Is
Modernisation in Russia Possible? Interview
with Grigory Yavlinsky and Boris Titov by Yury Pronko,
"The Real Time" programme, Radio Finam, May
12, 2010
Photo: Alexei Arbatov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
In six months, the Treaty between the Russian Federation and the United States on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (New START) expires. However, the topic of nuclear disarmament is completely absent from the official discourse of the great powers against the backdrop of the Ukrainian and Iranian-Israeli conflicts. Executive Editor of “NG-Dipkurier” (“NG Diplomatic Courier”) Yury PANIEV spoke with Academician Alexei ARBATOV, the head of the Centre for International Security at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, about the risks of losing the nuclear weapons control system created over the past six decades.
Electronic voting is an extremely controversial tool. It has many supporters and many opponents. Some countries have tried to introduce electronic voting in their elections, but then inevitably returned to paper. Today, only the experience of Estonia is virtually the only example of the successful introduction of electronic voting into the electoral system. It is the Estonian experience that innovators refer to when introducing electronic voting at home. This year marks 20 years since the moment when, Estonians were the first in the world to officially vote at virtual polling stations in the local elections of 2005. Since then, electronic voting has been regularly used in Estonia in municipal, European, and national parliamentary elections.
Photo: Mosaic panel in the Izhstal Ice Palace building / Photo from social media
One of the rare monuments of 1970s mosaic art – a mosaic panel possessing artistic and historical value – was situated in the foyer of the Izhstal Ice Palace building in Izhevsk, Udmurtia. Despite assurances from Udmurtia’s Minister of Physical Culture and Sports Denis Parakhin about preservation of the panel, it was demolished. Leader of Udmurtia Yabloko Iya Boronina has filed a complaint with the regional public prosecutor’s office about the minister’s inaction regarding the preservation of the mosaic panel, as well as about the legality of the destruction of the mosaic.
Photo: The Legislative Assembly of Karelia / Photo by the Press Service of the Legislative Assembly
The Yabloko party faction in the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia prepared a bill to exempt state medical institutions from paying property tax. Such a measure would help direct more budget money towards improving the quality of healthcare. The Head of Karelia, Arthur Parfenchikov, did not support Yabloko’s proposal, and the parliamentary majority ignored the vote on the bill. A month later, the deputies who had not voted held a meeting and decided to submit this proposal to the Karelia’s government as their own.
The head of the Presidential Human Rights Council Valery Fadeyev called for expelling migrant families from Russia if their children do not go to school. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are almost 786,000 minor foreigners in Russia. At the same time, the number of foreign children studying in schools is about 192,000 people.
First Deputy Chair of the Yabloko Gender Faction Olga Radayeva participated part in the roundtable of the Raisa Maximovna Gorbacheva Club project, which was held at the Gorbachev Foundation in June. The starting point for the discussion was the books by women’s movement historian Irina Yukina “Russian Feminism as a Challenge to Modernity” (2007) and “From Ladies-Patronesses to Activists of Women’s Sections” (2024).
On 11 June, the Pskov City Court ruled that Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko Party Lev Shlosberg should be arrested until 8 August. Shlosberg is at home, under house arrest, deprived of access to a telephone, mail, and the Internet, he is also restricted in communication and movement.
Photo: A mass sporting event at one of Moscow’s stadiums during the period of “coronavirus restrictions” / Photo by Dmitry Lebedev, Kommersant
The letter to Yelena Andreyeva, Chief Sanitary Doctor of Moscow, was sent by the applicants of the pickets for the dismantling of the bas-relief depicting Joseph Stalin as the “father of the nation” in the Moscow metro – Nikolai Rybakov, Yabloko Chairman, Maxim Kruglov, Deputy Chairman of the party, Kirill Goncharov, Deputy Chairman of the Moscow branch of Yabloko, and other party members. Yabloko asks the Chief Sanitary Doctor to give explanation about the current sanitary and epidemiological situation in Moscow, as well as the current restrictions related to the prevention of the spread of COVID: whether there is a risk of the spread of a new wave of COVID, whether there is data confirming the need to limit mass events, and whether measures have been officially established for the safe organisation of events.
Photo: Alexander Shishlov at the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg /Photo by the Press Service of the St.Petersburg parliament
The Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St.Petersburg has once again submitted to the St.Petersburg parliament its initiative to return the passive electoral right (the right to be elected) to citizens recognised as “foreign agents”. Here goes the full transcript of the speech of the faction leader Alexander Shishlov.
The formal reason for the refusal of the Prefecture of Central Administrative District of Moscow to approve Yabloko pickets was the “current epidemiological situation”. The authorities continue to refer to the decree of the Mayor of Moscow dated 8 June, 2020, which maintains the previously introduced ban on holding mass events due to the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.
Yabloko has prepared special postcards dedicated to Seda Suleimanova, a Chechen girl who ran away from relatives who threatened her with honour killing for her refusal to agree to a forced marriage, was forcibly returned to Chechnya and, ultimately, disappeared. There has been no news about Seda’s fate since then. In May 2025, journalist and Seda’s friend Lena Patyaeva handed over 5,000 signatures to the Presidential Administration demanding an investigation into Seda’s disappearance.
On the 84th anniversary of the attack of the fascist Germany on the USSR, Yabloko honoured the memory of the victims of the terrible tragedy that affected the lives and destinies of hundreds of millions of people – participants in the events of the first half of the 20th century, as well as their descendants. The leaders and activists of the party lit candles at the monument to Moscow residents who raised to defend their city.
Why are the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations taking so long and so painful? Because they are constantly trying to drag out the negotiations as much as possible. Who is trying? Both the sides. But one side is advancing, while the other, on the contrary, is losing increasingly more territory.
Photo: Viktor Shalyakin / Photo: by the Novgorod Region branch of Yabloko
The Novgorod branch of Yabloko nominated Viktor Shalyakin as a candidate for the post of Governor of Novgorod Region in the forthcoming elections. The conference delegates decided to nominate Viktor Shalyakin, a former military man, for the early elections of the Governor, who knows better than anyone what war and its price are. Viktor Shalyakin advocates a peaceful settlement of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and an end to the killing of people. Only a peaceful and free Russia has a chance for the future.
Electronic voting is an extremely controversial tool. It has many supporters and many opponents. Some countries have tried to introduce electronic voting in their elections, but then inevitably returned to paper. Today, only the experience of Estonia is virtually the only example of the successful introduction of electronic voting into the electoral system. It is the Estonian experience that innovators refer to when introducing electronic voting at home. This year marks 20 years since the moment when, Estonians were the first in the world to officially vote at virtual polling stations in the local elections of 2005. Since then, electronic voting has been regularly used in Estonia in municipal, European, and national parliamentary elections.
On the evening of 21 June, on the threashold of a sad anniversary of fascist Germany’s attack on the USSR on 22 June 1941, we will conduct screening of Marlen Khutsiev’s film “People of 1941” paying tribute to the heroes and victims of the Second World War and talk about the lessons of that terrible time and the civic responsibility of today.
The Chelyabinsk regional electoral commission has registered the list of Yabloko candidates for the elections to the Legislative Assembly of the region. Now all candidates must collect 3,000 signatures from voters in their constituency to get on the ballot. Yabloko’s signature campaign has already started and will conclude on 11 July.
The Yabloko party has completed the collection of books for the library of the village of Novo-Steklyannoye in the Republic of Karelia. In just two weeks of the campaign, more than 450 books were collected, which will be transferred to the library soon.
Photo: Kirill Goncharov and Maxim Kruglov at the office of the Prefecture of the Central Administrative District, Moscow/ Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
The initiators of the action are Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov, as well as representatives of the Moscow branch of the party: authorised representative of the regional branch Maxim Kruglov, Deputy Chairman of Moscow Yabloko Kirill Goncharov, and members of the Moscow branch Alexei Krapukhin and Ivan Dorofeyev.
The Anti-Corruption Policy Centre of the Yabloko party is opening applications for the summer online school “Money Laundering in the Crypto Era: Shadow Finance, Technologies, and Systemic Countermeasures”. The school is dedicated to state policies and practices of prosecuting criminal money both in Russia and the international context.
