Several of its leaders have been convicted for being critical of the conflict and supporting key opposition figures
3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenAgence France-PressePublished: 11:09am, 8 Aug 2026Sensing frustration among many Russians towards the Ukraine war, Russia’s liberal Yabloko party is hoping to use parliamentary elections this September to raise its profile, casting itself as the only opposition group in favour of a ceasefire.Elections in Russia are tightly controlled – every parliamentary vote since 2003 has been won by the ruling “United Russia” party, which supports President Vladimir Putin.Yabloko is unlikely to win any seats. A poll conducted earlier this year showed it at just three per cent support – short of the five-per cent threshold needed to enter Russia’s lower house State Duma.
But the party believes the campaign is helping to widen its support base, particularly among young people usually apathetic towards politics, and it has relished the opportunity to push its anti-war message on a national scale.
“If we can bring peace even a single day closer, then our participation in all of this will not have been in vain,” party leader Nikolay Rybakov said.
Founded in 1993 by a group of pro-Western public officials, Yabloko enjoyed relative success in the years following the post-Soviet collapse. Since 2003, however, it has failed to win seats in the State Duma.
