Press Release, 7.10.2026

Photo: Viktor Shalyakin / Photo by Novgorod Yabloko

On the initiative of the Bureau of the Novgorod branch of Yabloko, the Yabloko faction in the Novgorod Regional Duma has nominated Viktor Shalyakin as a candidate for Senator of the Russian Federation. The Bureau’s decision to support his candidacy was unanimous.

Viktor Shalyakin is a Veteran of Military Service and a former test pilot. He has been a member of Yabloko since 2018 and has risen from rank-and-file party member to member of the Federal Council and of the Bureau of the Novgorod branch. He holds state and departmental awards.

He sees his main task in the Federation Council as repealing repressive and prohibitive laws and preventing new ones from being passed. Today, thousands of people in Russia who peacefully expressed disagreement with state policies have been convicted under the so-called military censorship laws. Our party friends and colleagues Maxim Kruglov, Lev Shlosberg, Mikhail Afanasyev and Vasily Neustroyev have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms.

We publish below the speech by Viktor Shalyakin, candidate for Senator of the Russian Federation:

“During the [recent] election campaign, people in Novgorod repeatedly came to me and said that they were against the repressive and prohibitive laws, and that they feared for their lives and for their children’s future. Today in Russia, one can receive a huge fine or a prison sentence for an opinion, a statement or a post on the Internet. A striking example is Yabloko’s Deputy Chairman Lev Shlosberg, who was sentenced to 11 years’ imprisonment for calling for peace.

“People want to live in a world where the rights and freedoms enshrined in the Constitution are respected, and to live without fear. All legislation on foreign agents, on ‘military censorship’ and on the blocking of the Internet and mobile communications must be repealed. Today in Russia, thousands of people who peacefully expressed disagreement with state policies have been convicted. [Once again in our history,] political prisoners have appeared in Russia: people convicted for their words, their opinions and their free thinking.

“The law on foreign agents is worded in such a way that any Russian citizen can now become a ‘foreign agent’. You do not need to be under foreign influence or receive funding from abroad. It is enough for you to come to the attention of a Ministry of Justice official and for your activities to be in opposition. The law on foreign agents is a repressive law. It allows a single Ministry of Justice official, without a court ruling, to remove from Russian political life people with opposition views and people fighting corruption, theft and lawlessness in government.

“The legislation on ‘extremism’ must be revised so that politicians and election candidates are no longer stripped of their right to stand. Three representatives of Novgorod Yabloko, Anton Kostryukov, Yelena Ivanova and Anna Cherepanova, were removed from the race under this law. To remove Anna Cherepanova, the leader of Novgorod Yabloko, from the race, the judicial authorities chased her all over the region with the help of the police and the local administration. In total, several dozen Yabloko members across Russia were held liable under the ‘extremism’ article in the run-up to the elections.

“I believe that Russia can develop only if there is political and economic competition, democracy and respect for human rights and freedoms. It is time to stop the constant search for enemies. Life must become an absolute value. The state must serve people, not the other way round. Society must be freed from fear.”