Press Release, 6.02.2026

Photo: Yelena Ivanova / Photo by Novgorod Yabloko

On the evening of 5 February, Novgorod District Court delivered a guilty verdict against Deputy Chair of the Novgorod branch of the Yabloko party, Yelena Ivanova. The court found her guilty of “displaying extremist symbols” (Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and fined her 2,000 roubles. Following this decision, Yelena Ivanova will be barred from standing in elections for one year, including the 2026 campaigns for the State Duma and the Novgorod Regional Duma.

It should be noted that pressure on Novgorod Yabloko activists became widely known after a statement by the Bureau of the regional branch of Yabloko. Yabloko members expressed their protest against the persecution of their colleagues on 4 February, and as early as 5 February, Assistant Public Prosecutor of Veliky Novgorod summoned Yelena Ivanova to public prosecutor’s office to draw up a report on her.

However, after the paperwork had been completed, the politician was unable to leave the public prosecutor’s office freely. Deputy City Public Prosecutor, together with Assistant Public Prosecutor, called a local police officer to forcibly escort Yelena to court.

For approximately an hour, Yelena Ivanova, along with her legal representatives Anna Cherepanova, head of Novgorod Yabloko, and Viktor Shalyakin, as well as a public prosecutor’s office employee and a police officer, waited in the court corridor whilst the judge familiarised herself with the case materials. Throughout this time, the police officer remained next to Yelena Ivanova, effectively acting as a guard.

In court, Assistant Public Prosecutor stated that she had acted on direct orders from the Public Prosecutor of Veliky Novgorod monitoring social media for extremist symbols. As a result of the check, a post from 2017 featuring a photograph of Alexei Navalny was discovered on Yelena Ivanova’s page. At the same time, as the legal representatives noted, similar monitoring had for some reason failed to identify posts from 2023 on the page of Deputy Chair of Novgorod Regional Duma and United Russia member Olga Borisova, which displayed neo-Nazi symbols.

The court hearing lasted four hours – from 16:00 to 20:00. Yelena Ivanova had been unable to eat for more than ten hours, as she had not anticipated that after her visit to the public prosecutor’s office she would be forcibly escorted to court. She missed the work transport that was supposed to take her to her night shift at her work and was forced to travel by taxi.

At the public prosecutor’s office and in court, Assistant Public Prosecutor repeatedly warned Yelena Ivanova of the possibility of arrest, which, in the opinion of the defence, indicated an intention to exert maximum pressure on the politician.

Novgorod Yabloko regards this situation as an act of intimidation and humiliation by law enforcement bodies. The party is convinced that the prosecution of Yelena Ivanova and another party member, Anton Kostryukov, is politically motivated and ordered.

In the near future, Starorussky District Court is due to hear a similar case against party member Anton Kostryukov. He has been charged over a social media post from 2021.