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Persecution of anti-war voices ahead of so-called elections in the Russian Federation

Written declaration No. 840 | Doc. 16451 | 24 June 2026

Signatories:
Mr Iulian BULAI, Romania, ALDE ; Mr Mehmet AKALIN, Türkiye, ALDE ; Mr Richard BAKER, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Larysa BILOZIR, Ukraine, ALDE ; Dame Karen BRADLEY, United Kingdom, ECPA ; Baroness Lyn BROWN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Patrick CASEY, Ireland, ALDE ; Baroness Shami CHAKRABARTI, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Béatrice FRESKO-ROLFO, Monaco, ALDE ; Mr Martynas GEDVILAS, Lithuania, SOC ; Lord Michael GERMAN, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Mr Szymon HOŁOWNIA, Poland, ALDE ; Mr Mattias JONSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Ms Alicia KEARNS, United Kingdom, ECPA ; Mr Eerik-Niiles KROSS, Estonia, ALDE ; Mr James MacCLEARY, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Ms Olena MOSHENETS, Ukraine, ALDE ; Ms Manuela PERTEGHELLA, United Kingdom, ALDE ; Ms Lucia PLAVÁKOVÁ, Slovak Republic, ALDE ; Ms Marijana PULJAK, Croatia, ALDE ; Mr Mike READER, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Nicola RENZI, San Marino, ALDE ; Ms Kadri TALI, Estonia, ALDE ; Ms Lesia VASYLENKO, Ukraine, ALDE

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

As the Russian Federation nears its so-called parliamentary elections on 18–20 September 2026, Yabloko – the only party in the Russian Federation that opposes the war against Ukraine and calls for its end – has come under relentless pressure from the authorities.

Two of its deputy leaders – Maxim Kruglov and Lev Shlosberg – are currently in detention and on trial, both of them facing up to 10 years in prison for social media posts criticising the war. Several party members have been imprisoned on trumped-up charges. Leading Yabloko figures – including all of its regional law-makers and its chairman, Nikolai Rybakov – have been barred from the September ballot through fines for “extremism” or “foreign agent” designations.

We express our solidarity with members of the Yabloko Party and with all Russian citizens who are speaking out against the war in Ukraine despite the ongoing repression. We reiterate that the ones who should be tried for crimes against Ukraine and crimes against Russian citizens are the illegal authorities of the Kremlin, not Russian citizens performing their civic and moral duty.

All political prisoners must be released, politically motivated prosecutions must end, and conditions must be created for the Russian people to freely express their will.