People hold up Civic Initiative banners at an anti-government rally in Moscow, on 12 June 2012. Photo: Civic Initiative / X

Russia’s Supreme Court has approved the Justice Ministry’s request to liquidate the Civic Initiative political party, in what the party officials said was a politically motivated decision.

“The decision was expected, but that doesn’t make it any less wrong,” the party said in a statement published on Tuesday.

Founded in 2013 by Russia’s first post-Soviet Economic Development Minister Andrey Nechaev, Civic Initiative was one of the few non-systemic opposition parties in the country, having attempted to nominate anti-war candidate Boris Nadezhdin for the 2024 presidential election.

Nadezhdin’s candidacy was ultimately rejected by the Central Election Commission over a higher-than-permitted proportion of invalid signatures supporting his nomination.

The party also nominated high-profile TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak as its candidate for the 2018 presidential election, in which she came fourth with 1.68% of the vote, according to the official tally.

The Justice Ministry alleged in its appeal to the Supreme Court that the party had not complied with the law on nominating candidates and registering them in elections, adding that any party that has not stood in elections for seven consecutive years may legally be disbanded.

Civic Initiative said that it planned to appeal the ruling, noting that it had nominated candidates for multiple elections and often been denied registration for politically motivated reasons. “The party cannot register candidates, and is then prosecuted for not standing in elections,” it added.

“Today’s decision is a good reason to redouble our efforts,” the statement continued, adding that the party had been fighting for its values for nearly 13 years. “To stop now would make no sense.”