Press release, 21.07.2017
The prefecture of the central administrative district of Moscow prohibited Yabloko from holding pickets as part of the Time to Return Home anti-war campaign in the city centre on 24 July.

The aim of the picket stated in the application was “informing the citizens about the necessity of withdrawal of Russian troops form Syria”. Yabloko planned to conduct pickets by the exits from the central metro stations. However, the city authorities responded that pickets “must take place by the picketed object and the public expression of one’s opinion must be aim at the picketed object”. At the same time, they did not explain what a picketed object in this case was.

Moreover, they considered that Yabloko’s pickets may “threat safety in case of unfavorable weather conditions as well as put obstacles in the way of passers-by”.

Yabloko’s activists also faced the use of the administrative resource against them in Saratov, Tambov, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan.

Collection of signatures for Russia’s withdrawal from the war in Syria was launched in different cities of Russia within the framework of Grigory Yavlinsky’s presidential campaign. On the whole, signature collection takes place in the central streets and squares of 50 cities in 40 regions of the country. Yabloko has already managed to collect 50,000 thousand signatures in less than a month.

The picket took place in the city centre. Yabloko’s campaigners told the passers-by that, according to Yabloko’s calculations, from 107 to 140 billion roubles were spent on Russia’s military operations in Syria.

Yabloko Chair Emilia Slabunova sent an appeal to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov with the demand that the data on the state expenditure on the military operation in Syria must be published. However, the Finance Ministry refused to do it claiming that this was a classified budget item. However, Yabloko does not consider the cost of the military operation in Syria as secret information taking into consideration that last year president Vladimir Putin publicly spoke about its costs.