Press Release, 8.04.2026

Photo: Vasily Neustroyev / Photo from St.Petersburg observers

On 8 April, Yabloko member Vasily Neustroev from St.Petersburg was sentenced to ten years in prison. In addition to serving his sentence in a general-regime penal colony, he and five other convicted young men have been banned for seven years from posting online and participating in civil society organisations.

Yabloko party Chair Nikolai Rybakov commented on the ruling by St Petersburg City Court judge after the sentence was handed down:

“We believe that no evidence was presented in the case materials throughout the trial, and no specific facts were established that were directly linked to the commission of the acts of which he stands accused. We believe that the trial itself, and the sentence handed down, serve only one purpose: to intensify fear among the citizens of our country.

Vasily is 30 years old. He is an intelligent, sincere and honest person. He has caused no harm to anyone and has used no violence. He wants to see our country free and democratic. For nearly three years he was held in pre-trial detention facilities in Moscow and St.Petersburg, and has now been sentenced to a monstrous term of the kind handed down to murderers and rapists.

We are fully convinced of Vasily Neustroyev’s innocence, and will continue to use every lawful means to defend him and support his family,” Rybakov said.

Photo: Yabloko party Chair Nikolai Rybakov outside the court ahead of the sentencing of Vasily Neustroev at St Petersburg City Court on 8 April 2026 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Vasily Neustroyev, historian, election observer and member of St.Petersburg Yabloko, has been persecuted by the authorities since 6 June 2023, when his flat was searched in connection with the case against the Vesna movement, a youth organisation that had been designated extremist. He was subsequently charged with six offences in the “Vesna case”: spreading “fake news about the army” (Article 207.3(2)(b),(d) of the Criminal Code), establishing a non-commercial organisation that infringes on the rights and liberties of citizens, “extremism”, “rehabilitation of Nazism”, and “involvement in organising mass disorder” (Article 239(2); Article 280.4(3); Article 212(1.1); Article 354.1(4); Article 282.1(1) of the Criminal Code). He has been held in pre-trial detention since June 2023.

During the proceedings, Vasily Neustroyev was recognised as a political prisoner; he consistently maintained his innocence and insisted that the case against him had been fabricated.

Photo: Vasily Neustroyev ahead of sentencing at St.Petersburg City Court on 8 April 2026 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

On 24 February 2026, the prosecution requested a sentence of twelve years in a penal colony for Vasily and a fine of one million roubles. That same day, Neustroyev delivered his closing statement, declaring that Russia was living through “another period of distorted concepts, another period of the retreat of freedom and the rise of authoritarianism”, but that the entire course of history proved that “freedom will ultimately prevail”:

“Russia is strong. Russia will outlast all tyrants and dictators, as it has done before. I know that Russia will be peaceful, Russia will be happy, Russia will be free. And we will all be there with it.”

Yabloko maintains that the criminal case against Vasily Neustroyev is politically motivated and represents yet another attempt to intimidate activists and all those who stand up to the system. Throughout the trial, Yabloko consistently made its position known to the court: dozens of character references were submitted on Neustroyev’s behalf by his party comrades, and St Petersburg Yabloko chair Olga Tsepilova appeared as a witness for the defence in October last year.

Today, 8 April 2026, Yabloko party Chair Nikolai Rybakov travelled to court to show his support for Vasily Neustroyev during the sentencing. Also present were representatives of the St.Petersburg regional branch of Yabloko: St.Petersburg Yabloko Chair Olga Tsepilova, Yabloko faction deputy in the Legislative Assembly Olga Shtannikova, Chair of Yabloko’s party arbitration board Olga Pokrovskaya, Deputy Chair of the St.Petersburg branch Dmitry Anisimov, colleagues from the Pskov Yabloko team — Pskov regional branch Deputy Chair Yana Ivanova and Pskov Yabloko chief of staff Alexander Titov — as well as other party members and supporters.