Grigory Yavlinsky on the possibility of voting for peace and freedom, and for a new path of development for the country

YouTube channel Zhivoi Gvozd, 19.05.2026

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I have personally taken part in federal elections ten times: three times in presidential and seven in parliamentary elections. There have been different times and different situations. There have been elections that came close to being democratic, and elections whose results were clear from the outset. But each time, elections were first and foremost an opportunity to speak to people and offer them a different path towards the future. Sometimes millions voted for it, sometimes hundreds of thousands. It was people’s choice, as the saying goes, “you live as you vote”.

In today’s Russia, the voting that is called an election has, in my view, a fundamentally different and particular significance. The question now is not whether any of us will or will not be elected to the State Duma. The point is that this is effectively the only opportunity citizens have to express their attitude to what is happening directly to the authorities.

Whatever the obstacles, the real results of the vote will inevitably become known to the country’s leadership. This is the most realistic chance for dozens of millions of citizens to state their position on the current situation, and, above all, on the future, in a manner that is entirely legal and nationwide in scale.

We offer the opportunity to vote for peace and freedom, for a new path of development for the country. That is the meaning of our participation in the elections. This is not a matter of career — it is a matter of the future of our homeland, of our children and grandchildren. It is for this reason that Yabloko continues its struggle, whatever the obstacles.

Let me repeat: this time we are not fighting for seats in the State Duma or for state funding. We are fighting so that people in our country, even in the present circumstances, should have the opportunity to make their position known and be heard.

We offer a peaceful and free future. If millions of people in Russia cast their vote for such an alternative, it will influence the political course of the country’s leadership and may become the first step in the right direction.

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Grigory Yavlinsky spoke about the aims and meaning of contemporary elections in Russia on the YouTube channel Zhivoi Gvozd.