MOSCOW, September 1 (RAPSI) – Yabloko party announced on Tuesday that it had filed a defamation suit against opposition politician Alexei Navalny seeking 1 million rubles ($15,000) in damages.

A branch of the party in Kostroma filed a suit after Navalny wrote about the upcoming elections in Kostroma that “the Yabloko branch has been bought by a local oligarch who recently withdrew from United Russia and will use his money for a crackdown on us during this election campaign.”

“The Yabloko Kostroma branch has filed a lawsuit at the Lyublino District Court in Moscow. The plaintiff requests that the court order the publication of a refutation and rules to collect 1 million rubles in reputation damages and court fees” from Navalny, the Kostroma branch press service said.