5.10.2026

Photo: Lev Shlosberg at the party congress in December 2023 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Dear colleagues,

Our party has been through the most difficult election campaign since its founding. The campaign took place with the greatest public support in the party’s history, yet formally it did not bring the results we had hoped for.

This election campaign became a social phenomenon. Its significance lies in the fact that Russian civil society saw the worthy aims of genuine civic politics. Simple, familiar words such as peace, freedom, life, the individual and the future took on a clear meaning for millions of people this year.

We bear responsibility for these people. They have found in us the representation they were looking for. It is important for us to support them and to remain a political beacon for them. To do so, our party must stand firm and survive, and remain a cornerstone political structure of Russian society. We have grown stronger in these elections. This great trial has united us with the millions of people who place their hopes in the party, which has become, for them, their own party of life and party of the future.

I thank everyone who took part in this election campaign: all the candidates who were nominated, and all those who declared their readiness to represent citizens’ interests and to take personal risks. I thank everyone who worked in these elections, whether in the field or at their desks, in unjust courtrooms or at polling stations.

For each of us, this campaign has been a personal trial: a realisation of the meaning of political work, an overcoming of fear, an experience of personal responsibility. We have discovered new strength in ourselves. History is moving in the direction in which we are going, and 2026 has shown that we are not alone on this road.

The crystallisation of Russian civil society around Yabloko is the most important result of this political campaign. Politics is a more than elections. Politics happens every day. It takes years upon years of work for society and politicians to achieve results. And no result in politics is final. In politics, those who stop are the ones who lose.

The official results of the election campaign are designed to show society that nothing has changed in the country over the past five years and that, moreover, political support for the authorities has grown. There is an attempt to erase from public memory the powerful and sincere public upsurge that Yabloko’s message to Russian society inspired. Millions of people are being told that, politically, they (all of us) do not exist, and that the civic stance of a significant part of society is not recognised.

The authorities have refused to engage in civic dialogue with society on a legitimate, public political platform: in parliament. This is deeply alarming and dangerous, and it increases the political risks for the whole country. It is now we, dear colleagues, who bear responsibility for this part of society. We must protect these people from disillusionment and despair, sustain their morale, and involve all those among them who are ready to join the party in our political work. This is a major long-term task. Our party needs to organise all its work with an understanding of our responsibility for this emerging civil society. This will bring the days of peace and freedom closer.

With gratitude, respect and hope,
Lev Shlosberg