Press Release, 23.09.2025

From 18 to 21 September, the Yabloko party retreat-2025 “New Generation of Yabloko Members: Understanding, Speaking, and Persuading” took place in the Ryazan Region. Twenty young people from different regions of Russia from Moscow to Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, became participants in this event, which was of a new format for the party.

“All participants went through strict competitive selection in the form of a creative essay. We brought together the authors of the best works to generate new and fresh ideas, as well as to teach how to effectively communicate these ideas,” Nikolai Rybakov explained.

The retreat stood out among other party events primarily because of its unusual format — it took place outdoors and combined a working atmosphere with a rich cultural programme. Event participants had useful discussions with party leaders of a shared future, a focus was laid on developing professional skills that would be useful both in the run-up to the 2026 federal State Duma campaign and in future activities.

The event programme included a discussion with Dr. Grigory Yavlinsky, Federal Political Committee Chairman, lectures by Dr. Yevgeny Gontmakher, expert in economics and Federal Political Committee member, Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov and Ivan Bolshakov, head of the Yabloko Analytical Centre, as well as a public speaking masterclass from theatre and film actress Tatyana Parshina.

On one of the days, retreat participants developed and presented party projects, the findings of which could subsequently be used in conducting the 2026 State Duma election campaign.

“It is wonderful that new, active, and caring young people are entering politics. But in modern realities, one needs to be able to work combining value identity, understanding of risks and practical effectiveness. We try not only to inspire young people for political work and teach responsibility, but also to help them feel belonging to a community of normal people,” Ivan Bolshakov noted.

In addition, the retreat included a cultural programme: an excursion to the museum of Russian poet Sergei Yesenin in Konstantinovo, a walk along the Konstantinovskoye Podgorye eco-trail, learning the history of the Ryazan Kremlin, a literary evening, as well as an excursion to the Alexander Solzhenitsyn Museum Centre in Ryazan, the world’s largest museum dedicated to the 1970 Nobel Literature Prize laureate.

“The main result of our meeting is developing a common strategy, exchanging experiences, and what is especially important, establishing informal contacts between active Yabloko young people from different regions of Russia. This format of meetings with young Yabloko members turned out to be very useful for all of us, and I hope that in future we will go on organising them again,” Nikolai Rybakov concluded.

More photos: https://www.yabloko.ru/cat-news/2025/09/23