately upon exiting the city jail. Criminal charges of ‘discrediting the military’ were filed against all three in November, but on 23 November all three were not subjected to rearrest and successfully traveled to Armenia. 

Sources: Meduza, Mezha, Amnesty International