Kremlin silences anti-war party as domestic repression grows

A Russian court sentenced a leader of the anti-war Yabloko party to more than 11 years in a penal colony for “discrediting” the country’s armed forces, the latest sign of the Kremlin’s rising domestic repression. The decision comes a week after Moscow banned the party from contesting September’s parliamentary elections.

Separately, the chief economist at a top state-run financial institution was fired for warning of the economic toll of the Ukraine war. Russia has in recent months ramped up its crackdown on dissent as its battlefield progress stalls: Authorities have cut off the internet for lengthy periods and deployed the intelligence services to punish dissidents. “The FSB has become the management company of the country,” an analyst told Bloomberg.