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: Yan Rachinsky /Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
The Yabloko party considers the inclusion of Yan Rachinsky, Co-Chairman of the Memorial human rights society and Russian human rights defender, in the so-called “foreign agents” register to be an act of political repression aimed at destroying historical memory in Russia.
Photo: Journalists awaiting the end of negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations in Istanbul / Photo by Kirill Zykov, RIA Novosti
Commentary on negotiations has begun to occupy more space in public politics than the negotiations themselves. This destroys the fabric of professional diplomacy and leads to risks of negotiation failure, especially on sensitive issues. Diplomacy conducted through public space, including through media, loses flexibility and finds itself completely dependent on mass stereotypes and phobias.
18+ НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН И РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ЛЬВОМ МАРКОВИЧЕМ ШЛОСБЕРГОМ ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ЛЬВА МАРКОВИЧА ШЛОСБЕРГА
18+ THE PRESENT MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVITCH SHLOSBERG OR CONCERNES THE ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVITCH SHLOSBERG
Photo: Engelina Borisovna Tareyeva / Photo from the personal archive
On 30 May, Yabloko member Engelina Borisovna Tareyeva will turn 100. It is a great honour for us to hold an evening dedicated to the centenary of our party’s oldest member. For many years, Engelina Borisovna has maintained a personal blog on LiveJournal called “An Intelligentsia Thing”, in which she publishes both her memoirs and reflections on the present and future of our country. Her honest and brave voice, brilliant memory, erudition and expressive style resonate with thousands of readers. In the era of the early development of blogs, Engelina Borisovna became one of the first Russian bloggers who had more than 10,000 subscribers. Engelina Borisovna continues to maintain her blog even now.
Photo: The Podpisnye Izdaniya book store in St. Petersburg / Photo by Alexander Chizhenok, Kommersant
Security officials came to search the book publishing houses Eksmo and Individuum, and book stores Falanster, Podpisnye Izdaniya, and Karta Mira.
After the searches at the publishing houses, 11 people were interrogated and later detained. Three were placed under house arrest. According to media reports, the detainees are suspected of participating in the activities of an extremist organisation that allegedly “promoted LGBT ideology”. According to security officials, “LGBT propaganda” is allegedly contained in several books published several years ago by the independent publishing houses Individuum and Popcorn Books, now part of Eksmo.
Photo: Konstantin Smirnov / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
The sureties to the Soviet District Court of Ryazan with a request to change the preventive measure for Konstantin Smirnov, Chairman of the Ryazan branch of Yabloko, deputy of the Council of Deputies of the Dubrovichi rural settlement of the Ryazan district from Yabloko and editor-in-chief of VidSboku Internet media, were sent to the court by the Chairman of Yabloko Nikolai Rybakov and his deputies; the Chairman of the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko Grigory Yavlinsky and members of the Federal Political Committee of the party, as well as deputies from the party from several regions.
Photo: Ella Pamfilova, Chair of the Central Electoral Commission, and Grigory Melkonyants, Co-Chair of Golos independent election observers movement, at a roundtable on organising election observation as part of the All-Russian Civil Forum, 25 November, 2017 / Photo by Golos
Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov sent a letter to Ella Pamfilova, Chairperson of the Russian Central Electoral Commission, with the final statement of imprisoned Grigory Melkonyants, Co-Chair of Golos independent election observers movement, and asked her to study Grigory’s proposals affecting the electoral rights of prisoners.
Putin and Trump had a “good” conversation. They announced this to the world. Who will actually benefit from this, and who will not, remains to be seen.
No official announcements were made about discussing any draft decisions regarding the practical implementation of a ceasefire. According to Putin’s aide, “the timeframe for reaching a possible agreement on a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine”, that is, stopping killing of people and quickly ending the hostilities, was not discussed during the conversation. As follows from official reports, so far the presidents have only talked about developing a “memorandum” — a list or a plan of the key points for future direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Vladimir Putin, in a brief statement to the press, mentioned the possibility of reaching an agreement on a ceasefire “for a certain period” during direct negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv.
On 14 September, elections to the Voronezh City Duma will be held in Voronezh. The regional branch of the Yabloko party intends to participate in these elections. Yabloko is already preparing a democratic list of candidates who will present a real alternative in the city parliament.
Photo: The action in the Kemerovo branch of Yabloko / Photo by the regional branch of the party
With each passing month, the number of political prisoners continues to grow. According to the Memorial human rights organisation, there are currently 952 political prisoners in Russia. In total, the human rights organisation believes more than 3,000 people have been deprived of their freedom for political reasons.
Photo: Konstantin Smirnov at one of the court hearings / Photo by internet media VidSboku
Professor of the Department of Arabic Philology at St. Petersburg State University and Ryazan native Mikhail Suvorov has sent an appeal vouching for Vidsboku (Side View) editor-in-chief Konstantin Smirnov – he requests changing his preventive measure to house arrest or any other not involving deprivation of liberty. The appeal is addressed to the Head of the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of Russia for the Ryazan Region, Oleg Vasilyev, investigator Dmitry Zhatkin, and the Soviet District Court of Ryazan. The collective appeal was also signed by representatives of the public, legal community, businesses, and culture.
The regional branch of the Yabloko party in the Ivanovo region is preparing to participate in election campaigns of different levels and invites candidates and volunteers to cooperate.
Municipal elections in the Ivanovo region will be held in almost all cities and districts of the region. The key municipal elections will be elections of city council deputies in Ivanovo, Kineshma and Shuya. Deputies will be elected in 115 municipalities, including six urban districts and 109 settlements in the Ivanovo region, which means 1,331 deputy mandates.
Photo: The Pskov Yabloko team / Photo by the regional branch of the party
On 18 May, delegates of the 27th conference of the Pskov regional branch of Yabloko elected its steering bodies.
Artur Gaiduk, deputy of the Pskov Regional Assembly from Yabloko, was re-elected Chairman of the regional branch for two years. Five current deputy chairs retained their positions: Lev Shlosberg, member of the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko, Sofia Pugacheva, head of the Novorzhevsky district in 2019-2023, Svetlana Vasilkova, head of the Pustoshkinsky district in 2019-2022, Alexander Konashenkov, deputy of the Gdov District Assembly, and head of the apparat of the regional branch of the party Yana Ivanova. Savely Mager from Velikiye Luki was elected the sixth deputy chairman.
Photo: Historian and human rights defender Yan Rachinsky signs the petition in the Moscow Yabloko office / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
Immediately after it was reported on the plans of the Moscow Department of Transport to install a bas-relief with Joseph Stalin with the inscription “Gratitude of the people to the leader-commander” at the Taganskaya metro station in Moscow, the Yabloko party began collecting signatures in its Moscow office under an appeal to the Mayor’s Office demanding that these plans be abandoned.
Photo: Grigory Melkonyants in the Basmanny Court, Moscow, at one of the hearings / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
On 14 May, the Basmanny Court of Moscow sentenced electoral expert Grigory Melkonyants, Сo-Сhairman of the Golos independent election observers movement, to five years of imprisonment under the article on the activities of an “undesirable organisation”. Since August 2023, Melkonyants has been in pretrial detention. During the trial, Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov and the head of the Yabloko’s office Yevgenia Vlasova, who has been training election observers for many years, spoke in court in defence of Melkonyants. Alexander Shishlov, Coordinator of the Yabloko Political Committee and a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, came to the court hearings twice – his reports in the status of the Commissioner for Human Rights in St. Petersburg, prepared with the participation of Melkonyants, were attached to the case.
Photo: A bas-relief “Gratitude of the People to the Leader-Commander” depicting Joseph Stalin at the Taganskaya underground station in Moscow, dismantled in 1965/ Photo by Glavarchiv, Moscow
On 13 May, the Moscow branch of Yabloko sent an appeal to Maxim Liksutov, head of the Department of Transport and Development of Road and Transport Infrastructure of Moscow. Yabloko demands from the Moscow authorities to abandon the initiative to restore the wall carving “Gratitude of the People to the Leader-Commander” depicting Joseph Stalin at the Taganskaya underground station in Moscow. Yabloko has launched a collection of signatures against the restoration of the wall carving glorifying the tyrant.
Photo: Anatoly Marchenko / Photo from open sources
Thanks to Anatoly Marchenko, Academician Andrei Sakharov was returned from exile and a state decision was made to release all political prisoners in the Soviet Union. From Marchenko’s book “My Testimony” Soviet and European societies learned about the lives of Soviet political prisoners in the post-Stalin period. The memory of the last deceased prisoner of the Soviet camps Anatoly Marchenko has not been perpetuated in any way in the toponymy of the cities where he was born and died – in Barabinsk and Chistopol. Yabloko proposes to correct this injustice.
The leaders and members of the Yabloko Party honoured the memory of those killed in World War II at the Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery in Moscow, the Piskarevskoye Cemetery in St. Petersburg, as well as at memorials in other Russian cities.
Anna Cherepanova was unanimously elected Chairperson of Novgorod Yabloko. The delegates of the Conference discussed plans for the next two years, participation in the elections in a situation when there are actually no elections and opposition and Yabloko members are pressed by the authorities.
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in World War II, Yabloko Chairman Nikolai Rybakov brought flowers from Yabloko to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow.
“Millions of people – soldiers and sailors, workers, front-line doctors and nurses, residents of besieged Leningrad, home front workers, concentration camp prisoners, and partisans – fought and gave their lives not only for Victory. They fought so that war would never again take fathers and sons, so that mothers would not receive funeral notices, so that cities would not lie in ruins.
Today, when blood is being shed in the world again, our duty is not only to remember the past, but also to fight for human life as the highest value on Earth.
