Surprisingly, the campaign against Yabloko in Russia is becoming larger and larger (and more and more dangerous for ordinary party members). Four Notable Examples

In Russia, before the Duma elections, the campaign against the Yabloko party intensified. After the arrest of Yabloko deputy head Maxim Kruglov and the fine of party leader Nikolai Rybakov, government officials took on politicians in the regions - they are searched, detained and fined. As Meduza's sources say, pressure on Yabloko has been increased to prevent the party from including well-known people on the electoral list, both nationwide and at the level of individual regions, or to force it to refuse to nominate a list altogether. Using several examples, Meduza shows how the authorities are trying to finally squeeze Yabloko out of big politics.

Ekaterinburg. The chairman of the regional branch of Yabloko, Maxim Petlin, was searched on April 29. He and four other activists were taken away for interrogation. The persecution was linked to the fact that in May 2025, an evening of letters to political prisoners was held at the office of the local Yabloko. After Petlin and other activists gave explanations to the security forces, they were released . No criminal cases were brought against them. Against this background, the youth wing of the Sverdlovsk branch of the party announced that it was ceasing its activities.

Irkutsk The leader of the local Yabloko branch, Grigory Gribenko, was detained on April 23 shortly after the state drug dispensary found traces of cannabis in his tests (an independent examination did not confirm this). The party said that the politician had been under pressure for several months because he tried to hold a rally in the city in defense of Telegram and “for free Internet.” Gribenko was sentenced to 12 days of administrative arrest for refusing a medical examination. In addition, the court, according to the press service, ordered him to “undergo drug addiction treatment,” but then overturned this decision.

Petrozavodsk. On April 21, the leader of the Karelian Yabloko and deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Karelia Emilia Slabunova was detained. She was fined for an old photo with Alexei Navalny - the court considered the image to be the symbol of an “extremist” organization. According to the law, those who were prosecuted for displaying prohibited symbols cannot participate in elections at any level for a year.

Petersburg. On April 24, the court imposed an administrative fine of 1,500 rubles on one of the leaders of the Yabloko party, deputy of the local legislative assembly, Alexander Shishlov. The protocol was drawn up due to a long-standing repost of an interview with former Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky, in which Navalny was mentioned. Four days later, Shishlov resigned as a deputy. He won't be able to run for office for the next year. Amid persecution for old posts, Yabloko deputy chairman Anna Cherepanova deleted all messages in her Telegram channel. The leader of the Yabloko branch in the Ivanovo region, Andrei Avtoneev, did exactly the same thing.