Press Release, 16.04.2022

Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

At the beginning of his speech at the 21st Party Congress, Yabloko Party Chairman Nikolai Rybakov drew the delegates’ attention to a printed replica of Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, which was placed on the wall instead of the traditional banner with Yabloko party symbols.

“Today’s fate of many cities in Ukraine – Mariupol and Chernihiv, the most ancient city of the ancient Kievan Rus state, repeats the fate of Guernica. Opening our congress, we must speak about all those who died in this massacre. Civilian and military, Ukrainians and Russians, children, women, men, young and old. Those who was bemauled, wounded, raped, became a refugee, who is now hiding from the shells in the basements. There are millions of them. We are their voice in Russia, of those who are dying and praying for peace,” Yabloko Chairman said.

Nikolai Rybakov noted that for Russian citizens what was happening represented people’s payment for lack of will, for their unwillingness to understand what was happening, change their lives and bear responsibility for the country, it was a payment for their passivity and doublethink.

The leader of the party said that Yabloko activists fighting for peace had been subjected to unprecedented pressure from the law enforcement. This pressure was the hardest and the most massive in the almost 30-year history of the party. Several dozen Yabloko members across the country had to face prosecution: detentions, arrests, searches, denunciations, assaults, and fines for their political activities.

The head of the party noted that for many years Yabloko had been warning the public about the dangerous policies of Vladimir Putin, and fought for peace, including in the presidential elections in 2018, as well as in the elections to the State Duma in 2016 and 2021. Rybakov addressed the delegates of the congress:

“We didn’t manage to do everything we could. We had to talk about the danger on a broader scale and even louder. But [in elections] people have made the choice they have made. Certainly, not only voters bear a huge responsibility for this, but also those who called on people to vote for “non-freedom”, thinking that freedom would suddenly emerge after that. I am talking about the people who are responsible for their so-called Smart Voting” [voting for any candidates indicated by Alexei Navalny’s team as popular and able to win against the ruling party, however, these candidates turned out to be mostly communists-Stalinists and supporters of the ruling party under different names, as a result the ruling party turned out to get even more mandates in the State Duma and the communists’ faction grew considerably, but democrats did not pass into the new Duma].

After the Duma elections, Yabloko continued the activities within the framework of its anti-war stance. There was organised a collection of signatures, and within a short term 85,000 people provided their personal data signing Yabloko’s petition and expressed their solidarity with the party stance. Academicians, journalists, managers, politicians, famous actors, doctors of sciences, musicians, writers, deputies and many other representatives of different professions were not afraid to protest against what was happening.

Members of the party, who continue to conduct active political work in the regions, demonstrate great courage. At the same time, the party stance receives support during the elections. For example, our candidate Ksenia Cherepanova campaigned in the by-elections in Novgorod under the slogan “For Peace” and received more than 10% of the vote, coming second.

Deputies from Yabloko in regional parliaments have been continuously opposing the ruling majority in their parliaments: Alexander Shishlov and Boris Vishnevsky in St. Petersburg, Emilia Slabunova in Karelia, Artur Gaiduk in the Pskov region, and deputies of the Yabloko faction in the Moscow City Duma.

“I think many of you know about the speech of Sergei Mitrokhin, MP of the Moscow City Duma, at a meeting of the Moscow parliament. I think this is a very courageous and honest act of a politician. I am very grateful to all of you that you make it clear to people that Yabloko is not broken, and despite the pressure, it continues to carry out its work and is not afraid to do it for the sake of people, for the sake of saving lives, for the sake of the future of our country,” Rybakov emphasised.

Yabloko members continue using every opportunity to speak in the media, as well as on social networks where Yabloko daily publishes official UN data on the number of victims.

Nikolai Rybakov noted the enormous work carried out by the founder of the party Grigory Yavlinsky:

“Grigory Yavlinsky is an absolute example of a person in politics who does not change his beliefs and his values, despite all the hard changes and risks that come with it. And I hope that all this will lead to the results for which he works and we all work together.”

The party tried to find new forms of explaining people of what happened. One of the examples was the performance My Opposition staged by Alexander Gnezdilov, a member of the Federal Political Committee of the Party and theater director, based on the anti-fascist and anti-war diary of Friedrich Kellner (1885 – 1970). The premiere broadcast of the performance took place on the party YouTube channel on 2 March, 2022.

The Federal Party University continued its work. The Chairman appreciated the lectures of the University that are in high demand in the present situation:

“The demand [for such lectures] has been growing. Many young people want to find themselves in the world, they want to understand what is happening and turn their attention to Yabloko as a party that has taken a consistent stance, where you can get political education and work together with Yabloko so that we could together change the future of our country.”

The Yabloko leader also spoke about the seven actions that party members need to focus on today sp that peace could come as soon as possible:

– carrying out constant awareness-raising campaign;

–  saving and supporting party members;

– safety for activists;

– support for federal initiatives of the party in each regional branch;

– uniting around the party those who agree in the assessment of  the causes of what is happening and stand for peace;

– public political stance;

– political education and raising awareness campaigns.

In conclusion of his speech, Nikolai Rybakov congratulated Svetlana Gannushkina, a member of the Federal Political Committee and Chair of the Civic Assistance Committee, and Grigory Yavlinsky, Chairman of the Federal Political Committee and founder of the party, on their past anniversaries.

The Chairman of Yabloko thanked the regional branches and activists of the party for their selfless activities, their stance, their courage and devotion, and pickets and public political activities. According to Nikolai Rybakov, there is no other such political force in the country. He also added that the responsibility of the Yabloko party was in continuing its work and taking care of people.