Press Release, 15.09.2025

164 candidates from the Yabloko party participated in elections in 39 electoral campaigns across 19 regions of our country under the slogan “For Peace and Freedom! For the Ceasefire Agreement!” Yabloko leaders summarised the political results of the election campaign at a briefing in the party office on the night of 15 September.

Nikolai Rybakov, Yabloko party Chairman:

For the fourth year, Yabloko has been participating in elections across the country with the slogan “For Peace and Freedom. For the Ceasefire Agreement”. The main political task of the 2025 election campaign was to convey Yabloko’s position to as many voters as possible. In all materials, all videos, and all speeches, the main theme was a ceasefire agreement, achieving peace and freedom as soon as possible, an end to killing of people. Participating in elections in Russia in 2025 with such a theme requires great courage from both candidates and voters.

The final official results will be announced tomorrow. But we find it very optimistic results when, for example, at the polling station where representatives of Tomsk University voted, the voting result compared to the 2020 elections increased almost threefold — around 30% of votes were given for the Yabloko list of candidates. This is very significant for us.

I would like to thank everyone — candidates, our volunteers, election commission members, and observers who are continuing to work at polling stations now, who conducted this election campaign with us. To thank everyone who voted for Yabloko. This is very important for a peaceful future.

Ivan Bolshakov, Federal Political Committee member, head of the Yabloko party’s Analytical Centre:

The scale of electronic voting has increased, and we see that the gap between results at real polling stations and online stations differs greatly. This gap persists and in places even increases, and there is no normal statistical explanation for it. The only explanation can be seen in the administrative advantage. We understand that pressure on state employees and dependent voter groups has been gaining momentum.

We also see difficulties with observing the voting process. If previously colleagues from other regions could participate in observing elections in the neighbouring areas, today this is impossible. And under conditions of three-day voting and such a large-scale campaign as this year, this becomes increasingly difficult, and democratic control is vitually impossible.

The Russian authorities and Central Electoral Commission today are preoccupied with one big issue — “digitalisation”. It is a beautiful word, the pictures are also beautiful, but in practice it is virtually impossible to monitor vote counting online. Data is updated with a large lag; hours pass between actual counting and publication. The information centre finishes its work and electronic displays are turned off, and neither journalists nor party representatives can observe the vote counting by electoral commissions.

Essentially, the key element has been removed from the voting process — the elections themselves. The procedure formally exists, but there is no result leading to positive changes. At the same time, we see that many people want change: changes in the economy and in foreign policy, a ceasefire, and normalisation of life. But election results do not reflect this.

The example of Tomsk is telling. In the Tomsk City Council elections, Yabloko received more than 10% at approximately 30 polling stations. This means people want change. Therefore, it is very important to prepare for the State Duma elections, not to give up and try to turn the situation around.