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: Graves of those killed in the course of the special military operation in Ukraine, in the military section of a cemetery on the southern outskirts of St. Petersburg / Photo by Artyom Priakhin, Kommersant
24 February 2026 marks four years since the start of the special military operation. The conflict has reached a profound deadlock from which there is no escape by military means. Yabloko is the only political force that had warned in advance of the consequences of the escalation.
On 24 February, the leader of Irkutsk Yabloko, Grigory Gribenko, and activist Pavel Kharitonenko met with representatives of the city administration and agreed to the relocation of the rally in defence of Telegram and “For a Free Internet!”.
Photo: Inside the Gulag History Museum / Photo by Ivan Vodopyanov, Kommersant
The Bureau of the Moscow branch of the Yabloko party considers the decision to effectively liquidate the exhibition of the Gulag History Museum and replace it with a new museum to be a mockery of the memory of the victims of political repression. This is stated in a statement by the Bureau of the Moscow branch of Yabloko, published on 20 February.
The Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky City Court has denied parole to Yabloko leader in Kamchatka, journalist Vladimir Yefimov, who is serving a sentence in a penal colony. The grounds for refusal were formal violations of the detention regime. First, during a walk Yefimov had removed his jacket, which displayed his full name and prisoner number; second, during an inspection of his cell, convoy officers found a deodorant which is prohibited under colony rules.
Photo: A postcard from the series “Freedom Is Within Us” by artist and former political prisoner Sasha Skochilenko
In accordance with established tradition, Yabloko’s actions of writing letters to political prisoners at the end of February and the beginning of March across the country will be dedicated to women political prisoners. Women – journalists, artists, human rights defenders, and activists, mothers, daughters, sisters, wives, and friends, strong and courageous, they are no less in need of support and letters from the outside world than their male counterparts.
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Frank and honest public discourse on politics is rare today. It is difficult to speak about politics in times of chaos, and, moreover, it is dangerous: the risks of falling victim to repression, up to and including imprisonment or a staged “accident,” is very real.
Yabloko party Chair Nikolai Rybakov addressed the Legislative Assembly of the Tver Region, where he spoke about how throughout all four years of the military operations Yabloko had been advocating for the earliest possible ceasefire agreement and the preservation of human lives.
Today we have witnessed yet another step in the deliberate dismantling of national memory. The closure of the Gulag History Museum in Moscow and the attempt to “reformat” it [into a museum commemorating the victims of genocide of the Soviet people during WWII] constitute an act of distorting the very idea of preserving the truth about the tragic pages of our past.
Photo: Ivan Bolshakov at a meeting of the Yabloko’s Federal Council in 2025 / Photo: by the Yabloko Press Service
The Federal Bureau of the Yabloko party has put forward Ivan Bolshakov’s candidacy to the State Duma and the President for appointment to the new composition of the Central Electoral Commission (CEC). He has represented the party on the CEC since 2024.
Photo: Round table on the rights of Muscovites / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
On 17 February, the Moscow branch of the Yabloko party held an extensive round table devoted to the rights of Muscovites. Experts in economics, urban heritage protection, and the electoral and judicial systems gathered at the party’s office to address the central question: are the rights of Moscow residents a genuine instrument of protection, or represent merely fiction?
Photo: Kirill Goncharov, Ivan Bolshakov, and Nikolai Rybakov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
Yabloko party Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, member of the Federal Political Committee Ivan Bolshakov, and Chair of Moscow Yabloko Kirill Goncharov have submitted a notification to the Moscow city government regarding a rally in Moscow in defence of the Telegram messenger, access to information, and freedom of speech.
According to the notification, the event is scheduled for 1 March, with an expected attendance of up to 5,000 people.
The Chairman of the Irkutsk Regional Branch of the Yabloko party, Grigory Gribenko, together with political activist and human rights defender Pavel Kharitonenko, have submitted a notification to the Irkutsk city administration regarding a rally entitled “For a Free Internet!”. The applicants stressed that mass blocking of messengers and social networks was inadmissible and that citizens’ constitutional rights in the digital sphere must not be violated.
The Yabloko party invites all to the launch of a documentary “And the Ship Sails On” about Yuri Shchekochikhin, the legendary Russian investigative journalist, politician, and member of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma (1995–2003). Yuri Shchekochikhin was murdered in 2003. The film will be launched at the party’s office in Moscow on 3 March.
Photo: A mentorship project meeting in Moscow / Photo by Moscow Yabloko
On 15 and 16 February, Moscow Yabloko held the first meetings of participants in the mentorship project, which the Moscow branch of the party had announced at the beginning of February. Within the first days of the project, dozens of people joined Yabloko, wishing to realise their ideas, find support from like-minded individuals and mentors.
Photo: Galina Mikhaleva / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
The award has been established in memory of human rights defender, Doctor of Political Sciences, and Chair of the Yabloko party’s Gender Faction, Galina Mikhaleva. The 27th of February marks one year since her death.
Photo: A hearing at the Shchyolkovo City Court, which examined Yabloko’s claim against the Territorial Electoral Commission / Photo by the Moscow Region branch of Yabloko
The Moscow Region branch of Yabloko has published video recordings of four serious violations committed during the 2025 elections in the town of Fryazino, the Moscow Region. These materials — key evidence of electoral fraud on the part of the Territorial Electoral Commissions (TECs) — had been stored on a flash drive, featured in court proceedings, and then went suddenly missing between the first and second judicial instances.
Photo: Iya Boronina / Photo by the Press Service of the State Council of the Republic of Udmurtia
The leader of Yabloko in Udmurtia, Iya Boronina, sent an official request to the Ministry of Digital Development of Russia demanding to provide legal justification for the reasons for slowing down the Telegram messenger. The acts of the Ministry of Digital Development and Roskomnadzor (the Federal Supervision Agency for Information Technologies and Communications) that legally permitted the slowing down must be made public. In addition, Iya Boronina proposed introducing free Internet access points on the premises of kindergartens, schools, colleges and universities – to enable students to communicate with family members in the event of emergencies.
Photo: Lev Shlosberg at the Pskov Regional Court hearing on 11 February 2026 / Photo by Pskov Yabloko
On 11 February, the Pskov Regional Court considered an appeal against the detention of Yabloko Deputy Chairman Lev Shlosberg. The appeal was rejected, and the judge ruled that Shlosberg must remain in remand prison until 2 April. The politician speaking in court declared that the date of the alleged “crime” had been falsified in the case materials – investigators may have changed it to create a chronology convenient for the prosecution so that the action (taking place in February 2022) would fall under provisions of a law on “fakes about the army” adopted later (in March 2022).
Photo: Grigory Yavlinsky / Photo by the Yabloko Party
On January 26, The Nation’s correspondent Nadezhda Azhgikhina interviewed Grigory Yavlinsky at his Moscow offices. Yavlinsky is the founder and leader of the Yabloko Party and a four-times candidate for the presidency of Russia (1996, 2000, 2012, 2018), in three of which he ran against Vladimir Putin, finishing third in March 2000 when Putin was elected for the first time. He was a member of the Russian State Duma in 1993–2003 and later a member of the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly. A labor economist by training, Yavlinsky served as Vice Premier in the Russian Federation government in 1990 and Vice Premier in the last Soviet government in 1991. Azhgikhina is an independent journalist and writer and a frequent contributor to The Nation.
Roskomnadzor [the Russian Federal Supervision Agency for Information Technologies and Communications] has begun major blockings of Telegram, citing its “failure to comply with Russian law” and that the alleged restrictions are allegedly needed to protect citizens from fraud and create conditions for preventing extremism and terrorism.
