Press Release, 28.12.2017

Viktor Shmyrov, Director of the Museum of the History of Political Reprisals “Perm-36” and historian, supported nomination of Grigory Yavlinsky as a candidate for the presidency of the Russian Federation, and put his signature in support of Yabloko’s candidate.

Viktor Shmyrov is a Russian historian, public figure and author of over 40 academic publications. He is one of the founders of the Perm branch of the international human rights, historical and educational society Memorial. In 1992, he led a small group of enthusiasts, who began to establishing a museum of the history of political reprisals in the USSR on the site of the former colony of political prisoners VS 389/36 (Perm-36) in the village of Kuchino, Chusovsky District, Perm Region. The museum was named Perm-36, after the colony. The festival of civil song Pilorama created by Shmyrov quickly grew beyond the boundaries of the Russian Federation and became a brand of the Perm region, an international civil and democratic forum.

Yabloko began collecting signatures necessary to register party candidate Grigory Yavlinsky in the presidential race. By 31 January, Yavlinsky must transfer to the Central Electoral Commission at least 105,000 voters’ signatures in favour of his nomination, whereas only 2,500 signatures per region is allowed. Activists of Yabloko collect signatures in 79 regions of Russia.

The collection of signatures takes place in the offices of the regional branches of the Yabloko party in 79 constituent entities of the Russian Federation.

Nomination of Grigory Yavlinsky was also supported by Yevgeny Gontmakher, Chief Researcher at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Igor Nikolayev, Director of the FBK Institute for Strategic Analysis and Professor of the Higher School of Economics, renowned actor Oleg Basilashvili, politicians Vladimir Ryzhkov and Dmitry Gudkov and others.