Statement by the Yabloko Chairman, 24.02.2026

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.

The forecast made by Grigory Yavlinsky, publicly stated in July 2021 and republished one week before the start of the special military operation, has been fully borne out: the confrontation has become global, leading to geopolitical risks of a major war and the destruction of the foundations of European security. We have insisted, and continue to insist, that the preservation of human life and the future takes precedence over any contrived ideological constructs.

Today the world is approaching the point of the greatest risk in the history of mankind. The dismantling of nuclear arms control institutions and the legitimisation of aggressive rhetoric are transforming the potential nuclear threat into a real mechanism of mutual destruction.

The continuation of hostilities within a collapsed international security system is a game of Russian roulette with the future of the entire planet at stake. Over the course of four years, societies in Russia, Ukraine and Europe have been subjected to attempts to accustom them to the idea that deaths are merely a matter of statistics and that the interests of the state outweigh those of the individual.

Yabloko asserts the contrary: nothing stands above human life. No abstract geopolitical interests, territories or historical disputes are worth human lives. True Peace means restoring the right to a future to every person. The central demand of the Yabloko party remains unchanged: the immediate conclusion of a ceasefire agreement.

We are convinced that a ceasefire is a technically complex but absolutely inevitable and critically necessary condition for the start of genuine negotiations towards a peaceful settlement. On the fourth anniversary of the start of the special military operation, we repeat: nothing matters more than the preservation of human lives. We demand the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement and the pursuit of a path towards peaceful coexistence with Ukraine and the European Union.

Nikolai Rybakov,

Yabloko Chairman