Press Release, 24.04.2026

Photo: Alexander Shishlov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

On 24 April, a judge of the Petrograd District Court of St.Petersburg found Alexander Shishlov, Coordinator of the Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko party and keader of the Yabloko faction in the St Petersburg Legislative Assembly, guilty under  Article 20.3 Part 1 of the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation and imposed a fine of 1,500 roubles. The court ruling automatically bars one of Yabloko’s senior leaders from standing as a candidate in elections for one year — including the elections to the State Duma and the St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly in September 2026.

The prosecution was triggered by a repost made more than three years ago — an interview with Grigory Yavlinsky in which the names of Anna Politkovskaya, Boris Nemtsov, and Alexei Navalny were mentioned, among other things.

Yabloko Deputy Chairman Vladimir Dorokhov attended the hearing at the Petrograd Court today, as did Alexander Shishlov’s St.Petersburg party colleagues: St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly Deputy Olga Shtannikova, Yabloko’s representative on the city electoral commission Pavel Shapchits, and parliamentary assistants David Zudin and Oleg Maksakov.

Alexander Shishlov’s interests are represented by lawyer Andrei Chertkov and legal adviser Vitaly Isakov.

Photo: Colleagues and allies of Alexander Shishlov at the Petrograd Court, 24.04.26 / Photo by St.Petersburg Yabloko

The court disregarded the defence’s compelling arguments and followed the path of executing a political order, Vladimir Dorokhov has stressed:

“As a result, one of Yabloko’s most respected members, Alexander Shishlov, will be stripped of his right to participate in the forthcoming elections. That is precisely what this absurd and unlawful administrative report was drawn up for. It is voters alone, not manipulations and falsifications, that have the right to decide whom voters wish to see in parliament. It would appear that Yabloko’s electoral prospects — as the only party openly standing for peace and freedom, for a life without fear — are such that even under conditions of three-day and electronic voting, the authorities are compelled to resort to the outright exclusion of our leaders.”

The court ruling will be appealed. The Yabloko party considers it unlawful and politically motivated.

Alexander Shishlov has become the seventh Yabloko member to be fined under Article 20.3 of the Code of Administrative Offences. It should be noted that those previously fined under this article include: party Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, deputy of Legislative Assembly deputy of St.Petersburg Olga Shtannikova, leader of Pskov Yabloko and regional Legislative Assembly deputy Artur Gaiduk, leader of Karelian Yabloko and Honoured Teacher of Russia Emilia Slabunova, Yelena Ivanova, Deputy Chair of the Novgorod branch of Yabloko, and Yabloko member from the Novgorod region Anton Kostryukov.

A court hearing on the second administrative report filed against Alexander Shishlov — arising from the same Telegram repost, under Article 13.15 Part 9 of the Code of Administrative Offences (“abuse of freedom of mass media”), will take place on 30 April at 11:00 at the Magistrates’ Court of Judicial District No. 153 of the Petrograd District of St.Petersburg (St.Petersburg, 23 Bolshaya Raznochinaya Street, Building B).