Pavel Kharitonenko, a Yabloko party candidate for the State Duma in a single-mandate district, said the mayor of Baikalsk in the Irkutsk region ordered his campaign banner removed. The banner, which carried the slogan "For peace and freedom," had been hanging at the local market since August 11.
According to Kharitonenko, Mayor Vasily Temgenevsky called local business owners and demanded they take down the poster. The candidate said his arguments about the legality of the campaign — the election commission had been notified and the payment was made from his campaign account — did not sway the official.
"How afraid they are of real opposition! We continue to work despite all the enormous pressure and very limited resources," Kharitonenko wrote on his Telegram channel.
Kharitonenko is one of three Yabloko candidates registered in the Irkutsk region for single-mandate districts. In total, the party is fielding 126 candidates across Russia after the Supreme Court removed Yabloko's federal party list from the parliamentary elections.