Is
Modernisation in Russia Possible? Interview
with Grigory Yavlinsky and Boris Titov by Yury Pronko,
"The Real Time" programme, Radio Finam, May
12, 2010
On 30 October, Boris Vishnevsky spoke before his colleagues in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg for the last time, as his deputy mandate had to be withdrawn due to his “foreign agent” status. He recalled that he became a deputy of the city parliament 13 years ago and was forced to resign as a result of an extrajudicial procedure organised by those who cannot fight opponents by political methods.
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
In 2007, a foundation stone was laid in Pskov in front of the Mironositsky cemetery, on the site of the future memorial in remembrance of political repression. Since then, each year on 30 October, a modest city-wide meeting has been held there. It has ever since then held its place for official events. It was first visited and opened by the mayor of the city. Events have included speeches by relatives of the victims, funeral liturgies, reading out the names of the deceased, a minute of silence, and the laying of flowers and wreaths. During 2020 and 2021, there was an interruption due to Covid-19 restrictions, after which time the meetings were resumed. Hence, the meetings took place once again in 2022 and 2023. This year, for the first time, the memorial event at the foundation stone was “not included as an official city event” as it turned out, by the city’s cultural institution, the House of Officers, traditionally responsible for the task of organising the event. The city authorities have slowly moved away from commemorating the victims of the 20th Century. Despite this, the Memorial Day for Pskov’s victims of political repression was still held.
Photo: Nikolai Rybakov at the Butovo shooting ground range, Moscow, 30 October, 2024 / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
This week, Russia pays tribute to the victims of political repression. According to the Memorial Society, 4.5-4.8 million people were convicted for political reasons, of which 1.1 million were shot during the Stalinist terror in 1930s-1940s. Stalinism is not a distant history for our country. This is, in many ways, the essence of the current system of power. According to human rights organisations, there are currently 774 political prisoners in Russia.
The task of the Russian state is to assess the violent seizure of power by the Bolsheviks in 1917 and the crimes of the Stalinist regime. It is the duty of society to keep the memory of the broken lives of millions of repressed people and their families.
Photo: Boris Vishnevsky/ Photo by the Press Service of the St. Petersburg Yabloko
My work in the Legislative Assembly terminates on 30 October. I thank the people of St. Petersburg who trust me and continue to trust me
I categorically disagree with the decision of the Ministry of Justice to declare me a “foreign agent”. Understanding that it is virtually impossible to achieve justice and lawfulness in political cases today, I am challenging this decision in court and will continue to do so, protecting my honour and reputation.
On 25 October, on the anniversary of the creation of the Yavlinsky-Boldyrev-Lukin electoral bloc, which then turned into the Yabloko party, the Yabloko party office in Moscow hosted a screening and discussion of Grigory Yavlinsky’s interview for the documentary The Unfinished Time project. Young people, children of the 1990s and 2000s, as well as the older generation, eyewitnesses to the collapse of the Soviet Union, gathered in Yabloko to talk with Grigory Yavlinsky not only about past events, but also about the current situation in Russia and the world. The meeting was moderated by Deputy Chairman of the Moscow Yabloko Kirill Goncharov.
Photo: Nikolai Kavkazsky / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
Nikolai Kavkazsky became the fourth representative of the Moscow branch of the party to be added to the repressive list of “foreign agents”. Previously, Svetlana Gannushkina, Chair of the Civil Assistance Committee, human rights defender and member of the Yabloko Federal Political Committee, Dmitry Muratov, Nobel Prize winner and a Yabloko member, and Andrei Morev, Deputy Chair of the Moscow Yabloko, were recognised as “foreign agents”.
Statement by the Regional Council of the Pskov branch of Yabloko, 19.10.2024
Photo: Conference of the Pskov regional branch of the Yabloko party on 19 October, 2024 /Photo by the Pskov branch of the party
Five searches have already taken place within the framework of the criminal case opened on the so-called violation of the law on “foreign agents”, in which Lev Shlosberg, Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party, is a suspect: in the apartment of Lev Shlosberg and his wife, in the apartment of Lev Shlosberg’s 95-year-old father, in the regional office of the party and twice in the personal premises of people who have no relation to either Lev Shlosberg or the Pskov Yabloko.
Photo: Lev Shlosberg in the office of the Pskov Yabloko, 2023 / Photo by the regional branch of the party
On 18 October, police came to the office of the Pskov Yabloko for a search. The search was related to the criminal case on the violation of the law on “foreign agents”, in which the Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party Lev Shlosberg is a suspect. All employees of the Pskov Yabloko were asked to leave the premises, except for Lev Schlossberg. Lev Schlossberg’s lawyer Vladimir Danilov arrived at the place.
UPD. During the search the police seized three personal laptops of employees, a telephone and Lev Shlosberg’s personal computer. Lev Shlosberg was not detained.
Photo: Vasily Neustroyev / Photo by the United Press Service of the Courts of St. Petersburg
Yabloko member and historian Vasily Neustroyev completely refused to admit his guilt on all the charges brought against him at the hearings of the St. Petersburg City Court, calling the criminal case political persecution, and everything that was happening as having nothing to do with either justice or common sense. Neustroyev also once again categorically denied his participation in the youth movement Vesna, which had been added to the register of extremists by the authorities. The next court session is planned on 23 October.
Photo: Dmitry Skurikhin by his store / Photo from social media
An action of writing letters to Russian political prisoners will be held in Novgorod Yabloko on 25 October with the participation of Dmitry Skurikhin, an entrepreneur from the Leningrad Region who served an imprisonment term of 1.5 years for “discrediting the army.” Yabloko invites all to take part.
he theme of the fourth class of the School will be “Politics as a Search for Essence and Meaning”. The lecturers and tutors of the Party School include the leaders of the Yabloko party.
Since the late 1980s, Russia has repeatedly found itself at critical crossroads. There was a choice, there was an opportunity to fundamentally change the country’s future for the better and avoid another tragedy. In other words, over the past 35 years, Russia has repeatedly had a real alternative – to move along the path of creating a modern law governed state that protects life, freedom and human rights, build a highly efficient modern world-class market economy, follow the path of peace, not war (more on why and how the political system that led to 24 February, 2022 appeared in Russia: “Russia-2022: Underlying Causes” ).
The fighting in Ukraine has been going on for two and a half years. Politicians continue talking about “victory”. But no one understands that when there are so many victims, no one has won, everyone has lost.
Politicians have proven that they failed to do their job by allowing so many people to die in the 21st century.
18+ НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН, РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ЛЬВОМ МАРКОВИЧЕМ ШЛОСБЕРГОМ ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ЛЬВА МАРКОВИЧА ШЛОСБЕРГА
18+ THIS MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVICH SHLOSBERG OR CONCERNS ACTIVITIES RELATING TO FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVICH SHLOSBERG. [This capitalised section is a text Lev Shlosberg is obliged to add under the ‘foreign agent’ law to any publication he makes; we include it here solely to give readers an idea of the pressures under which civil society actors operate in Russia]
Dear friends! I am sincerely grateful to everyone who in the last few days has written me words of support, solidarity, empathy, and confidence that our family, and I, and all the people close to us will have the strength to get through this ordeal.
On 5 October, the Yabloko party activists in Tatarstan laid flowers at the monument to the victims of political repression in memory of journalists Anna Politkovskaya and Irina Slavina. Yabloko in Kazan annually honours the memory of the murdered journalists. This year, the memorial event was obstructed by police officers and the Main Directorate for Combating Extremism.
Photo: Artur Abashev, Polina Kuskova and Tatyana Naumovich / Photo by the Kirov branch of Yabloko
Past weekend, the regional branch of Yabloko in the Kirov region held a Conference, where they discussed the results of their work over the past two years, elected new leadership and decided on a work plan for the coming months.
18+ НАСТОЯЩИЙ МАТЕРИАЛ (ИНФОРМАЦИЯ) ПРОИЗВЕДЕН, РАСПРОСТРАНЕН ИНОСТРАННЫМ АГЕНТОМ ЛЬВОМ МАРКОВИЧЕМ ШЛОСБЕРГОМ ЛИБО КАСАЕТСЯ ДЕЯТЕЛЬНОСТИ ИНОСТРАННОГО АГЕНТА ЛЬВА МАРКОВИЧА ШЛОСБЕРГА
18+ THIS MATERIAL (INFORMATION) IS PRODUCED AND DISTRIBUTED BY FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVICH SHLOSBERG OR CONCERNS ACTIVITIES RELATING TO FOREIGN AGENT LEV MARKOVICH SHLOSBERG. [This capitalised section is a text Lev Shlosberg is obliged to add under the ‘foreign agent’ law to any publication he makes; we include it here solely to give readers an idea of the pressures under which civil society actors operate in Russia]
Friends, here is the afterword of this morning’s events. My heartfelt thanks to everyone who, during those hours, was worried, messaged, called, offered their support, and at present, are worried, messaging, calling, and offering their support. I’ll get back to you personally, albeit my response may be slightly delayed.
Photo: Lev Shlosberg / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
Today’s searches at Lev Shlosberg’s and his father’s apartment represent a continuation of the political intimidation campaign by the authorities against our comrade and the entire Pskov branch of our party.
When the authorities cannot, are not capable of conducting an honest competitive struggle with their opponents, they resort to such methods.
Yabloko will provide Lev Shlosberg with all possible support. However, I would like to note that the wheel of repression will stop only when society forms an absolute rejection and non-acceptance of the very strategy of eliminating opponents, defamation of those who disagree with the authorities and the search for enemies, internal and external.
Photo: Lev Shlosberg / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service
Lev Shlosberg, Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party, is a suspect in a criminal case under Article 330.1 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Evasion of duties stipulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation on foreign agents”).
September 29 marked 67 years since the Kyshtym nuclear accident – a nuclear explosion at the Mayak chemical plant. The explosion was the result of a violation of the cooling regime of the storage tank for radioactive waste. In its severity, the accident is second only to the Chernobyl and Fukushima-1 accidents. 1,007 personnel of the internal troops of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, who were guarding nuclear industry facilities, were exposed to radiation. 12 years ago, a stone was laid in Chelyabinsk for a monument to the victims of radiation, but the authorities have not yet found a way to install it. The Chelyabinsk Yabloko activists visited the site of the future memorial and honoured the memory of the victims of the Kyshtym accident.
