Press Release, 24.07.2026

Photo: Ella Pamfilova / Photo by Dmitry Dukhanin, Kommersant

Yabloko leader Nikolai Rybakov has sent an open letter to the Chair of the Central Electoral Commission of Russia, Ella Pamfilova, concerning what the party considers to be the impending refusal to register Yabloko’s list for the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly elections.

Dear Ella Alexandrovna,

On 9 July 2026, the Yabloko party submitted documents to the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission for the nomination of its list of candidates for the single electoral constituency in the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly elections, and on 11 July the list was certified.

On 15 July, the party submitted documents for registration of the list, including its first financial report, as confirmed by the receipt issued by the commission acknowledging receipt of the documents.

On 20 July, in a notice of deficiencies identified, the commission indicated that the first financial report was missing, citing a technical error in the notarised power of attorney of the authorised representative for financial matters. All the deficiencies indicated were rectified, and on 22 July the corresponding documents were submitted to the Commission.

On 22 July, the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission notified the party that the question of registering the list would be considered on 24 July at 4 p.m. However, this item is absent from the published agenda for the meeting, despite the fact that 24 July is the final day on which a decision on registering the list of candidates can be taken.

In our view, this indicates that a refusal to register Yabloko’s list of candidates is being prepared.

In light of the above, I ask you to intervene in the current situation and to send a member of the Central Electoral Commission of the Russian Federation with a casting vote to take part in the meeting of the St. Petersburg Electoral Commission, including by videoconferencing.