Yulia Navalnaya, the widow of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, urged Russians to vote for the Yabloko party in the State Duma election, describing it as the only anti-war party registered for the vote. In a video address posted on social media, she said casting a ballot for Yabloko is a legal and safe way to express disagreement with the authorities.
“I consider it morally and politically right to support the Yabloko party. This is the moment when we really should cast aside all past contradictions and help. Let’s try to break the Kremlin’s plans,” Navalnaya said.
She argued that the fewer votes the pro-Kremlin United Russia party receives, the harder it will be for President Vladimir Putin to continue the war and carry out a new mobilization. In single-mandate districts, Navalnaya urged voters to back candidates recommended by the Smart Voting project, which backs those with the best chances of defeating United Russia incumbents. The list of recommendations will be published closer to the election, she said.
Earlier, former FBK director Ivan Zhdanov, politician Ilya Yashin, blogger Michael Naki, politician Lyubov Sobol and other opposition figures, journalists and human rights activists living outside Russia also called for voting for Yabloko.