Press Release, 8.09.2026

Photo: Top row: Konstantin Kiselyov, and Shana Ogney, Vladimir Sobyanin. Bottom row: Alexander Kudelkin, Alexei Kholodaryov, and Vladimir Sevostyanov

UPD 8 September at 12:40 (Moscow time): information added on the charge brought against Alexei Kholodaryov.

On 7 September, police in the Sverdlovsk Region detained six Yabloko candidates for the State Duma and the region’s Legislative Assembly. Reports were filed against them under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation, on “displaying extremist symbols”. An administrative liability under this article carries the loss of the right to be elected for one year.

The first to be detained, in the morning, was Konstantin Kiselyov, head of the Yabloko faction in the Yekaterinburg City Duma and the party’s State Duma candidate for Yekaterinburg Central single-mandate constituency No. 169. He was detained as he left his home, on his way to pre-election debates on VGTRK Ural television channel. Kiselyov was taken to Police Station No. 5, where a report was drawn up against him under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation, after which he was released.

Police later detained Shana Ogney, a candidate for the Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly for the Krasnoufimsk constituency. A report was likewise filed against her under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation.

The report was prompted by a post on X featuring a drawing that included the image of a pentagram. Ogney was released after the report was drawn up.

The third to be detained was Vladimir Sobyanin, a candidate for the State Duma for the Serov single-mandate constituency and a candidate for the Legislative Assembly. He was taken to Police Station No. 9 in Yekaterinburg. A report was likewise drawn up against Sobyanin under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation, after which he was released.

Police then detained Alexander Kudelkin, a candidate for the Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly for the Verkh-Isetsky constituency. A report was drawn up against him under the same article, after which he was released from the police station.

The fifth to be detained was Alexei Kholodaryov, a candidate for the Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly. He was likewise taken to a police station, where a report was drawn up against him under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation over a 2017 repost. He is currently at liberty.

The sixth person detained that day was Vladimir Sevostyanov, a deputy of the Sukhoy Log urban district Duma and a candidate for the State Duma and the Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly for the Asbestovsky constituency. He was brought from Sukhoy Log to Yekaterinburg. A report was drawn up against Sevostyanov under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation over a 2020 repost on a banned social network. He was released after the report was drawn up.

In all, six Yabloko candidates were detained in the Sverdlovsk Region in a single day, three of whom are running for the State Duma. All were charged with “displaying extremist symbols”.

Earlier, on 4 September, two more Yabloko State Duma candidates were detained in Moscow: Anna Shatunovskaya-Byurno, who is standing for Preobrazhensky single-mandate constituency No. 204, and Grigory Grishin, the candidate for Leningradsky single-mandate constituency No. 197. Reports were likewise filed against both of them under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation.

An administrative liability under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation carries the loss of the right to be elected for one year.