Press Release, 8.05.2026

Photo: Grigory Gribenko

On 7 May, the Chairman of the Irkutsk branch of Yabloko, Grigory Gribenko, was arrested for ten days — immediately after completing a previous administrative arrest of 12 days. He is to serve the new “sentence” at a special detention centre in Irkutsk. Yabloko learned of this from the politician’s wife: he managed to inform her of the arrest in a brief telephone call on 7 May.

Yabloko has been unable to contact Grigory since 6 May, the day on which he was due to be released from the special detention centre in Angarsk, where he had been serving the first arrest. For this reason, the party is not yet in a position to comment on the substance of the charges brought against him.

The sequence of events around Grigory, as well as the manner in which his arrests have been presented in pro-government media, leaves no doubt: the campaign to discredit Gribenko is connected to his attempt to organise a rally in Irkutsk against Internet blockages and his plans to stand for election to the State Duma in September.

Detailed timeline:

1 March — A rally “For a Free Internet” and in defence of Telegram was due to take place in Irkutsk, with Grigory Gribenko as one of its organisers. The authorities refused to approve the event; Gribenko challenged the refusal in court, and subsequently appealed the first-instance ruling on appeal. Having again received an unjust decision, he began preparing a cassation complaint.

10 April — Traffic police officers made three attempts to stop Gribenko’s vehicle. The politician was then taken to a drug treatment clinic for examination, on the grounds that he might be under the influence. Gribenko subsequently submitted independent tests at a private laboratory. He was also served with a warning against holding public events during the period from 10 April to 11 May.

13 April — The results of the independent examination became known; they refuted the police’s suspicions, which had been groundless to begin with.

17 April — Gribenko received the results of a state-institution examination. According to the document, tetrahydrocannabinol had allegedly been detected in his samples. Gribenko is convinced that the examination was fabricated.

23 April — A “premises inspection” was carried out at Gribenko’s flat as part of an operational investigation. The politician was subsequently detained, with police officers stating that they had grounds to believe he was under the influence. Gribenko refused to undergo examination at the police station, fearing further falsification of the results. He spent the night at the police station.

24 April — Gribenko was brought before a court and arrested for 12 days under the article on consumption of narcotic or psychotropic substances without a doctor’s prescription (Article 6.9 Part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences).

6 May — Yabloko activist Pavel Kharitonenko reported on his social media that Grigory Gribenko had gone silent. That same day, Gribenko’s wife confirmed to Yabloko that she had no information on her husband’s whereabouts.

7 May — Immediately upon completion of the previous arrest, Grigory Gribenko was placed under administrative arrest once again, this time for ten days.