Is
Modernisation in Russia Possible? Interview
with Grigory Yavlinsky and Boris Titov by Yury Pronko,
"The Real Time" programme, Radio Finam, May
12, 2010
Decision by the Yabloko Federal Political Committee, adopted on 29.04.2025, published on 6.05.2025
Photo by Yevgeny Razumny, Kommersant
80 years of Victory in World War II is a special anniversary. Almost all the veterans who survived the war and understood, unlike the current generation of politicians, the full horror of war, have passed away. The international order that emerged after 1945 is over.
The influence of populism and right-wing radicalism, supported by modern information technologies and social networks, is growing in different parts of the world.
Tendencies towards state and national isolation are increasingly becoming an alternative to globalisation and integration, and the aspirations of leading powers for imperial dominance are becoming increasingly evident.
Humanity is facing a real threat of a new world war, as never before in the past 80 years. The world war has not yet begun only because of the restraining factor – the fear of a global nuclear catastrophe. However, if this factor does not work at some point, it will lead to a global catastrophe.
On 29 April, a meeting of the Federal Political Committee of the Yabloko party was held in Moscow. Grigory Yavlinsky, Chairman of the Federal Political Committee, delivered a report on the political situation in the country and the world. The Political Committee discussed the key challenges facing Russia and the international community, and adopted two programme documents: on the possibility of a ceasefire in Ukraine and on the future of Russia, as well as statements dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Victory in World War II.
Photo: Yabloko members and supporters at Butovo Firing Range on 30 October, 2024
Cleaning up at the Butovo Firing Range in Moscow, the execution and burial site of victims of Joseph Stalin repression, will take place on 14 May, starting at 12:00.
On the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in World War II, the topic of renaming Volgograd to Stalingrad [commemorating the name of Joseph Stalin] is being proposed again. President Vladimir Putin, who had previously signed a decree on assigning the name Stalingrad to the Volgograd airport, made a statement about the possibility of renaming.
Photo: Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg / Photo by the Press Service of the St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly
The Yabloko faction in the St. Petersburg Legislative Assembly did not support the bill, which introduces administrative liability for “committing actions with the purpose of forcing a pregnant woman to artificially terminate a pregnancy by persuasion, proposals, bribery, or deception”.
This is already the fifth refusal to register initiative groups that residents of the Pskov Region have received from the regional Electoral Commission. Previously, residents of the Gdovsky, Sebezhsky, Ostrovsky and Pushkinogorsky Districts declared their legal right to determine the structure of local government in a referendum. The Electoral Commission did not register any of the groups.
Photo: The Novgorod District Duma meeting / Photo by the Novgorod branch of Yabloko
Residents of the Novgorod District of the Novgorod Region proposed to restore, with the help of referendum, liquidated and preserve existing administrations in large settlements, establish the number of deputies at 40 people for broader representation and feedback, and elect the head of the district in popular elections. The Chairman of the District Duma, Konstantin Kharlamov, proposed to reject the referendum initiative say that it does not comply with federal and regional legislation.
Deputies of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg have introduced a federal legislative initiative that should open access for relatives and researchers to archival files of non-exonerated victims of political repression in the USSR.
Photo: The emblem of the Electoral Commission of the Pskov Region
The Electoral Commission of the Pskov Region refused to register referendum initiative groups in Sebezhsky and Pushkinogorsky Districts considering that direct elections of the head of the municipality do not comply with regional legislation.
Over the past 120 years, Russia has experienced many tragedies and catastrophes: revolutions, coups d’etat, destructive and bloody wars, and large-scale political repressions. Even the state disappeared twice: in 1917, the Russian Empire collapsed, and in 1991, the Soviet Union fell apart.
Photo: A memo handed to the medical workers how to fill in an application form to become member of United Russia and where to bring the application
Several employees of medical institutions in St.Petersburg have approached deputies from the Yabloko faction in the St.Petersburg Legislative Assembly. Medical workers reported being forced to submit applications to join the pro-government United Russia party. Yabloko has documentary evidence of this, including instructions sent to medical workers. In this regard, the faction leader Alexander Shishlov has addressed Vice Governor Konstantin Zvonik.
The Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (UFSIN) for Kamchatka Krai is sending journalist Vladimir Yefimov to serve his sentence for “discrediting the army” in a penal colony in the Primorye region instead of Kamchatka. The Penitentiary Service claims there are no available places in the Kamchatka colony and, in violation of federal law on sentence execution, is sending Yefimov to another region. The politician has medical contraindications for air travel. Before departing for Primorye, Yefimov fell ill and currently remains at home. Vladimir Yefimov’s defence team is challenging the UFSIN directive in court.
Photo: Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant / Photo by Konstantin Mikhalchevsky, RIA Novosti
Due to the explosion of the RBMK-1000 reactor (uranium-graphite channel type reactor) at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant 39 years ago, hundreds of thousands of square kilometers of territory in the former Soviet Union and other countries were contaminated with hazardous materials. As a result, a significant number of settlements had to be relocated. Millions of people were exposed to radiation. The affected areas have not been properly rehabilitated to this day. Even today, seven RBMK-1000 power units with an extended service life function in Russia.
Photo: Alexander Shishlov at the St. Petersburg University of Technology Management and Economics / Photo by St.Petersburg Yabloko
The head of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, Alexander Shishlov, spoke at the 11th International Conference “Human Rights Activities in Modern Russia: Problems and Their Solutions” at the St. Petersburg University of Technology Management and Economics.
He noted the continuing assault on constitutional human rights in Russia. The concept of “political prisoner” returned to the country, and freedom of information was significantly limited by repressive laws threatening criminal prosecution for disagreement with the authorities.
Decision by the Federal Bureau of Yabloko, adopted on 10.04.2025, published on 24.04.2025
Photo: Restoration of the Last Address project plaques removed after an anonymous complaint / Photo by Alexander Chizhenok, Kommersant
In early April, unidentified vandals removed the Last Address plaque installed on the house where famous theatre director Vsevolod Meyerhold was arrested in St. Petersburg in 1939 [during Joseph Stalin’s repression].
This is far from the first such incident – there have been dozens such cases in St. Petersburg, Moscow and other cities. In some cases, unidentified “activists” destroy the plaques; in others, municipal services dismantle them citing “lack of permissions” for installation. At the same time, demands to create an official mechanism for installing Last Address plaques encounter blatant reluctance from authorities.
Yabloko considers the Last Address project an important component in commemorating victims of political repression in our country.
Decision by the Federal Bureau of Yabloko, adopted on 10.04.2025, published on 24.04.2025
Photo by Irina Buzhor, Kommersant
On 1 April, a law came into force prohibiting Russian schools from accepting migrant children who do not know the Russian language.
The Federal Bureau of the Yabloko party notes that this law not only contradicts the Russian Constitution and laws that guarantee the right to education for all children, including children of foreigners, but also obvisouly creates numerous dangers for the country regarding socialisation and integration of migrants into Russian society.
Photo: USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev at a summit with heads of states and governments of the seven leading industrial nations in London / Photo by Sergei Guneyev, RIA Novosti
In early 1991, Grigory Yavlinsky was developing a programme for integrating the USSR and Russian economy into the global system with Western participation on mutually beneficial terms, similar to the Marshall Plan for post-war Europe. The programme complemented the previously developed “500 Days” economic reform plan for transitioning from a planned to a market economy and the draft Economic Agreement between the Soviet republics.
Can citizens safely and effectively resist the oligarchic system while protecting their rights? Sergei Mitrokhin’s answer is “yes, they can”.
Sergei Mitrokhin, the second Chairman of Yabloko, a deputy of the State Duma of three convocations and a deputy of the Moscow City Duma of two convocations, spoke at a meeting in Yabloko about how the merger of business and government affects the rights of Muscovites and what citizens need to do to resist this system.
To die during Holy Week is to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Such a death at such a time may signify eternal life.
The spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics since March 2013, Francis was the first Pope from Latin America and the first Jesuit to hold this position.
He became a powerful voice for peace, reason, and conscience during years when humanity seemed to be drowning in cruelty, cynicism, and foolishness.
In his address to the UN General Assembly in 2015, he condemned an economy “guided solely by the pursuit of wealth and power”.
Traditionally, everyone who is ready to support those deprived of freedom for their free speech and beliefs, with care and a kind words, is invited to the actions in support of political prisoners. Come to our offices and other meeting places, sign postcards and bring your letters, and we, as usual, will take care of preparing envelopes and sending them.
