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: 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.
On 9 May, members and supporters of Yabloko will honour the memory of those killed in World War II at the Eternal Flame at the Preobrazhenskoye Cemetery in Moscow. We invite all our members and supporters to join the memorial event.
Decision by the Yabloko Federal Political Committee, adopted on 29.04.2025, published on 6.05.2025
After three years of war, our main task remains to achieve a ceasefire and stop the daily killing of people.
However, when this happens, the situation in the country will remain being extremely difficult, requiring responsible actions and an understanding of perspectives.
Besides serious economic problems accumulating since the beginning of the special military operation, the country will face new acute social problems.
Decision by the Yabloko Federal Political Committee, adopted on 29.04.2025, published on 6.05.2025
Victory over fascism is one of the key, meaningful events in the history of our country.
We bow our heads and honour the memory of those who died in the struggle for life, for our country, against the state misanthropic ideology of fascism, and the practices of physical destruction of defenceless people.
Our country paid a terrible price in this struggle. The official figure of losses, 27 million dead, is a scale that causes endless pain and is difficult to comprehend. This is a great tragedy for our people, the consequences of which we continue to feel.
We remember and will never forget our allies in the war against fascism, all the people of the world who were part of the anti-Hitler coalition. Ending the war and creating a new world order, the victors sought to unite humanity and prevent new wars in the future.
Decision by the Yabloko Federal Political Committee, adopted on 29.04.2025, published on 6.05.2025
Photo by Maxim Guchek, RIA Novosti
A ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, resolving contentious issues through negotiations is the basic position of the Yabloko party.
A cessation of hostilities remains the most urgent task for our country and for our party.
For three years and virtually alone, we have been defending this position which has been attacked from all sides.
In recent weeks, the situation has changed – now everyone is talking about a ceasefire, and high-level negotiations are underway. Recently, both the President of Russia and the President of Ukraine announced their readiness for a ceasefire and negotiations without preconditions.
This is a chance that cannot be missed. However, hostilities and daily killing of people continue.
