Rodina (Motherland) had been banned from running after the Moscow City Court ruled in favor of a lawsuit filed by the ultra-nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), which claimed that a television campaign advertisement for Rodina incited inter-ethnic tension.
"The authorities have again proved that they cannot stand the opposition in the country and are not ready for a civilized dialogue," press secretary for the Rodina Moscow branch Sofya Cherepanova quoted Rodina leader Dmitry Rogozin as saying.
Cherepanova also said the Rodina pre-election HQ had stopped its work. "We cannot contest the Supreme Court's ruling," she said.
The contentious Rodina broadcast featured three dark-skinned men from the Caucasus tossing a watermelon rind at the feet of a passing Slavic girl with a baby. A voice-over against the background of the Rodina emblem urged people to "remove the rubbish from Moscow."
