Press Release, 18.03.2026

The organisers of the rally “In Defence of a Free Internet” in Kazan — representatives of Yabloko — published on Wednesday the Executive Committee’s response to their notification. Officials stated that the aim of “drawing public and media attention” to the blocking of messaging applications and the Internet more broadly “did not meet the requirements” of the Law “On Rallies”.

“In the Executive Committee’s view, the stated purpose does not meet the legal requirement, that is, it is vague, open to arbitrary or ambiguous interpretation, and does not reflect the intended outcome of the public event,” the Tatarstan branch of Yabloko said in a statement.

The regional branch of Yabloko intends to prepare a revised document setting out the aims of the rally “In Defence of a Free Internet” in Kazan in greater detail. The new document will also include a demand that the Executive Committee provide a reasoned response.

It should be noted that the application for a rally of up to 100 participants, to be held on 16 March, was submitted to the Executive Committee of Kazan, the Tatarstan capital city, by Sofya Fyodorova, a lawyer, activist, and Yabloko supporter. Co-organiser was Ruslan Zinatullin, the leader of the Yabloko branch in Tatarstan, who had noted that there were districts in Kazan that regularly lost mobile connectivity and internet access.

The new rally is scheduled on 28 March. In their notification, the organisers stated that the purpose of the proposed event was to “draw the attention of the public, the media, and state authorities” to the protection of citizens’ right to freedom of information, including the freedom to seek, receive, and disseminate it. In addition to protesting against the blocking and throttling of messaging applications across the Russian Federation, Yabloko members had also intended to speak out against the imposition of the state messaging application MAX.