YouTube channel Zhivoi Gvozd, 5.08.2026

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Everything happening around us today confirms that there are no signs of diplomacy that might help bring the tragic clash between Russia and Ukraine to an end. The bloodshed continues. Neither missiles, nor drones, nor sanctions, nor Donald Trump have achieved any results — military, political or economic.

In this respect, the State Duma elections due to take place in September have a fundamental significance: they are an opportunity to convey the Russian people’s opinion to the country’s leadership.

By voting for a ceasefire agreement, for diplomacy, for freedom and for a life without repression and fear — that is, literally for the demands with which the Yabloko party is standing in the elections — Russian citizens will, in effect, be stating their position, as though in a referendum.

What matters is not what exactly results are officially published, or who exactly is “appointed” as a deputy. What matters is that the real results of the vote will become known to those who make the key decisions. If dozens of millions of people declare their position by secret ballot for Yabloko’s 43-word election platform (https://eng.yabloko.ru/the-yabloko-party-platform-for-the-elections-to-the-state-duma-of-the-federal-assembly-of-the-russian-federation-9th-convocation/ ), then the situation in our country will start to change — including with regard to the “special military operation”. That is the point.

That is why the vote in September is not simply a vote for a ceasefire, but a vote for the future, for life. It is a moral choice and a responsibility for every person, before themselves and before their children.

The Yabloko party is giving Russian citizens this chance. Despite repression and persecution (https://www.yabloko.ru/war-against-yabloko ), Yabloko is standing in these elections and is the only party putting forward such a proposal for peace, freedom and the future.

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Grigory Yavlinsky discussed what voters in Russia’s September elections will actually be voting for on the YouTube channel Zhivoy Gvozd. The full conversation is in the video.