Press Release, 25.05.2026

On 25 May, police in Petrozavodsk, Karelia, detained Dmitry Rybakov, a member of the Federal Bureau of the Yabloko party, Deputy Chairman of the party’s Green Russia Faction, deputy and leader of the Yabloko faction on the Petrozavodsk City Council, and member of the Standing Commission on Healthcare, Ecology and Social Development.

It is reported that Dmitry Rybakov is currently being held at one of Petrozavodsk’s police stations, where he is being charged under the administrative provision on “displaying extremist symbols” (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences). The precise grounds on which the case was opened remain unknown.

Dmitry Rybakov’s interests are being represented by Olga Tuzhikova, a lawyer and Yabloko deputy on the Petrozavodsk City Council.

According to Emilia Slabunovа, a Yabloko deputy in the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia, Dmitry Rybakov may be kept overnight at the police station ahead of tomorrow’s court hearing. It should be emphasised that Dmitry Rybakov has serious health problems and requires, among other things, regular medication, which he does not currently have access to. Representatives of the Interior Ministry and the republican public prosecutor’s office have been informed of this, but are disregarding information about the politician’s state of health.

Update of 26 May, 22:20: Olga Tuzhikova has reported that Rybakov was permitted to collect medication and essential personal items from his home. A police unit drove the deputy home and then returned him to the police station.

Dmitry Rybakov is one of the most experienced and eminent politicians in Karelia, and a scientist and ecologist of national renown, Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov emphasises:

“Dmitry Rybakov’s many years of work, as a scientist and as a politician, has always been grounded exclusively in the principles of legality and the protection of citizens’ rights. Any attempt to accuse him of extremism is shameful and entirely without foundation; such attempts serve only to discredit his honest name. The party gives Dmitry Rybakov its full support, and we will provide him with every possible assistance.”

By way of background: the series of administrative prosecutions of Yabloko members under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences began in November 2025 and constitutes not a “fight against extremism” but exclusively the execution of a political order to remove the Yabloko  leaders and party’s top politicians from the forthcoming federal and regional elections of 2026.