Is
Modernisation in Russia Possible? Interview
with Grigory Yavlinsky and Boris Titov by Yury Pronko,
"The Real Time" programme, Radio Finam, May
12, 2010
Photo: Zulfiya Sitdikova during one of her arrests / Photo from social networks
The Vakhitovsky District Court in Kazan imposed a large fine of 80,000 roubles on Yabloko supporter in Tatarstan Zulfiya Sitdikova for “discrediting the army”. According to the court, Zulfiya Sitdikova allegedly photographed a man with a poster “There is no way, it’s time to turn away” on the street in Kazan and posted it on an anonymous Telegram channel, thereby “discrediting” the Russian army. The Judge issued a decision on the fine, without regarding any evidence of Zulfiya Sitdikova’s involvement in the case. Paying the fine of 80,000 roubles for Zulfiya, a civil activist and a disabled person of the third group, is impossible without the help of caring Russian citizens.
In 1933, the rise of the National Socialists to power in Germany led to the emergence of resistance. With the outbreak of World War II, this activity did not cease, but went underground. Resistance to the Adolf Hitler’s regime was fragmented, and included representatives of different social classes, religious and political groups. Women played an important role in this movement. Risking their lives, they carried out underground activities, using various methods to help save those persecuted by the regime and spread information about the crimes of the fascists.
Photo: Candidate Igor Fyodorov / Photo from the personal archive
Igor Fyodorov, 60, a construction engineer and former deputy of the Oryol City Council of People’s Deputies, became Yabloko’s candidate in electoral constituency No. 14. Igor Fyodorov’s electoral campaign is being conducted under the party-wide slogan “For Peace and Freedom! For the Ceasefire agreement!”.
Photo: The Chelyabinsk Yabloko team: Dmitry Sogrin and Valentina Komkova (in the centre) /Photo by the regional branch of the party
The Chelyabinsk regional branch of the Yabloko party has nominated candidates in single-mandate electoral constituencies for elections to the city councils of Miass and Kopeysk. The electoral campaigns of Yabloko candidates in will be conducted under the party slogan “For Peace and Freedom! For the Ceasefire Agreement!”.
Photo: Novgorod Yabloko candidates (left to right) Alexander Posrednikov, Yelena Ivanova, Viktor Shalyakin, Yelena Tulina, and Anton Kostryukov / Photo by the regional branch of the party
The conference of Novgorod Yabloko has nominated 12 candidates to run in local elections in four districts of the region. The electoral campaign in the region will be conducted under the party-wide slogan “For Peace and Freedom! For the Ceasefire Agreement!”.
The current political regime in Iran, which marked its 46th anniversary in February 2025, has just undergone a powerful test. Military operations by Israel and the US have posed a serious challenge to it. If changes were to become possible in the country, who could implement them? What is the Iranian reformist movement, from which the current President Masoud Pezeshkian emerged? Are there supporters of liberal democracy in Iran? Where do they come from? Why do they hold such views? All these issues will be discussed by Ilya Vaskin, senior lecturer and researcher at the Centre for Middle Eastern, Caucasian and Central Asian Studies at the Higher School of Economics and author of the Telegram channel “Iranian Politics”.
Photo: Pskov Yabloko team / Photo by the regional branch of Yabloko
Pskov Yabloko demands compensation from the state for removal of party lists from 2023 elections following the ruling of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation (of 18 March, 2025) which confirmed the removal of Pskov Yabloko lists of candidates from municipal elections in 2023 was unlawful.
Photo: Conference of Pskov Yabloko / Photo by the regional branch of the party
The conference of the Pskov regional branch of the Yabloko party has nominated 81 candidates for deputy positions in elections to representative bodies of local self-government. All Yabloko party candidates in the Pskov region and across the country are standing in elections under the slogan “For Peace and Freedom! For the Ceasefire Agreement!”.
Photo: Yelena Panova / Photo from the personal archive
Kurgan Yabloko has nominated Yelena Panova, Chair of the regional branch of the party, as a candidate for the Kurgan City Duma elections in single-mandate electoral constituency No. 3. For registration in the elections, the candidate for Peace and Freedom must provide the electoral commission with about 1,400 signatures from district residents in support of her nomination by 11 July.
Photo: Volunteers of Voronezh Yabloko headquarters / Photo by the regional branch of Yabloko
Past week the Bureau of the regional branch of Yabloko nominated a list of 18 candidates for the Voronezh City Duma elections. The candidates’ electoral campaign is conducted under the common Yabloko slogan “For Peace and Freedom! For the Ceasefire Agreement!”. Yabloko must collect 4,500 signatures from Voronezh residents in support of registration of the Yabloko candidates list by 29 July.
Photo: Yabloko candidates Pyotr Kopylov and Valentin Fedotov
The conference of the Novosibirsk regional branch of the Yabloko party has nominated Pyotr Kopylov, 38-year-old entrepreneur and public activist, a candidate for the Novosibirsk City Council elections in electoral constituency No. 4, and Valentin Fedotov, 70-year-old supplementary education teacher, inventor and environmental activist, for the Council of Deputies of Suzun Municipal District (electoral constituency No. 14). Both candidates are conducting their electoral campaigns under the common Yabloko slogan “For Peace and Freedom! For the Ceasefire Agreement!”.
Photo: Artyom Reka / Photo from the personal archive
The Bureau of the Altai regional branch of the Yabloko party has nominated a candidate for the by-elections of deputy to the Novoaltaysk City Assembly. Artyom Reka, 37, a car mechanic and Yabloko party member, has been nominated to run in single-mandate electoral constituency No. 16.
Photo: Candidate Sofia Fyodorova / Photo by the regional branch of the party
The Bureau of the regional branch of the Yabloko party in Tatarstan has nominated Sofia Fyodorova as a candidate for deputy of the Kazan City Duma in a single-mandate constituency. To be registered in the elections, the candidate needs to collect 250 signatures in support of her nomination.
Photo: Alexei Arbatov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
In six months, the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) expires. However, the topic of nuclear disarmament is completely absent from the official discourse of the great powers against the backdrop of the Ukrainian and Iranian-Israeli conflicts. Executive Editor of “NG-Dipkurier” (“NG Diplomatic Courier”) Yury PANIEV spoke with Academician Alexei ARBATOV, the head of the Centre for International Security at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, about the risks of losing the nuclear weapons control system created over the past six decades.
Electronic voting is an extremely controversial tool. It has many supporters and many opponents. Some countries have tried to introduce electronic voting in their elections, but then inevitably returned to paper. Today, only the experience of Estonia is virtually the only example of the successful introduction of electronic voting into the electoral system. It is the Estonian experience that innovators refer to when introducing electronic voting at home. This year marks 20 years since the moment when, Estonians were the first in the world to officially vote at virtual polling stations in the local elections of 2005. Since then, electronic voting has been regularly used in Estonia in municipal, European, and national parliamentary elections.
Photo: Mosaic panel in the Izhstal Ice Palace building / Photo from social media
One of the rare monuments of 1970s mosaic art – a mosaic panel possessing artistic and historical value – was situated in the foyer of the Izhstal Ice Palace building in Izhevsk, Udmurtia. Despite assurances from Udmurtia’s Minister of Physical Culture and Sports Denis Parakhin about preservation of the panel, it was demolished. Leader of Udmurtia Yabloko Iya Boronina has filed a complaint with the regional public prosecutor’s office about the minister’s inaction regarding the preservation of the mosaic panel, as well as about the legality of the destruction of the mosaic.
Photo: The Legislative Assembly of Karelia / Photo by the Press Service of the Legislative Assembly
The Yabloko party faction in the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia prepared a bill to exempt state medical institutions from paying property tax. Such a measure would help direct more budget money towards improving the quality of healthcare. The Head of Karelia, Arthur Parfenchikov, did not support Yabloko’s proposal, and the parliamentary majority ignored the vote on the bill. A month later, the deputies who had not voted held a meeting and decided to submit this proposal to the Karelia’s government as their own.
The head of the Presidential Human Rights Council Valery Fadeyev called for expelling migrant families from Russia if their children do not go to school. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are almost 786,000 minor foreigners in Russia. At the same time, the number of foreign children studying in schools is about 192,000 people.
First Deputy Chair of the Yabloko Gender Faction Olga Radayeva participated part in the roundtable of the Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva Club project, which was held at the Gorbachev Foundation in June. The starting point for the discussion was the books by women’s movement historian Irina Yukina “Russian Feminism as a Challenge to Modernity” (2007) and “From Ladies-Patronesses to Activists of Women’s Sections” (2024).
On 11 June, the Pskov City Court ruled that Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko Party Lev Shlosberg should be arrested until 8 August. Shlosberg is at home, under house arrest, deprived of access to a telephone, mail, and the Internet, he is also restricted in communication and movement.
