Press Release, 23.07.2025

Photo: Konstantin Smirnov in court / Photo by Ryazan Yabloko

The Soviet District Court of Ryazan refused to change the preventive measure for Editor-in-Chief of internet media Vid Sboku (View from the Side) and Yabloko municipal deputy Konstantin Smirnov. The politician’s defence insisted on transferring the politician to house arrest, but the position of the investigation and court remained unchanged.

The investigation’s main argument against house arrest for Konstantin Smirnov was the circumstance that Smirnov’s wife is a witness in the case. However, Smirnov’s defence and he himself noted that she had already been questioned.

Nevertheless, Konstantin Smirnov’s defence proposed an alternative address for the house arrest – at the residence of Konstantin’s friend Nikolai Matrosov. But it turned out that even in this case, Smirnov cannot be placed under house arrest – the court left him in custody, once again pointing out that he might flee from the investigation. These arguments were repeatedly refuted by Konstantin’s defenders and himself.

Support for Konstantin Smirnov in court was provided by Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party Vladimir Dorokhov.

“Such a court decision was expected, because such prolonged detention in custody without any convincing grounds is viewed by the defence as pressure on Konstantin aimed at forcing him to admit guilt. Since there is no direct evidence against Konstantin in the case, the investigation has only one path left – to pressure him psychologically through detention. Unfortunately, according to the practices established in our country, the court abets the investigation in this,” Vladimir Dorokhov, Deputy Chairman of Yabloko, commented on the court’s decision.

Read more about what Konstantin Smirnov fought for and why he was deprived of freedom on the Yabloko website.

Also read about persecution of Yabloko members since the start of the special military operation.