Press Release, 31.03.2025

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.

It should be noted that the reason for initiating the second criminal case against Yefimov was a publication in which Vladimir Yefimov compared the military spending of the Russian budget with spending on education and healthcare.

In early April, the court will announce its decision on the third criminal case against Vladimir Yefimov – on “demonstration of extremist symbols” and “discrediting the army” (Article 282.4, Part 1; Article 280.3, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The case is based on Vladimir Yefimov’s post on social networks with footage from the feature film “Cabaret” directed by Bob Fosse. The events of the film take place during the Weimar Republic – a swastika appears in the screenshots in Vladimir Yefimov’s post. The journalist also compared the looks by the modern Russian pop singer Shaman with one of the characters in the film. The public prosecutor is asking for four years in a penal colony for Yefimov in this case.

The verdict on the first criminal case against the leader of the Kamchatka Yabloko was made on 31 March, 2023. Yefimov was fined 200,000 roubles. Before this, he had been brought to administrative responsibility several times under articles on “discrediting the army” and “demonstrating extremist symbols”. The reason was also his anti-war publications.

Vladimir Yefimov was born in 1954. He is journalist, and founder of the first non-state television company in the USSR, TVK. In January 2021, Yefimov received an award from the local branch of the Union of Journalists of Russia, and in the same year he was elected head of the Public Expert Council for the Development of Civil Society in Kamchatka.

Since the beginning of the special military operation, six members of the Yabloko party have become defendants in criminal cases.

Read more on persecution of Yabloko members since the start of the special military operation.