Yabloko continues its Time to Return Home campaign in the regions of Russia
Press release, 07.07.2017

Yabloko continues its Time to Return Home campaign for Russia’s withdrawal from the war in Syria, which is targeted at allotting federal budget funds to Russia’s domestic development, not to foreign policy ambitions and adventures. More cities of Russia joined the campaign initiated by Grigory Yavlinsky this week: the geography of the campaign already stretches from Arkhangelsk to Rostov-on-Don, and from St. Petersburg to Khabarovsk. Yabloko’s pickets and signature collection for Russia’s withdrawal from the war in Syria enjoy significant support from the local residents and sometimes the level of this support exceeds our expectations. Yabloko’s activists who participate in the campaign in different cities of Russia shared their opinion on the course of the campaign and the reaction of the passers-by.

Pskov. Alexander Andreyev, Yabloko’s activist:
– We feel that people trust us although such street political activity is a new thing for Pskov. The residents of the city are not used to the fact that someone addresses them, talks to them about the situation in the country, takes interest in their opinion.

Women highly support our initiative, especially mothers who have small children. It is clear that they think about the future of their children when they object to the war. There is an interesting thing. As you know, an airborne unite is stationed in Pskov, and some military men also put their signatures. It is likely that they are not allowed to do such a thing but they answered the question for themselves – they do not want to go to Syria.

A lot of people say that the withdrawal from the war in Syria is the right thing to do. We manage to hand out about 500-600 leaflets in an hour.


Irkutsk. Grigory Gribenko, Chair of the Irkutsk branch of Yabloko:

– The important thing is that our campaigners are students of the political science department and can easily explain some information of which the passers-by no nothing. Some discussions sometimes last about half an hour. As a result we collect dozens of signatures during every action.
I am glad that a lot of young people aged 25-27 support our initiative.

St. Petersburg. Ilya Smirnov, Chair of St. Petersburg Yabloko Youth:

People say that Grigory Yavlinsky is really a decent and worthy presidential candidate. He puts a stress on anti-military agenda, one needs serious political will to do so.

Barnaul: Alexander Goncharenko, Chair of the Altai branch of Yabloko:

Maybe Barnaul is the most pacifist city. It may well be connected with the fact that the level of life in the Altei Territory is one of the lowest in the country. It is much higher in Moscow and people may justify these costs. When you begin talking to people it becomes obvious that they have some misunderstanding. What are we doing in Syria, why do we spend money? Why don’t we spend it on something else?

Saratov. Yekaterina Tsaryeva, Yabloko’s activist:

Nearly 60 per cent of those who pass by our stands in the street say that they support the theses of our campaign. However, only about 40 per cent of them agree to put their signatures. They often say that they do not believe that their signature can change anything or they are afraid to leave their personal data. But there were cases when the residents were so eager to support the campaign that they brought their relatives and friends to put their signature, too.

Vologda. Makar Sokolov, Regional council member, the Vologda branch of Yabloko:

We collect hundreds of signatures every day. However, a lot of people who approve of our initiative refuse to put their signatures for different reason. For instance, two officials came by (of the middle and low level, probably). They said that they fully supported the campaign but did not dare put their signatures.

We do not face any kind of aggression. The passers-by treat us kindly on the whole. Elderly people recollect the war in Afghanistan and Chechnya very often while young people support the campaign because they have a pacifistic stance. University students come on purpose to put their signatures.

There people who do not inquire much about the aim of the campaign and put their signature just because they see Grigory Yavlisnky’s picture.

One can also put their signature on Yabloko’s website.

On 6 July, the government of the cities of Saratov and Tambov prohibited Yabloko’s anti-war pickets. The grounds for the prohibitions seem absurd from the legal point of view. The Tambov City Hall prohibited to carry out Grigory Yavlinsky’s anti-war campaign during “the election period” since holding such events “violates the equality of candidates”. First the Saratov City Hall authorised the picket but then forced the activists to stop it using the police force. The stated reason was that Saratov’s bombers stroke Syria. Yabloko will appeal the prohibition to carry out the campaign in court.