Is
Modernisation in Russia Possible? Interview
with Grigory Yavlinsky and Boris Titov by Yury Pronko,
"The Real Time" programme, Radio Finam, May
12, 2010
Today, 2 April, the Pskov City Court resumed consideration of the investigator’s application to extend the remand in custody of Yabloko Deputy Chairman Lev Shlosberg in the case concerning “fake news” about the Russian Armed Forces (Article 207.3, Part 2, of the Criminal Code). The hearing had originally begun on 31 March but was adjourned at Shlosberg’s request, as he stated that he had not been notified of the hearing and had had no opportunity to review the investigator’s application.
Photo: Artur Gaiduk / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
A court has fined Artur Gaiduk, leader of Yabloko’s Pskov branch and deputy of the Pskov Region Legislative Assembly, 1,000 roubles under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences (“displaying extremist symbols”). An administrative liability under this article may prevent Gaiduk from standing as a candidate in the forthcoming elections, as a one-year ban on standing for election applies following a court ruling under the “extremist” article of the Code.
Yabloko invites you to a lecture by astrophysicist and Professor of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Popov, ‘The Laws of Nature and Mathematics’, to be held at the party’s central office in Moscow on 14 April.
When we speak of the modern scientific description of the world, we inevitably find ourselves wanting to discover the “laws of nature”. Ideally, we express these laws in the form of mathematical equations. But in doing so, are we uncovering the laws of nature, or merely devising a useful way of describing them? Will a mathematically correct formula always describe a real object found in nature? And to what extent does working with the equations of mathematical physics help us make predictions for experiments and observations?
Nadezhda Azhgikhina, journalist, writer and Candidate of Philological Sciences, believes that journalists make the world a better place. In her lecture at the Yabloko Party University, she proposes to discuss, among other things, how to remain an honest journalist and a decent person under any regime.
The Yabloko branch in Tatarstan has publicly congratulated party activist and lawyer Sofya Fyodorova on the opening of Irek, a human rights non-governmental organisation. The word “irek” means “freedom” in Tatar, and the NGO’s founder explains that its mission is to ensure free access to rights protection across 43 districts of the Republic of Tatarstan that are effectively cut off from qualified legal assistance.
Last month marked the 50th anniversary of the events of March 1976, when musicians from the rock band Plastic People of the Universe were arrested in Prague and put on a show trial for performing at a festival of “alternative culture”. They were sentenced to between eight and eighteen months in prison for “disturbing the public order”. It was these repressions that served as one of the catalysts for a group of intellectuals led by Václav Havel to produce the document known as Charter 77, which subsequently became a defining manifesto and exerted considerable influence on the course of political reform in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic after the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Photo: Ivan Bolshakov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
On 30 March, the first session of the newly formed Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of the Russian Federation was held. Ivan Bolshakov, member of Yabloko’s Federal Political Committee, head of the party’s Analytical Centre, and Yabloko’s representative on the CEC, describes how the session proceeded and what stood out to him about the rhetoric of the commission’s members.
Students at the Vladivostok Hydrometeorological College (VGMK) have been contacting the Yabloko regional branch in the Maritime Territory in large numbers to complain about being pressured to install the “national messenger” MAX. The party’s branch in the Maritime Territory notes that complaints have also been received from members of staff of the institution.
Photo: Maxim Kruglov at the hearing of the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow, 30 March 2026 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
The Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow has for the fifth time considered the investigator’s application to extend the period of pre-trial detention of Yabloko Deputy Chairman Maxim Kruglov. In addition to his family members, Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, Federal Bureau member Andrei Morev, Moscow Yabloko Deputy Chairman Yuri Shein, Moscow Yabloko Bureau member Andrei Lazarev, and dozens of Kruglov’s colleagues, friends, and students came to show their support for the politician.
Photo: Participants in the action of writing letters to political prisoners, 26 March 2026 / Photo by Moscow Yabloko
Opening the event, Yabloko party Chairman Nikolai Rybakov spoke about the importance of supporting political prisoners. It is not enough simply to write the first letter — one must also reply to those that follow, the Yabloko leader noted: every message from behind bars is an occasion for dialogue, and that dialogue is demonstrates genuine support and a vital connection with the outside world for prisoners of conscience.
Photo: 3% is Yabloko electoral rating in March 2026 (based on VTsIOM data)
3.9% of those intending to vote and knowing which party they will vote for, as of March 2026 (based on VTsIOM data)
15% say they can potentially vote for Yabloko. as of February 2026 (based on VTsIOM data)
The Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VTsIOM) has published the results of a survey of Russian citizens on the forthcoming 2026 State Duma elections. Yabloko’s Analytical Centre notes that, according to the poll, the party is in a strong starting position ahead of the federal election campaign.
Yelena Gavrilova, an instructor of the Yabloko branch in Stavropol and Yabloko party member, has been refused permission to hold a rally entitled “For a Free Internet”. A letter signed by Deputy Mayor Denis Alpatov states that the rally application “lacks information on the forms and methods by which the organiser of the public event will ensure public order, the organisation of medical assistance, and sanitary provisions”.
Photo: Maria Rakcheyeva in court on 27 March 2026 / Photo by Ryazan Yabloko
On 27 March, the Oktyabrsky District Court of Ryazan found journalist and Yabloko party member Maria Rakcheyeva guilty under Article 20.2, Part 2, of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation (unlawful organisation of a public event) and imposed a fine of 20,000 roubles. The administrative case was initiated on the basis of a video appeal of Maria Rakcheyeva to the authorities calling for the preservation of trees in Ryazan’s Central Park.
Photo: Maxim Kruglov and his lawyer Natalia Tikhonova / Photo: screenshot from the Moscow City Court press service video
On 26 March, the Moscow City Court dismissed the appeal against the remand in custody of Yabloko Deputy Chairman Maxim Kruglov, leaving the politician detained. Dozens of party supporters, journalists, and colleagues of Maxim’s came to the court to show their solidarity, as did the ambassadors of Germany, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and the United States. Maxim Kruglov attended the hearing via video link from the remand centre; his interests in the courtroom were represented by lawyers Natalia Tikhonova and Sergei Badamshin. The investigator did not appear in court; the prosecution was represented by the public prosecutor alone.
Photo: Ivan Bolshakov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
On 2 April, the first lecture of the Yabloko Party University will be held at Yabloko’s central office in Moscow. It will be delivered by Ivan Bolshakov, a political scientist and head of Yabloko’s Analytical Centre, who will speak on political parties in the post-truth era.
Vitaly Zubenko, Deputy Chairman of Yabloko’s regional branch in the Stavropol Territory, Yabloko branch instructor and party member Yelena Gavrilova, and local branch Chairman Yevgeny Golovashchenko have submitted an application to the Stavropol city administration for a “Free Internet” rally.
The Kazan Executive Committee has elaborated on its refusal to approve a Yabloko rally for Internet freedom and against the blocking of the Telegram messenger. The event’s organiser — Yabloko lawyer and activist Sofya Fyodorova — received a new letter from the city administration on the evening of 24 March.
30 March would have been the 80th birthday of Arseny Roginsky, historian, dissident, former political prisoner, and head and co-founder of the Memorial Human Rights Society*.
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Russia’s complete failure to carry out the reforms of the 1990s and its descent into deep political crisis has now been compounded by the end of the era that took shape after World War II.
Disorganisation and chaos are growing in world politics. Almost everyone is discussing current events and speculating about where it will all lead: what will happen with Donald Trump, the Middle East, Europe, Ukraine and Russia, and the global economy. Nobody knows the answers, and so diametrically opposed assessments and opinions abound.
