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: Azat Miftakhov / Photo by Dmitry Lebedev, Kommersant
Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov has sent a letter to Federal Penitentiary Service Director Arkady Gostev calling for an investigation into reports of violence, torture, and threats of sexual violence against Azat Miftakhov at Penal Colony No. 18 of the Federal Penitentiary Service Directorate for the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District.
In the letter, Rybakov recounted that Azat Miftakhov’s wife had contacted him to report that her husband may have been subjected to violence. According to the information received, on 21 April 2026, the day after Miftakhov’s arrival at Penal Colony No. 18, he was taken to the colony’s administration building, where the operational department is located. There, he was subjected to attempts to coerce him into degrading acts; upon his refusal, he was bound with tape, struck on the heels with a wooden mallet, beaten in the groin area, in the face, and on the head, and threatened with sexual violence and with having his face submerged in a sewage hatch. Wires were also attached to his toes and he was subjected to electric shock torture. It is reported that, when he cried out in pain, staff and co-opted prisoners turned up loud music to drown out what was happening. It is further indicated that the electric shock torture was repeated each time he refused to comply with unlawful instructions from the administration.
Photo: Maxim Kruglov in court on 6 May 2026 / Photo by Darya Kornilova
The Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow resumed proceedings in the criminal case of Maxim Kruglov, Yabloko’s Deputy Chairman, charged with disseminating “fake news” about the Russian Armed Forces (Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code) on 6 May. The politician has been held in custody since 1 October 2025 and is being prosecuted for two social media posts. On Wednesday, the court heard testimony from a prosecution witness, Valery Somov, a 25-year-old political analyst employed by the state-owned housing and utilities municipal services company Zhilishchnik, who, according to media reports, is a functionary of the ruling United Russia party. In court, Somov stated that he had once been walking near Lubyanka Square in the centre of Moscow when an FSB [the Federal Security Service of the RF] officer approached him and asked whether he knew Maxim Kruglov.
Photo: Alexander Shishlov / Photo by the Yaboko Press Service
On Thursday, 30 April, a hearing was held at the magistrates’ court of the Petrograd District of St. Petersburg (precinct no. 153) in the administrative case against Alexander Shishlov, Coordinator of the Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko party. The prosecution was prompted by a Telegram repost from three years ago — an interview with Grigory Yavlinsky from the Zhivoy Gvozd project. Shishlov is charged under Article 13.15 Part 9 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation (“abuse of freedom of mass media”).
Photo: Dmitry Anisimov /Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
On 30 April 2026, the Federal Bureau of Yabloko resolved to submit Dmitry Anisimov’s candidacy to the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission for him to be granted a mandate as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg. Anisimov’s candidacy had been recommended to the Federal Bureau the previous day, 29 April, by the St. Petersburg regional branch of Yabloko. In the Legislative Assembly, Dmitry Anisimov will take the seat of Alexander Shishlov, Coordinator of the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko, who relinquished his deputy’s mandate last Wednesday.
Photo: Grigory Gribenko leaving the courthouse on 23 April 2026 / Photo by Yabloko activist Pavel Kharitonenko
Lawyer Svyatoslav Khromenkov, representing Сhairman of the Irkutsk branch of Yabloko Grigory Gribenko who tried to organise a rally for free Internet and against blocking of Telegram, has filed an appeal against the politician’s arrest with the Shelekhovsky City Court of Irkutsk Regoin. It should be noted that Gribenko was detained at his flat following an “inspection” of the premises and taken to a police station, where officers spent the entire day conducting an “interview” with him and insisting that he undergo a medical examination for drug intoxication. Gribenko refused, fearing that the test results would be falsified, and the following day was arrested for twelve days under Article 6.9 of the Code of Administrative Offences for that refusal.
Photo: Lev Shlosberg in court /Photo by the Pskov Yabloko Press Service
On 29 April, a judge of the Pskov City Court partially granted an application by the investigation to impose a deadline on Lev Shlosberg and his two defence lawyers for reading the case materials. The investigator had requested that the review be completed by 4 May.
Photo: Maxim Petlin (left) and Yegor Tkachenko (right)/ Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
UPD as of 29 April, 21:05. All Yabloko members detained in Yekaterinburg have been released. No charges have been brought against them.
Today, 29 April, searches were carried out at the homes of Maxim Petlin, Chairman of the Yabloko branch in the Sverdlovsk Region, and party member Yegor Tkachenko. Regional elections to the Legislative Assembly and the State Duma are scheduled to take place in Sverdlovsk Region this autumn. The pressure being exerted on Yabloko activists is an attempt to prevent candidates from standing in the elections.
Photo: Alexander Shishlov / Photo by St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly
At a session of the St Petersburg Legislative Assembly, Alexander Shishlov, leader of the Yabloko faction and Coordinator of the Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko party, announced the early termination of his parliamentary mandate.
The Pskov Regional Court has upheld a fine of 1,000 roubles imposed on the leader of the Pskov branch of Yabloko and deputy of the regional Legislative Assembly, Artur Gaiduk, over a photograph on Odnoklassniki social media. A witness in the case stated that it was he, not the deputy, who had posted the photograph. The Pskov Regional Court’s ruling may prevent the politician from standing in elections. The decision will be contested in cassation.
Photo: Oil spill in the Black Sea near the city beach in Tuapse, 25 April 2026 / Photo by Bereg
Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov has sent the corresponding appeal to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. In his letter, Rybakov stated that the fire at the marine terminal, the oil spill, and the ensuing contamination of the Tuapse river, the Black Sea, the urban environment, and residential areas constituted not a local problem but a federal-level environmental disaster threatening the health of thousands of people and the unique ecosystem of the Black Sea.
The lawyer representing Konstantin Smirnov, Chairman of Yabloko in Ryazan and editor-in-chief of the local media Vidsboku, has filed an appeal against the decision to extend his client’s remand in custody. Konstantin Smirnov has been held in a remand prison since January 2025. Last week, on 22 April, the Sovetsky District Court of Ryazan extended his remand by several months, until 26 August 2026.
Photo: Alexander Shishlov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
On 24 April, a judge of the Petrograd District Court of St.Petersburg found Alexander Shishlov, Coordinator of the Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko party and keader of the Yabloko faction in the St Petersburg Legislative Assembly, guilty under Article 20.3 Part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation and imposed a fine of 1,500 roubles. The court ruling automatically bars one of Yabloko’s senior leaders from standing as a candidate in elections for one year — including the elections to the State Duma and the St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly in September 2026.
Photo: Grigory Gribenko after the court hearing / Photo by Pavel Kharitonenko
Lawyer Svyatoslav Khromenkov, representing the interests of Irkutsk Yabloko leader Grigory Gribenko, has reported that the politician has been arrested for 12 days under the provision of the Code of Administrative Offences concerning the consumption of “narcotic or psychotropic substances without a doctor’s prescription” (Article 6.9 Part 1 of the Code). The police insisted that Gribenko undergo testing on the spot at the police station following his detention the previous day; however, the politician refused, fearing that the results would be falsified.
Photo: Anton Kostryukov / Photo by Novgorod Yabloko
The Staraya Russa District Court has fined Yabloko party member Anton Kostryukov 1,000 roubles under the provision concerning “displaying extremist symbols” (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The court found Anton guilty of posting a photograph of Alexei Navalny in 2020, that is, long before the judicial ruling designating the politician as an extremist, Novgorod Yabloko reports.
Grigory Yavlinsky’s report at the conference “The Uses of Power: Legitimacy, Democracy, and the Rewriting of the International Order” held at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in the Vatican on April 14–16, 2026
Grigory Yavlinsky’s web-site, 23.04.2026
The end of an era
The global order created after the end of World War II has gone.
The bloody confrontation between Russia and Ukraine, the critical escalation of the situation in the Middle East, the mounting wide-ranging political crisis in Europe and the politics of the US President Donald Trump — all these factors draw a line on the world order that had existed for almost eight decades.
Globalism is ending together with its inherent institutions, structures and models of political behaviour.
Speech by Grigory Yavlinsky at the conference ‘The Uses of Power: Legitimacy, Democracy, and the Rewriting of the International Order’, held at the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in the Vatican on April 14–16, 2026
Grigory Yavlinsky’s web-site, 23.04.2026
April 14, 2026 Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in the Vatican
First of all, I would like to express my respect and gratitude for this extremely important conference to Sister Helen Alford, O.P. (President), His Eminence Peter Turkson (Chancellor), Prof. Ana Marta González (Coordinator of the Plenary Session), and, of course, I would like to express my personal respect and gratitude to Pope Leo XIV for this conference and especially my solidarity and support for his position on global events. Please accept my gratitude for my personal invitation.
Photo: Mario Draghi, Jeffrey Sachs and Grigory Yavlinsky / Photo by Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences
From 14 to 16 April, Grigory Yavlinsky attended the plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences (Casina Pio IV, Vatican City) at its personal invitation. The session was held on the theme of “The Use of Power: Legitimacy, Democracy and the Revision of the International Order”.
Photo: Grigory Gribenko on 10 April following the crackdown by traffic police
This afternoon in Irkutsk, a search was carried out at the flat of Grigory Gribenko, Chairman of Irkutsk Yabloko. The party’s central office was informed of this by the politician’s wife.
Photo: Maxim Kruglov in the courtroom / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
The Zamoskvoretsky Court of Moscow has begun hearing the criminal case against Yabloko Deputy Chairman Maxim Kruglov on the merits.
Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov, Federal Bureau member Andrei Morev, Moscow Yabloko Chairman Kirill Goncharov, and dozens of Kruglov’s colleagues, family members, friends, and students came to show their support for Maxim.
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Fundamental historical and political problems, such as the nature of the Iranian regime since 1979, cannot be resolved through economic measures. Sanctions or blockades (of the Strait of Hormuz, for instance) are incapable of resolving a deep-seated conflict that has persisted for more than three decades. Nor, as recent events in the Middle East have shown, do military operations without a clear strategic vision of the future and without realistic objectives contribute to resolving such problems. Only by addressing the very root of the matter — the causes of the conflict — through their rigorous analysis and sustained work towards eliminating those causes, does a genuine path to peace exist.
