Press Release, 21.04.2026

Photo: Emilia Slabunova / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

This morning, 21 April, police in Petrozavodsk, Karelia, called on Emilia Slabunova, an Honoured Teacher of Russia, former Chair of Yabloko, and leader of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of Karelia. As she was leaving for work, law enforcement officers approached her and informed her that they had to escort her to a police station.

The grounds were an administrative offence report alleging “display of extremist symbols” (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) in connection with a post published on 20 August 2020 in her Telegram channel.

However, there are no posts from 20 August 2020 in Emilia Slabunova’s channel.

Slabunova is currently being brought before a court; her lawyer is on the way. She links what is happening to the forthcoming elections and to Yabloko’s strong performance in Karelia, including in the Legislative Assembly of Karelia.

It also emerged today that courts in St.Petersburg will hear administrative cases against Alexander Shishlov, Coordinator of the Yabloko Federal Political Committee and leader of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St.Petersburg, on 24 and 30 April. He has become the fourth Yabloko member against whom an administrative offence report for “displaying extremist symbols” has been drawn up, and the third such party member from St. Petersburg.

Earlier, under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation, fines were imposed on Legislative Assembly deputy Olga Shtannikova and on party Chair Nikolai Rybakov, a native of St. Petersburg. The leader of Pskov Yabloko and regional Legislative Assembly deputy Artur Gaiduk was fined under this article in April, and in February the Novgorod District Court fined Yelena Ivanova, Deputy Chair of the Novgorod branch of Yabloko, was also fined under the same article.

The fines imposed on Yabloko members under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences are nominal; however, a court ruling of this kind bars those with such fines from standing in elections for one year after the court’s ruling enters into force. It is clear to Yabloko that what is taking place now (as it has been before) has nothing to do with “combating extremism”, and is solely the execution of a political order to remove the party’s leaders from the forthcoming 2026 federal parliamentary and regional elections.