House approves Russia sanctions bill, sends it to Trump
The House passed a Russia sanctions bill backed by the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, targeting Russia over the war in Ukraine.
NEW YORK – Thousands of Russians living abroad rallied at embassies and consulates around the world to protest the country’s first parliamentary elections since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and demand an end to the war.
The election, devoid of any real opposition, was manufactured by the Kremlin in an effort to demonstrate broad support for the war, which is now in its fifth year. United Russia, the governing party closely aligned with Russian President Vladimir Putin, is said to have won roughly 50% in a widely expected result, according to exit polls.
The vote was the first to feature the participation of residents living in four Ukrainian regions that were illegally annexed by Russia shortly after the start of the invasion in 2022. A spokesperson for the European Commission said on Sept. 18 that it was a violation of international law to hold voting in the regions occupied by Russia.
Yabloko, the only political party to campaign on a pro-peace platform, was barred from participating in the election by Russia’s Supreme Court. Without a real opposition to vote for, some Russian opposition activists encouraged their supporters to vote for any party other than United Russia. Others advocated for boycotting the election altogether.
More than a hundred people chanted “Putin is a war criminal” and “Russia will be free” at a rainy protest outside the Russian consulate in New York on Sept. 20.
Olga Dautova, 42, who joined the protest in New York, said she was to demonstrate that she is “against Putin, his party, his war, and the killing of all innocent civilians.”
Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian political activist who was freed in a historic 2024 prisoner swap between the West and Russia, posed with a green apple – the symbol of the Yabloko party – outside the Russian Embassy in Washington after he was denied the right to vote.
Ilya Yashin, another Russian opposition activist who was freed in the 2024 swap, delivered a speech at the protest in New York after attempting to cast his vote. Yashin said that one of the most frequent questions he is asked by Europeans and Americans is how they can best support the Russian opposition movement.
“I always give the same answer: if you want to help a democratic Russia, the most important thing you can do is to protect Ukraine from Putin,” Yashin said.
While Putin sought to use the carefully orchestrated election to portray a country united in support of the war in Ukraine, a confrontation in New York between Yashin and a fellow anti-war protester illustrated the fractured state of the Russian opposition.
Vadim Sergiyenkov, a native of Saint Petersburg, Russia, attended the protest wrapped in a flag of Ukraine. He criticized Yashin for attempting to vote in the election, saying it amounted to an endorsement of Putin’s political system.
The two men argued for more than five minutes as Yashin urged Sergiyenkov to focus on their shared goals.
“You’re against the war and I’m against the war. You’re against Putin and I’m against Putin,” Yashin said. “Let’s first solve the main problem and then we will figure out the rest.”