On Tuesday, Russia’s Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the center-right Civic Initiative party, more than a year after it put forward the sole anti-war candidate for the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

The decision was made in response to a request from the Justice Ministry, which claimed that the party should be disbanded due to its lack of participation in elections over the past seven years.

Founded in 2013, the Civic Initiative labeled the ruling as politically motivated, alleging that election officials had consistently obstructed its candidates from being registered for elections. The party announced plans to contest the ruling.

Civic Initiative declared on Telegram, “We do not plan to relinquish our political agency.”

Boris Nadezhdin, the party’s most recent presidential candidate, was prevented from participating in the 2024 election due to supposed irregularities regarding his endorsement signatures. Despite ongoing repression of dissent during wartime, his brief pro-peace campaign garnered significant support from Russians opposed to the war in Ukraine.

The Civic Initiative previously maintained that the seven-year inactivity period cited by the Justice Ministry would not end until 2027. The party cautioned that its dissolution would hinder its candidates from competing in forthcoming regional elections.

Just one day prior to the Supreme Court’s ruling, the party had announced its intentions to nominate candidates for local elections in six regions, including Leningrad and Kaliningrad. It remains unclear how the court’s decision will affect these plans.

Nadezhdin, who had previously served as a municipal deputy in the Moscow region, stepped down from his local position and filed for bankruptcy following his disqualification from the presidential race last year.