Press Release, 27.02.2022

Photo: Saratov/Photo from social networks

Activists of the Yabloko party are participating in pickets for peace with Ukraine in those cities where public actions are not prohibited by anti-COVID restrictions [that imply criminal punishment even for single pickets]. Single pickets were held in Ivanovo, Saratov, Krasnodar, Yeysk, Miass, Chelyabinsk, Pskov, Vladivostok, Ufa, and Samara.

In some cities, Yabloko has filed notices with the authorities of mass events such as demonstrations and rallies.

Photo: Krasnodar/Photos from social networks

Thus, a picket which got a permission and aimed at collection of signatures against the war had to be held in Yeaterinburg at the intersection of Popova and Khokhryakova streets on 26 February from 13:00 to 16:00. The organiser of the action was Alexander Kudelkin, a candidate for the Yekaterinburg City Duma from Yabloko. However, the police detained the organisers of the AGREED anti-war picket (i.e. with an official permission from the authorities), not allowing them to start picketing.

A police colonel came up to Maxim Petlin, Chairman of the Sverdlovsk branch of Yabloko and a member of the Federal Bureau of the party, and Alexander Kudelkin, the organiser of the picket and a candidate for the Yekaterinburg City Duma, and said that it was “not the time to hold such pickets,” and took them to the police wagon.

Photo: Alexander Kudelkin (left) and Maxim Petlin (centre) in a police wagon / Photo from social networks

The day before, Kudelkin first received official confirmation from the city administration that the picket had been approved, but a few hours later he received a letter from the Ministry of Public Security of the Sverdlovsk Region asking Kudelkin to change the date of the picket “in order to prevent mass riots against the backdrop of unauthorised public events organised in connection with the latest events in the country”.

The letter emphasised that the proposed change of the date was “not a refusal to hold a public event,” but was “due to the need to ensure public order and the safety of citizens”.

Photo: Pskov/Photo from social networks

In Chelyabinsk a rally dedicated to the anniversary of the murder of Boris Nemtsov and against the war with Ukraine was held in the Gagarin Park, the so-called “hyde park” (a site where public actions do not require any permissions) on 27 February. The organizer of the action was the Chelyabinsk branch of Yabloko.

In Magnitogorsk a rally was held in the square near the monument (the so-called “hyde park”) on 27 February from 14:00 to 18:00. The rally was also organised by the Chelyabinsk regional branch of the party.

Photo: Miass/Photo from social networks

In St. Petersburg a rally against the war with Ukraine will be held in the “hyde park” in Lenin Square on 2 March, from 18:00 to 20:00.  Notifications on the rally to the authorities were submitted by the deputies of the St. Petersburg parliament Boris Vishnevsky and Alexander Shishlov together with a member of the Yabloko Federal Bureau Anatoly Golov.

Yabloko regional branches will continue organising single pickets and mass actions agreed with the authorities and collect signatures against the war in their offices. The collection of signatures for the Yabloko’s petition will also continue on the Yabloko website. On 27 February, 69,000 people have signed the petition as of 19:00.

Photo: Vladivostok/Photo from social networks

As for the participation of Yabloko members and supporters in mass actions that fail to get an approval from the authorities, the party’s position remains the same: Russian citizens have the constitutional right to assemble peacefully and without weapons. However, it is necessary to realise that in the current conditions Yabloko will not be able to protect the participants in such actions from the arbitrariness of law enforcement and judicial authorities.

Photo: Ivanovo/Photo from social networks