Russian Liberal Party Member Detained Ahead of Elections

A member of the liberal Yabloko party was detained in Moscow on Thursday in connection with donations she allegedly made to a banned organization, the party said in a statement. Elena Perepelitsa, 60, was detained eight days after Yabloko's deputy leader, Maxim Kruglov, was convicted of spreading "false information" about the Russia n army and jailed for seven years. Russia is due to hold elections for the lower-house State Duma in September. Yabloko, once a leading liberal force in the post-Soviet period, now holds only a handful of seats in regional parliaments and none at the national level. In Russia 's tightly controlled political system, the party is unlikely to win any State Duma seats later this year, but its participation gives it a platform for anti-war views the authorities have sought to curb.