Third criminal case opened against deputy leader of Russian liberal party Yabloko

The deputy leader of Russian liberal party Yabloko, Lev Shlosberg, is facing fresh criminal charges for “spreading false information” about the Russian army over an unspecified post on his Telegram channel in February 2022, Yabloko announced on Friday.

One of the few opposition politicians still living in Russia, Shlosberg has been vocal about his anti-war views since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which led to his name being added to the Kremlin’s list of “foreign agents” in June 2023. 

In November, Schlosberg was ordered to complete 420 hours of community service for failing to comply with his obligations as a “foreign agent”, and is currently under house arrest in Pskov, northwestern Russia, while another criminal case against him for “discrediting” the Russian army by calling for an immediate ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine is being considered. 

The fresh charges against Shlosberg come amid increasing pressure on members of Yabloko, the only legal party in Russia that does not recognise the annexation of Crimea and has taken a principled stand against the invasion of Ukraine.

On Thursday, Nikolay Rybakov, the leader of Yabloko, was found guilty of “displaying extremist symbols” over a photograph he posted of the late opposition politician Alexey Navalny, which makes him ineligible to stand in next year’s elections.

During his closing remarks in court in October, Shlosberg read out the names of people who were extrajudicially killed by the Soviet secret police in Pskov during Stalin’s Great Terror, comparing Russia’s “foreign agent” laws to the persecution of “enemies of the people” during the communist era. 

“Until freedom, justice and peace come to our country, there will be no future in which people will not fear the state, fear for their children’s future, fear for their lives,” Shlosberg said.