Press Release, 4.07.2026

Photo: Nikolai Rybakov, Ivan Bolshakov, Ivan Dorofeyev and Dmitry Anisimov at Russia’s Central Electoral Commission, 4 July 2026 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Today, 4 July, Yabloko’s leaders and members submitted to Russia’s Central Electoral Commission (CEC) the documents for registration of the party’s federal list of candidates for the State Duma in the upcoming elections. The document packages for 412 candidates were submitted in 16 green boxes (weighing more than 96 kg in total) bearing the party’s logo and Yabloko’s election slogan: “For peace and freedom! For a life without fear!”

Yabloko’s delegation to the CEC was led by party Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, together with the leaders of the federal list of candidates for the State Duma elections of the 9th convocation, who had been nominated on 28 June at the party’s Congress. Those taking part in the submission of the documents included: the head of Chelyabinsk Yabloko, Yaroslav Shcherbakov; St Petersburg Legislative Assembly deputy Dmitry Anisimov; Vitaly Isakov, Lev Shlosberg’s defence lawyer; the head of the party’s Analytical Centre, Ivan Bolshakov; and the head of Moscow Yabloko, Kirill Goncharov.

The delegation to the CEC included dozens of Yabloko members, not only candidates from the party’s federal list, but also members of the Moscow Yabloko Bureau, staff of the party’s Executive Office, and authorised representatives of Yabloko.

Photo: Yabloko’s delegation at Russia’s Central Electoral Commission, 4 July 2026 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

It should be recalled that Yabloko had put forward 275 candidates for the State Duma elections on its federal list and 137 candidates in single-mandate constituencies. In addition to those who took part in the document submission at the CEC on 4 July, the federal, nationwide section of the list also included Yana Ivanova, Deputy Chair of Pskov Yabloko, and Tatyana Shneider, Chair of Omsk Yabloko.

Yabloko is contesting the elections under the slogan “For peace and freedom! For a life without fear!” The party’s election programme consists of just 43 words:

FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM!
FOR A LIFE WITHOUT FEAR!
For a ceasefire agreement, diplomacy and the achievement of peace!
Our goal is to prevent nuclear war!
For a Russia free from fear and political repression!
For the preservation of life, respect, dignity and the wellbeing of the people!
Our goal is a prosperous, democratic Russia!

Photo: Yabloko leaders speaking at Russia’s Central Electoral Commission, 4 July 2026 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Everything Yabloko has done since 24 February 2022 has been aimed at stopping the loss of life, Nikolai Rybakov noted during the press conference:

“Our programme for the 2026 elections is a programme for peace, freedom and a life without fear. We stand for a ceasefire agreement. For human dignity. For a democratic, prosperous Russia that young people will not want to leave. We will do everything we can to stop the loss of life.”

The party’s 412 candidates in the upcoming elections are people who have decided to run in a campaign, risking their own freedom at a historic moment when the mere desire to take part in elections can lead to repression, Nikolai Rybakov noted.

Yaroslav Shcherbakov, chair of Chelyabinsk Yabloko and the leader of the federal list, urged future voters in his statement not to remain indifferent:

“The loss of life, the search for enemies, the endless rise in prices, bans and restrictions… This is our present, in which it is hard to make out a bright future. Yabloko proposes a ceasefire agreement and a return to diplomacy. A move towards peace will save lives, make it possible to pursue healthy changes in the economy, healthcare and education, and begin building a better future for our children. Don’t remain indifferent — say ‘yes’ to peace!”

Photo: Ivan Bolshakov (left) and Yaroslav Shcherbakov (right) / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Yabloko would do everything it could to ensure that in September people had a real choice – between war and peace, between freedom and its absence, between the rule of law and arbitrary rule, Ivan Bolshakov, head of the party’s Analytical Centre, emphasised in his speech. The forthcoming vote, he said, was an opportunity not merely to tick a box on the ballot as a formality, but to choose a policy direction that would determine people’s lives and the country’s future.

“We hope that the CEC will decide to certify and register Yabloko’s list. And that it will do so in accordance with the law and the spirit of the Constitution, which guarantee a multi-party system and fair elections. We are also counting on being able to convey our position to voters and change the current political course, which we consider to be deeply mistaken,” Bolshakov said. “If the elections are fair and everyone has equal conditions to campaign (and today, as you understand, that is not the case), then Yabloko will be in the Duma as early as tomorrow. And then we will fight for a majority, and once we get it, Russians will wake up the next day in a state they respect, rather than fear.”

Yabloko is offering Russia’s citizens the chance to vote for an alternative, said St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly deputy Dmitry Anisimov:

“Dozens of millions of people in our country share Yabloko’s position, and our task is to give them the opportunity to vote for an alternative. Because a monopoly on power led our country to the greatest tragedies twice over the course of the 20th century. We cannot allow these mistakes to be repeated. That is why we are contesting these elections with the programme ‘For Peace, Freedom and a Life Without Fear’, and we urge people to vote for exactly that.”

Photo: Representatives of Russia’s Central Electoral Commission and Yabloko leaders during the submitting candidates documents / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Society and the state had long ignored honest, free, democratic alternatives, Kirill Goncharov, Chair of Moscow Yabloko, remarked with regret in his address:

“But this time we have arrived at a new fork in the road. And in this sense we find ourselves at a historic moment, when Russia, both the state and society, has a chance to choose the course that will allow young people to live in our country, allow entrepreneurs to do the work they love, and allow politicians and journalists to do their jobs without fear of, or looking over their shoulder at, the authorities.”

Goncharov also stressed that Yabloko was contesting the elections partly for the sake of those fellow party members who were facing criminal prosecution, were being held in pre-trial detention facilities on fabricated charges, or had already been sentenced to prison terms under repressive articles of the Criminal Code, including party Deputy Chairmen Lev Shlosberg and Maxim Kruglov, and the leader of the Ryazan branch of the party, journalist Konstantin Smirnov.

It should be noted that since the start of the “special military operation”, dozens of party members across the country have faced various forms of repression and police pressure. Twelve party members have become defendants in criminal cases, 11 activists have served administrative arrests, and more than 40 searches and “premises inspections” have been carried out on activists and at party offices. A total of 47 protocols for “discrediting the army” have been drawn up against 37 party members and supporters. More detail on each episode of repression can be found in a special section of the party’s website.

Photo: Vitaly Isakov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

The press conference at the CEC concluded with a speech by lawyer Vitaly Isakov, who represents Lev Shlosberg’s interests in court.

“No laws have been passed recently that would make life easier for citizens in Russia, but laws are being passed that only make life more complicated,” Vitaly Isakov stressed. “This is not in keeping with human rights. Citizens of the Russian Federation need representatives who will put a stop to arbitrary rule and demand accountability from the executive authorities.”

After the press conference, the party’s leaders and activists handed to CEC representatives over 16 boxes containing the candidates’ documents. At the time this report was being prepared, CEC experts and Yabloko representatives were checking that the set of documents submitted was complete and that the legally established nomination procedure had been complied with. The process was expected to continue until the evening of 4 July.

Update

Russia’s Central Electoral Commission has accepted Yabloko’s candidate documents: the submission procedure lasted more than seven hours.

Following this, the federal list must be certified within seven days. The CEC will then check all the documents and decide on the registration of the list. Registration of election participants must be completed by 15 August.