Press Release, 12.09.2026

Photo: Vladimir Atamanchuk / Photo from the Raiskaya Kuban Telegram channel

On 11 September, the Krasnodar Regional Court annulled the registration of Yabloko candidate Vladimir Atamanchuk for the State Duma in the Southern single-mandate Constituency No. 54. The claim to remove the candidate was filed by his rival in the constituency, Andrei Titov of the Green Party.

The pretext for the claim was Atamanchuk’s campaign leaflet. The claimant alleged that it contained “information of an extremist nature”. The court agreed with the claim and annulled the candidate’s registration.

In the leaflet, Atamanchuk had, among other things, spoken out in favour of a ceasefire agreement and written of an “ocean of human suffering”. Objections to the leaflet came not only from the candidate’s rival but from the police as well.

On the eve of the court hearing, on 10 September, Vladimir Atamanchuk was detained in Sochi and issued with an administrative violation protocol for “discrediting the use of the Russian Armed Forces” — also over the text of this leaflet.

Atamanchuk pointed out that the wording in Andrei Titov’s administrative claim and in the police protocol was virtually identical. According to the candidate, both documents used the same allegations of extremism and “discrediting”.

Back in 2022, Vladimir Atamanchuk had already faced persecution over his peace-making stance: he had been prosecuted for a repeat offence of “discrediting the use of the Russian Armed Forces”. That case was later dropped, but another criminal case was opened against him, this time for slander. The court sentenced him to 240 hours of compulsory labour.

Vladimir Atamanchuk is 75 years old and a paediatrician by profession.

Atamanchuk has become the 19th Yabloko candidate in single-mandate constituencies to be removed from the State Duma race following claims filed by rivals.

As of today, 118 Yabloko candidates in single-mandate constituencies across 47 Russian regions remain in the running.