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The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has issued a decision to dissolve the political party Civic Initiative. This was reported by the channel “Ostorozhno, novosti.”

Earlier, the Ministry of Justice filed a lawsuit to dissolve Civic Initiative, alleging that the party had not participated in elections for the past seven years. The ministry stated that since March 2018, the party had missed elections for State Duma deputies, the presidency, and the positions of regional heads.

According to the Ministry of Justice, in elections to regional legislative assemblies, Civic Initiative registered only one candidate, in Primorsky Krai, a region in Russia’s Far East. And in local government elections, it nominated candidates in 17 regions, which is less than half the regions of the Russian Federation.

However, party members stated that they considered the Ministry of Justice’s claim a “political decision” linked to their views. According to supporters, since its founding in 2013, the party has repeatedly put forward candidates at all election levels, including the presidential elections in 2018 (where Ksenia Sobchak was the party’s candidate) and 2024. However, a year ago, politician Boris Nadezhdin was refused registration as a candidate, despite collecting 250,000 signatures in his support.

In court, representatives of Civic Initiative noted that the law on political parties “does not contain clear rules for determining the seven-year period during which a party can be considered as not having participated in elections.”

In addition, the next seven-year calendar period, calculated from the party’s registration, expires in 2027. In Civic Initiative’s view, liquidation in the middle of this year deprives supporters of the opportunity to participate in the unified voting day this year and in subsequent elections.

“The decision, unfortunately, was expected. <…> De facto, [they have liquidated] the last opposition party, at least of a liberal-democratic orientation. From our point of view, there were no legal grounds for this. The Ministry of Justice’s claim raises a huge number of questions, first and foremost related to the definition of the alleged seven-year period of non-participation in elections. We will continue our struggle in the legal field, we will appeal, and then, probably, we will turn to the Constitutional Court,” said Andrei Nechaev, leader of Civic Initiative.

  • The Civic Initiative party has repeatedly come under pressure from security forces. For example, in February 2025, on the eve of registration for the elections, more than 60 printers across Russia refused to print the election newspaper for presidential candidate Boris Nadezhdin. The print houses cited “orders from above.”
  • Party members, including activist Mark Serov and Evgeny Markov from Kazan, a major city on the Volga, also faced raids. During the 2024 presidential election, their colleague, Dmitry Rumyantsev, an observer from the public chamber and also a party member, was attacked at a polling station. Volunteers from Nadezhdin’s Civic Initiative campaign team were detained at polling stations in St Petersburg, Cheboksary, a city on the Volga, and Kazan.