Is
Modernisation in Russia Possible? Interview
with Grigory Yavlinsky and Boris Titov by Yury Pronko,
"The Real Time" programme, Radio Finam, May
12, 2010
Traditionally, everyone who is ready to support those deprived of freedom for their free speech and beliefs, with care and a kind words, is invited to the actions in support of political prisoners. Come to our offices and other meeting places, sign postcards and bring your letters, and we, as usual, will take care of preparing envelopes and sending them.
Photo: Screenshot of a video recording from one of the CCTV cameras of the bath complex during the raid
Nikolai Rybakov, Chairman of the Yabloko party, and Maxim Kruglov, the authorized representative of the Moscow branch of Yabloko, sent an appeal to the Public Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov demanding an urgent and thorough investigation of the actions of law enforcement agencies during the detention of citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic on 10 April in a bath complex in Moscow. In the event of violations, Yabloko insists on taking prosecutorial response measures.
Yabloko’s Analytical Centre sent its analysis paper to State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin and head of the State Construction Committee Pavel Krasheninnikov calling for the rejection of the bill that would abolish paper ballots.
“An analysis of the norms and wording of the draft law submitted to the State Duma for consideration without prior public and expert discussion shows that it is aimed at further limiting control over the voting process and vote counting,” runs the document signed by Ivan Bolshakov, the Centre’s head and the Yabloko representative to the Central Electoral Commission.
From April 16 to 30, on Wednesdays and Fridays, Yabloko will host a special programme by the Creative Association Gnesdo (Nest), dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the independent art community. The programme includes screenings of four video performances by Gnezdo created by the association since February 24, 2022.
The team of Novgorod Yabloko met with Yabloko members and activists in Moscow. The Novogord team of Yabloko was represented at the meeting by the Chair Anna Cherepanova, Ksenia Cherepanova, the leader of the Novgorod city Yabloko and the Centre for Anti-Corruption Policies of the party in the region, members of the Bureau of the regional branch Viktor Shalyakin and Andrei Shuvalov, and municipal deputy of the Trubichino rural settlement Yelena Tulina.
Photo: Ruslan Zinatullin (centre) with the Tatarstan Yabloko team / Photo by the regional branch of Yabloko
On 9 April, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Tatarstan considered the appeals of the Chairman of the Tatarstan Yabloko Ruslan Zinatullin and candidate for party membership Sofia Fyodorova. They were found guilty of administrative offenses for participating in the permitted picket on 1 February “For Freedom of Speech and the Media”.
On 17 April, Yabloko will host a lecture by the second Chairman of Yabloko Sergei Mitrokhin on “Organisation of Civil Society in Counteracting the Merger of Business and Power”. Sergei Mitrokhin will explain how the oligarchic system affects the rights of Moscow residents and will demonstrate through specific examples how to assist citizens in opposing this system.
Photo: People voting for preservation of their rural settlements at public hearings on liquidation of their settlements in Dubrovichi, the Ryazan region / Screenshot from the video published on social media
The Ryazan District Duma approved a decision on transforming the Ryazan District into a municipal district, that is, for liquidation of rural settlements [and their local self-government bodies]. The document was published on the website of the district administration.
A charity auction was held at the central office of the Yabloko party and online on 8 April. All proceeds will be sent to the families and lawyers of eight political prisoners — activist Pavel Sinelnikov, electoral expert Grigory Melkonyants, leader of Kamchatka Yabloko Vladimir Yefimov, human rights activist Sergei Maryin, journalist and Chairman of Ryazan Yabloko Konstantin Smirnov, tattoo artist Anna Bazhutova, student Dmitry Ivanov, and social scientist Boris Kagarlitsky.
The video with an option of switching in English subtitles
Negotiations on a ceasefire are underway. This is a very complex process in the current situation. There will certainly be intermittences, breakdowns, contradictory statements and explanations. However, the main thing is that negotiations to achieve a ceasefire are, in principle, inevitable and have no alternative.
Unfortunately, the negotiations began very late – they were supposed to begin in late 2022 – early 2023. Then the circumstances arose for holding such negotiations. This would have stopped killing of people and could have saved the future of Ukraine. However, Kyiv categorically did not want this, and the United States and Europe did their best to push Ukraine to continue hostilities. Moscow did not show such initiatives either. Now everything has become extremely complicated, but there is still no other solution.
Photo: Yelena Tulina / Photo by the Novgorod branch of Yabloko
The rally participants unanimously voted for the resolution in defence of Yelena Tulina, a Yabloko member and teacher of Russian language and literature. The rally called for an immediate end to the pressure on Tulina, expressed no confidence in the Head of the Novgorod Region Alexander Dementyev and proposed to build a new school in the village of Trubichino.
On 8 April, Yabloko is holding the sixth charity auction in support of families and defenders of political prisoners. All proceeds from the auction will be sent to the relatives of eight political prisoners: activist Pavel Sinelnikov, electoral expert Grigory Melkonyants, leader of Kamchatka Yabloko Vladimir Yefimov, human rights activist Sergei Maryin, journalist and Chairman of Ryazan Yabloko Konstantin Smirnov, tattoo artist Anna Bazhutova, student Dmitry Ivanov, and social scientist Boris Kagarlitsky.
The Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky City Court has made a decision on the third criminal case against journalist and leader of the regional branch of the Yabloko party Vladimir Yefimov. Yefimov was sentenced to two years in a penal colony under two articles – “demonstration of extremist symbols” and “discrediting the army” (Article 282.4, Part 1; and Article 280.3, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). Taking into account the existing sentence in the second criminal case – 1.5 years in a penal colony – the total term of imprisonment was two years. Yefimov is also prohibited from publishing on the Internet and administering web-sites for three years. Vladimir Yefimov’s defense intends to appeal both the sentences, however, next week Yefimov must appear at the Federal Penitentiary Service facility to serve his sentence.
Photo: Konstantin Smirnov at a court hearing via video link / Photo by Vid Sboku
On 3 April, the Ryazan Regional Court upheld the decision of the court of the lower instance to extend the arrest for Konstantin Smirnov, the Editor-in-Chief of the Vid Sboku (Side View) online media and deputy of the Dubrovichi rural settlement from Yabloko, until 30 May. Konstantin Smirnov participated in the hearing via a video conference from the pretrial detention centre.
Yavlinskij, fondatore dell’unico partito d’opposizione in Russia: «Positivi però gli sforzi per il negoziato con Kiev»
Avvenir, 1.04.2025
RAFFAELLA CHIODO KARPINSKY
«Fino all’autunno del 2022, la dichiarazione del nostro partito era una dichiarazione politica». Parte da qui, per il suo racconto, Gregorij Yavlinskij, fondatore di Yabloko, unico partito dell’opposizione rimasto in Russia. «In autunno diventò non solo un’esigenza morale, ma anche politico- militare. Corrispondeva alla nuova situazione strategica al fronte. Le truppe ucraine conseguivano successi a Kharkov e Kherson, la Russia si ritirava. L’Ucraina rafforzava la sua posizione e cresceva l’autorevolezza internazionale del suo presidente. Sarebbe stato allora possibile raggiungere accordi favorevoli, tenendo conto dell’equilibrio dei poteri e, cosa più importante, fermare l’uccisione di persone e la distruzione dell’Ucraina. A novembre, inviai una nota a papa Francesco tramite l’ambasciata vaticana a Mosca. Credevo che l’influenza di una figura neutrale e autorevole potesse svolgere un ruolo. L’iniziativa fu accolta positivamente: il Papa s’impegnò attivamente e fin dall’inizio della guerra non ha mai perso un’occasione per invocare la tregua e la pace. Recentemente si è saputo che allo stesso tempo il capo di stato maggiore congiunto Usa, generale Milley, parlò dell’opportunità militare di concludere un accordo per il cessate il fuoco. Il presidente Biden ha poi espresso preoccupazione per l’elevato rischio di un conflitto nucleare e gli Usa ebbero consultazioni con la Russia. I leader europei, al contrario, chiedevano la continuazione della guerra e la “vittoria sul campo di battaglia”. Ritengo si trattò di un errore di calcolo. Si perse il momento in cui si doveva raggiungere un cessate il fuoco e avviare i negoziati per una tregua. Per questo è stato pagato un prezzo terribile: vite umane e distruzione su larga scala».
Photo: Vladimir Yefimov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
The decision was made on 28 March. Earlier, Vladimir Yefimov, the leader of Kamchatka Yabloko and journalist, was sentenced to two years in a penal colony in his second criminal case for “discrediting the army” (Article 280.3 Part 1 of the Criminal Code). The appellate court reduced the term of imprisonment by six months. Yefimov is also prohibited from publishing on the Internet or administering web-sites for four years. The journalist is currently staying at home awaiting a call from the Federal Penitentiary Service.
Photo: Ksenia Cherepanova / Photo from the personal archive
The Ministry of Justice added Ksenia Cherepanova, the Chairwoman of the Veliky Novgorod city branch of Yabloko, to the register of “foreign agents”. She became the eleventh party member to be added to the register.
Photo: Konstantin Smirnov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
The Sovietsky District Court of Ryazan decided to extend the term of detention for Konstantin Smirnov, journalist and municipal deputy from Yabloko, for another two months. The court took such a decision despite the requests of Smirnov and his defence to change the measure of restraint to any not related to imprisonment.
We issued our first appeal for a ceasefire on 24 February 2022, just several hours after the start of the special military operation. The appeal was addressed directly to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. This was followed by dozens, hundreds and thousands of speeches and appeals — we demanded the cessation of the military actions at different levels and on different platforms. A number of our colleagues sacrificed their liberty owing to their anti-war stance. We appealed to our country’s leadership and our citizens, world leaders and the international community. In autumn 2022 I sent a letter to Pope Francis, requesting his assistance with arranging a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. It has required three years, three years (!) with the loss of so many lives during that time for the issue of a ceasefire to be discussed at the highest level. However, today in the middle of March, when this issue is being discussed directly by the Russian and American Presidents, something that should be welcomed, the prospects are unclear and extremely disturbing.
Those who are unjustly deprived of their freedom have a very hard time in prisons and pretrial detention centres. This is confirmed by the alarming news about the health of Maria Ponomarenko and Lyudmila Razumova. The Moscow and Novgorod branches of our party started helping them. It is in our power to send words of support to political prisoners, give them warmth and hope.
