Misplaced Pages

#301698

157-594: It has been the focus of tributes since 16 February 2024, when the Federal Penitentiary Service announced that activist and opposition leader Alexei Navalny had died at the prison in Yamalo-Nenets in Western Siberia. The first "Solovki Stone" memorial was erected in northwest Russia's Arkhangelsk Region by the local Sovest (Conscience) society. This monument was created at a time when the debate about

314-539: A Zelyonka attack that can damage eyes of the victim. He had been attacked before, earlier in the spring. In the second attack, the green-colored disinfectant had evidently been mixed with a caustic chemical, resulting in a chemical burn to his right eye. He reportedly lost 80 percent of the sight in his right eye. Navalny accused the Kremlin of orchestrating the attack. Navalny was released from jail on 27 July 2017 after spending 25 days of imprisonment. Before that, he

471-559: A basket-weaving factory—which the couple have run since 1994—in Kobyakovo, a village in Vologda Oblast ; they were still running the factory as of 2012. Media regularly asked him whether he identified more as Russian or Ukrainian, and in his posthumously published memoir, Patriot , he states, "It was like being asked who you loved more, your mother or your father." Navalny graduated from Kalininets secondary school (level 3 according to

628-577: A constitutional majority in the State Duma . Boris Gryzlov became speaker of the State Duma. On 24 December 2003, the Fourth Congress took place, at which Boris Gryzlov made a report. The congress approved the main provisions and conclusions of the report, as well as the party's activities during the election campaign. The congress adopted a unanimous decision to support the candidacy of Vladimir Putin in

785-542: A 2011 interview, he described Russia's ruling party— United Russia —as a " party of crooks and thieves ", which became a popular byname. Navalny and the FBK have published investigations detailing alleged corruption by high-ranking Russian officials and their associates. Navalny twice received a suspended sentence for embezzlement , in 2013 and 2014. Both criminal cases have been widely considered politically motivated and intended to bar him from running in future elections. He ran in

942-462: A World Fellow at Yale University's World Fellows Program, Navalny aimed at "creating a global network of emerging leaders and to broaden international understanding" in 2010. From 1998 onward, Navalny worked as a corporate lawyer for various Russian companies. In 2009, Navalny became an advocate and a member of advocate's chamber ( bar association ) of Kirov Oblast (registration number 43/547). In 2010, due to his move to Moscow, he ceased to be

1099-487: A candidate. In November, he was one of the initiators of the Youth Public Chamber, intended to help younger politicians take part in legislative initiatives. At the same time, in 2005, Navalny started another youth social movement, named "DA! – Democratic Alternative". The project was not connected to Yabloko or any other political party. Within the movement, Navalny participated in several projects. In particular, he

1256-423: A clear victory, receiving 71% of the votes. As President, Medvedev nominated Putin as his Prime Minister. On 15 April 2008, Putin accepted a nomination to become the party's leader, but declared that this did not mean he would become a member. Medvedev also refused to become a member. On 7 May 2008, Boris Gryzlov was replaced as party leader by Putin. The Agrarian Party supported the candidacy of Dmitry Medvedev in

1413-471: A consolation goal". According to the official election results, the coalition scored 2% of votes, not enough to overcome the 5% threshold; the party admitted the election was lost. With growing popular support Navalny announced his entry into the presidential race on 13 December 2016, however on 8 February 2017, the Leninsky district court of Kirov repeated its sentence of 2013 (after the case has been sent to

1570-451: A live broadcast for Grigory Alekseevich . Everyone must be able to participate. This means that the more popular Kasparov and Ryzhkov would have been on the same live broadcast. This means that Kasyanov with his financial resources would take part in the elections. ... I argue that Yabloko has collapsed because it has turned itself to a sect . We demand that everyone must be a democrat, but we don't want to be democrats ourselves. ... And

1727-594: A member of advocate's chamber of Kirov Oblast and became a member of advocate's chamber of Moscow (registration number 77/9991). In November 2013, after the judgement in the Kirovles case had entered into force, Navalny was deprived of advocate status. In 2000, following the announcement of a new law that raised the electoral threshold for State Duma elections , Navalny joined the Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko . According to Navalny,

SECTION 10

#1732848817302

1884-451: A member of the party. On 15 December 2012 Navalny expressed his support of the party, saying, "The People's Alliance is my party", but again refused to join it, citing the criminal cases against him. On 10 April 2013, the party filed documents for the official registration of the party. On 30 April, the registration of the party was suspended. On 5 July 2013 the party was declined registration; according to Izvestia , not all founders of

2041-552: A new trial with a different judge by the Supreme Court which annulled the initial sentence after the decision of ECHR , which ruled that Russia had violated Navalny's right to a fair trial, in the Kirovles case ) and re-sentenced him with a five-year suspended sentence. This sentence, if it came into force and remained valid, might prohibit the future official registration of Navalny as a candidate. Navalny announced that he would pursue

2198-628: A parliamentary majority in the State Duma and a constitutional majority in 2007 , 2016 , and 2021 . In the Duma elections of 2011 , for the first time, the United Russia electoral list was formed based on the results of the preliminary (primary) elections held jointly with the All-Russia People's Front . According to the decisions of the XII Congress of United Russia, adopted on 24 September 2011, in

2355-477: A party of his, and this would need to be completed by PARNAS adsorbing members of the Progress Party and other parties of the coalition, and Navalny would be to come at some point when he "grows into this and feels this could be done" and join the party as well. The coalition claimed to have collected enough citizens' signatures for registration in the four regions it originally aimed for. However, in one region,

2512-406: A political party. As a result of voting, United Russia received 223 seats in parliament (120 on the list and 103 in single-member districts). Boris Gryzlov, Sergei Shoigu, and Yuri Luzhkov headed United Russia's list. The voter turnout was 55.75%. United Russia gained 37.56% votes, giving it 120 mandates; the party received another 103 mandates in single-mandate districts, which, together with joining

2669-426: A pro-government blogger. On 26 June 2012, it was announced that Navalny's comrades would establish a new political party based on e-democracy ; Navalny declared he did not plan to participate in this project at the moment. On 31 July, they filed a document to register an organising committee of a future party named "The People's Alliance". The party identified itself as centrist ; one of the then-current leaders of

2826-526: A reduced profits tax, an overhaul of the labour market, breakups of national monopolies and new land and legal codes. United Russia characterised itself as wholly supportive of Putin's agenda, which proved a recipe for success and resulted in the party gaining a victory in the 2003 Duma elections , receiving more than a third of the popular vote. Throughout its history, United Russia has been successful in using administrative resources to weaken its opponents. For example, state-controlled news media portrayed

2983-460: A regional political association that does not comply with these decisions may be terminated. No changes were made to the party program at the congress. On the eve of the 7th Congress of the Party, the leadership of the political party "Russian United Industrial Party" (ROPP) applied for a merger with the political party "United Russia". The formal merger took place on December 1, 2006. On 2 December 2006,

3140-430: A single party, RPR-PARNAS, which is not only eligible for participation in statewide elections, but is also currently not required to collect citizens' signatures for the right to participate in the State Duma elections scheduled for September 2016, due to the regional parliament mandate previously taken by Nemtsov. The candidates RPR-PARNAS would appoint were to be chosen via primary elections . On 5 July 2015, Kasyanov

3297-601: A snap election, mentioning the Muscovites would agree the governor elections should take place in the city of Moscow and the surrounding Moscow Oblast simultaneously. On 6 June, the request was granted, and the next day, the Moscow City Duma appointed the election on 8 September, the national voting day. On 3 June, Navalny announced he would run for the post. To become an official candidate, he would need either seventy thousand signatures of Muscovites or to be pegged for

SECTION 20

#1732848817302

3454-400: A standing ovation and unanimously supported his presidential candidacy. Medvedev reacted immediately, saying that applause was proof of Putin's popularity among the people. About ten thousand participants in the meeting listened to Medvedev's speech. In total, the congress was attended by about 12,000 participants, guests and journalists, which is unprecedented for such political meetings. At

3611-464: Is a pun on the slang term " распил " (literally "sawing"), implying the embezzlement of state funds. In May 2011, Navalny launched RosYama (literally "Russian Hole"), a project that allowed individuals to report potholes and track government responses to complaints. In August, Navalny published papers related to a scandalous real estate deal between the Hungarian and Russian governments. According to

3768-557: Is a tool for uniting political forces congenial in spirit. I would like United Russia, other parties, and public organizations to all people united by the desire to improve the country's life. This association could be called the "All-Russian People's Front", within which non-partisan candidates could get into the Duma on the list of United Russia. We have a lot of bilateral agreements with public organizations. We are already working with them, but we are working in some specific areas. The creation of

3925-440: Is inconsistent and embraces specific officials, all of whom support Putin. Although in 2009 it proclaimed Russian conservatism as its official ideology, it appeals mainly to pro-Putin and non-ideological voters, and is often classified by political scientists as a " big-tent party ", or as a " party of power ", rather than an organization that is primarily based upon a political ideology. United Russia's predecessor

4082-538: Is the ruling political party of Russia . As the largest party in the Russian Federation , it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the State Duma as of 2022 , having constituted the majority in the chamber since 2007. The party was formed on 1 December 2001 through a merger of Unity , Fatherland – All Russia , and the Our Home – Russia . Following the 2003 and 2011 election results, United Russia held

4239-475: Is unprecedented in Russia. It achieved a high profile through an unprecedentedly large campaign organisation that involved around 20,000 volunteers who passed out leaflets and hung banners, in addition to conducting several campaign rallies a day around the city; they were the main driving force for the campaign. The New Yorker described the resulted campaign as "a miracle", along with Navalny's release on 19 July,

4396-406: The 1999 Duma elections , state officials began transforming the party into a permanent one after the results. A large number of independent deputies who had been elected to the Duma were invited to join the party's delegation. Many OVR deputies joined, including its leader Luzhkov. In April 2001, OVR and Unity leaders declared they had started the unification process. In July 2001, the unified party,

4553-439: The 2013 Moscow mayoral election and came in second with 27.2% of the vote, but was barred from running in the 2018 presidential election . In August 2020, Navalny was hospitalised after being severely poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. He was medically evacuated to Berlin and discharged a month later. He accused President Vladimir Putin of being responsible for his poisoning, and an investigation implicated agents from

4710-440: The 2019 Moscow City Duma election Navalny supported independent candidates, most of whom were not allowed to participate in the elections, which led to mass street protests. In July 2019, Navalny was arrested, first for ten days, and then, almost immediately, for 30 days. On the evening of 28 July, he was hospitalised with severe damage to his eyes and skin. At the hospital, he was diagnosed with an "allergy," although this diagnosis

4867-469: The Central Election Commission of Russia , after which the coalition has been registered as a participant in a regional election in one of the three contested regions, Kostroma Oblast . According to a source of Gazeta.ru "close to the Kremlin", the presidential administration saw coalition's chances as very low, yet was wary, but the restoration in one region occurred so PARNAS could "score

Solovetsky Stone - Misplaced Pages Continue

5024-524: The Chechen invasion of Dagestan . The war effort was hugely popular and portrayed positively by the Boris Berezovsky -owned Public Russian Television (ORT) as well as by state-controlled RTR . Contrary to its founders' expectations, Unity's election campaign in the 1999 election was a success with the party receiving 23.3% of the votes, considerably more than OVR's 13.3% and within one percentage point of

5181-678: The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe invited Russian authorities, in connection with the Kirovles case , "to use urgently further avenues to erase the prohibition on Mr. Navalny's standing for election". Navalny was sentenced to 20 days in jail on 2 October 2017 for calls to participate in protests without approval from state authorities. In December 2017, Russia's Central Electoral Commission barred Navalny from running for president in 2018, citing Navalny's corruption conviction. The European Union said Navalny's removal cast "serious doubt" on

5338-490: The Communist Party 's 24.3%. The popularity of the prime minister proved decisive for Unity's victory. The election results also made clear that Putin was going to win the 2000 presidential election , which resulted in competitors Luzhkov and Yevgeni Primakov dropping out. Yeltsin also gave Putin a boost by resigning as president on 31 December 1999. While Unity initially possessed one narrow purpose, limited only to

5495-575: The Duma elections , the party's pre-election list was headed by the President of the Russian Federation at the time, Dmitry Medvedev , and in the 2012 elections , Vladimir Putin became the presidential candidate. The structure of the party is made up of regional, local, and primary branches. Regional branches of United Russia have been created in all subjects of the Russian Federation. In Russia, there are 82,631 primary and 2,595 local branches of

5652-587: The Federal Security Service . In January 2021, Navalny returned to Russia and was immediately detained on accusations of violating parole conditions while hospitalised in Germany. Following his arrest, mass protests were held across Russia. The next month, Navalny's suspended sentence was replaced with a prison sentence of over 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 years' detention, and his organisations were later designated as extremist and liquidated. In March 2022, Navalny

5809-774: The ISCED ) in 1993. He graduated from the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia in 1998 with a law degree . He then studied securities and exchanges at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation , graduating in 2001. In 2010, upon recommendation from Garry Kasparov , Yevgeniya Albats and Sergey Guriev , Navalny received a scholarship to the Yale World Fellows program at Yale University , where he studied political science and world affairs. As

5966-693: The Investigative Committee of Russia , owned an undeclared business in the Czech Republic . The posting was described by the Financial Times as Navalny's "answering shot" for having had his emails leaked during his arrest in the previous month. In August 2018, Navalny alleged that Viktor Zolotov stole at least US$ 29 million from procurement contracts for the National Guard of Russia . Shortly after his allegations against Zolotov, Navalny

6123-486: The Russian Constitution . The legislative agenda shifted somewhat after the 2007 elections. Anti-terrorism legislation, large increases in social spending and the creation of new state corporations became the dominant issues while less energy was devoted to economic reform. For the 2008 presidential election , United Russia nominated Dmitry Medvedev to succeed Putin. Medvedev received Putin's blessing and scored

6280-752: The Russian Orthodox Church inaugurated the Wall of Sorrow in the city itself. A third Solovki Stone was finally erected in 2002 in Saint Petersburg , in the public garden on Troitskaya Square. Designed by Yevgeny Ukhnalyov , it is officially known as the Memorial to the Victims of Political Repression in Petrograd-Leningrad . The monument is a 10-tonne granite boulder taken 50 meters (160 ft) from

6437-645: The Russian invasion of Ukraine , the party opened an aid centre in Mariupol . In November 2022, several United Russia sources reported that the party would not hold an annual congress because "the party is not ready to propose a strategic agenda." Refusal to hold an annual congress is a violation of the party charter. In December 2022, the European Union sanctioned United Russia due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine . United Russia has participated in all elections to

Solovetsky Stone - Misplaced Pages Continue

6594-571: The State Duma of the Russian Federation since 2003 (since 1999 through its predecessors: Fatherland – All Russia and Unity ). At the same time, the party actively used the "locomotive" political strategy: including in its party lists well-known persons who were not going to become deputies or refused mandates immediately after the election, while less well-known party members worked in the State Duma instead of them. In 2003, 37 elected candidates from United Russia refused deputy mandates; in 2007, they were 116 candidates, and 99 candidates in 2011. Among

6751-616: The Young Guard of United Russia , the Union of Transport Workers of Russia, and the Union of Women of Russia. Also on 7 June, after numerous appeals from citizens, it was decided to allow individuals to join the ONF. As of 14 June 2011, more than 6,000 people wished to join the movement. The political and economic program of the ONF was developed by the Institute for Socio-Economic and Political Research under

6908-459: The presidential election , which was held on 4 March 2012. After his release, Navalny informed reporters that it would be senseless for him to run in the presidential elections because the Kremlin would not allow the elections to be fair, but if free elections were held, he would "be ready" to run. On 24 December, he helped lead a demonstration, estimated at 50,000 people, which was much larger than

7065-521: The "European choice"; Navalny's Progress Party was seen as one of the potential participants. However, on 27 February 2015, Nemtsov was shot dead . Prior to his assassination, Nemtsov worked on a project of a coalition, in which Navalny and Khodorkovsky would become co-chairmen of RPR-PARNAS. Navalny declared merging parties would invoke bureaucratic difficulties and question the legitimacy of party's right to participate in federal elections without signatures collecting. However, Nemtsov's murder accelerated

7222-458: The 12th Party Congress held on 24 September 2011, Medvedev supported Prime Minister Putin's candidacy in the 2012 presidential election, which effectively assured Putin would return to the presidency, given the party's near-total dominance of Russian politics. Medvedev accepted Prime Minister Putin's offer to lead United Russia in the Duma elections and said that, in his opinion, Putin should run for president in 2012. The delegates gave this statement

7379-659: The 2003 elections, with the Communists gaining just 52 seats, a drop from 113 in 1999. Liberal opponents fared even worse, with Yabloko and Union of the Right Forces failing to cross the 5 percent threshold. On 27 November 2004, at the Fifth Congress, a management reform was carried out: the central political council was liquidated and the post of party chairman was introduced. Boris Gryzlov was elected chairman of United Russia. On 22 April 2005, Vyacheslav Volodin , Vice Speaker of

7536-492: The 2008 presidential election and it merged into United Russia. During regional elections of 11 October 2009, United Russia won a majority of seats in almost every Russian municipality. Opposition candidates stated they were hindered from campaigning for the elections and some were denied places on the ballot. There were allegations of widespread ballot stuffing and voter intimidation as well as statistical analysis results supporting these accusations. Support for United Russia

7693-532: The 7th Party Congress was held in Yekaterinburg. As a result of the congress, the program statement "The Russia We Choose" was approved, which outlined a development strategy based on the principles of sovereign democracy . In 2006–2007, United Russia initiated the creation of some new organizations: the Young Guard of United Russia , the Union of Pensioners of Russia, the Pedagogical Society of Russia, and

7850-474: The All-Russian Council of Local Self-Government, aiming to create more favourable conditions for the public realization of the interests of their members. As the economy continued to improve, Putin moved to rein in the unpopular oligarchs , Putin's approval ratings stayed high and he won the 2004 presidential election with over 71% of the votes. The 2007 Duma elections saw United Russia gain 64.3% of

8007-558: The Communist Party as hypocritical for accepting money from several "dollar millionaires" during the 2003 Duma election campaign. Opposition parties also made several strategic mistakes. For example, Yabloko and the Union of Right Forces seemed to spend more effort attacking each other than Putin, which made it easier for United Russia to win over liberal voters on the strength of market reforms under Putin. The opposition parties faltered in

SECTION 50

#1732848817302

8164-402: The Communists at free debates. Putin, the leader of United Russia, and Medvedev, the leader of the federal list of United Russia in the elections, the chairman of the supreme council of the party Boris Gryzlov, as well as members of the government who headed the lists of the party in power in the regions, did not take part in the pre-election debates. Elections of deputies of the State Duma of

8321-507: The Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the VII convocation were held throughout Russia on 18 September 2016, on a single voting day. The elections were held in a mixed electoral system: out of 450 deputies, 225 were elected on party lists in a single federal district (proportional system), and another 225 were elected in single-member districts (majority system). The party's federal list

8478-577: The General Council were curtailed, and on February 27, 2003, he left his post. Valery Bogomolov became the chairman of the party's general council, and Yury Volkov became the head of the central executive committee. On 13 January 2003, United Russia had 257,000 members, placing it behind only the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (600,000) and the Communists (500,000). On 31 January 2003,

8635-536: The Great Patriotic War and veterans of the war in Afghanistan, that all people who are united by a common desire to strengthen our country, the idea of finding the most optimal solutions to the problems we face, could work within a single platform. This form of uniting the efforts of all political forces is used in different countries and by different political forces - both left and right, and patriotic - this

8792-651: The Moscow branch of Yabloko, where he remained until February 2007. Also in 2004, he became Deputy Chief of the Moscow branch of the party. From 2006 to 2007, he was a member of the Federal Council of the party. In August 2005, Navalny was admitted to the Social Council of the Central Administrative Okrug of Moscow, created before the Moscow City Duma election held later that year , in which he took part as

8949-402: The ONF is not registered and therefore is outside the legal field do not stand up to criticism. In terms of its composition and organizational form, the "front" corresponds to a social movement, and in terms of its goals - to a political party. The formation of the political will of citizens and participation in elections is the prerogative of the parties. And the ONF, according to its declaration,

9106-461: The Russian Federation of the VI convocation were held on 4 December 2011. For the first time, the State Duma was elected for five years. As a result of the elections, United Russia received 238 seats. As in 2007, the elections were held only under the proportional system. On 24 September 2011, at the 12th United Russia Party Congress, President Medvedev headed the United Russia electoral list. The voter turnout

9263-951: The Soviet Union. His mother, Lyudmila Ivanovna Navalnaya (born 1954), an ethnic Russian, is originally from Zelenograd , and his father, Anatoly Ivanovich Navalny (born 1947), an ethnic Ukrainian, is originally from Zalissia, a village near the Ukraine-Belarus border which was relocated due to nuclear contamination caused by the Chernobyl disaster . Navalny identified as half Russian and half Ukrainian and grew up in Obninsk —about 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwest of Moscow—but spent his summers with his grandparents in Zalissia until age eight, acquiring proficiency in Ukrainian. Navalny's parents privately own

9420-502: The State Duma exclusively on party lists. Then the State Duma adopted amendments to federal legislation allowing the party that won the elections to the regional parliament to propose to the President of Russia their candidacy for the governor's post. In the overwhelming majority of regions, this right belonged to United Russia. The vast majority of governors are members of United Russia. In April 2006, Boris Gryzlov announced that 66 out of 88 leaders of Russian regions were already members of

9577-553: The State Duma, was elected the new Secretary of the United Russia General Council, replacing Valery Bogomolov. On 23 April 2005, 35-year-old State Duma deputy Andrey Vorobyov , head of the United Russia Foundation, took over as head of the central executive committee. The new leadership of "United Russia" has set the goal of "partization of power". In the spring of 2005, a law was adopted on elections to

SECTION 60

#1732848817302

9734-671: The Union of Unity and Fatherland, held its founding congress. In December 2001, it became the All-Russian Party of Unity and Fatherland—United Russia, a merger of Unity, the Fatherland movement, and the All Russia movement that joined them later, led by Mintimer Shaimiev . Instead of the "communism versus capitalism" dichotomy that had dominated the political discourse in the 1990s, in the 1999–2000 electoral cycle Putin started to emphasize another reason to vote for his party: stability, which

9891-594: The Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug . In 2024, the Russian prison service reported that Navalny had died , which subsequently sparked protests in both Russia and various other countries. Accusations against Putin's government in connection with his death have been made by many Western governments and international organisations. Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny was born on 4 June 1976 in Butyn , Russia , then part of

10048-539: The annulment of the sentence that clearly contradicts the decision of ECHR. Moreover, Navalny announced that his presidential campaign would proceed independently of court decisions. He referred to the Russian Constitution (Article 32), which deprives only two groups of citizens of the right to be elected: those recognised by the court as legally unfit and those kept in places of confinement by a court sentence. According to Freedom House and The Economist , Navalny

10205-626: The chairman of the party's general council, which carried out practical leadership, and the party's central executive committee. The council included the secretary of the Fatherland—All Russia political council, Alexander Vladislavlev, Franz Klintsevich, and a member of the Federation Council, Sergey Popov . On 20 November 2002, Interior Minister Boris Gryzlov became chairman of the Supreme Council. Bespalov's powers as chairman of

10362-429: The coalition would declare some signatures and personal data have been altered by malevolent collectors; signatures in the other regions have been rejected by regional election commissions. In Novosibirsk Oblast , some election office staff went on a hunger strike, which was abandoned almost two weeks since its inception, when Khodorkovsky, Navalny, and Kasyanov publicly advised to do so. Сomplaints have been issued to

10519-459: The construction of the Eastern Siberia–Pacific Ocean oil pipeline . In December, Navalny announced the launch of the RosPil  [ ru ] project, which seeks to bring to light corrupt practices in the government procurement process. The project takes advantage of existing procurement regulation that requires all government requests for tender to be posted online. Information about winning bids must be posted online as well. The name RosPil

10676-529: The contested result, and an estimated 300 people were arrested, including Navalny. Navalny was arrested on 5 December. After a period of uncertainty for his supporters, Navalny appeared in court and was sentenced to a maximum of 15 days "for defying a government official". Alexei Venediktov , editor-in-chief of Echo of Moscow radio station, called the arrest "a political mistake: jailing Navalny transforms him from an online leader into an offline one". After his arrest, his blog became available in English. Navalny

10833-436: The day after Putin was inaugurated, Navalny and Udaltsov were arrested after an anti-Putin rally at Clean Ponds , and were each given 15-day jail sentences. Amnesty International designated the two men prisoners of conscience . On 11 June, Moscow prosecutors conducted a 12-hour search of Navalny's home, office, and the apartment of one of his relatives. Soon afterwards, some of Navalny's personal emails were posted online by

10990-446: The decision in the Supreme Court of Russia , but the court ruled that the election results were legitimate. Following the mayoral election, Navalny was offered a position as the fourth co-chairman of RPR-PARNAS . On 14 November 2014, the two remaining RPR-PARNAS co-chairmen, Boris Nemtsov and former Prime Minister of Russia Mikhail Kasyanov , declared it was the right moment to create a wide coalition of political forces, who favour

11147-436: The differences were because Sobyanin's electorate did not vote, as they felt that their candidate was guaranteed to win. Navalny's campaign office predicted Sobyanin would score 49–51%, and Navalny would get 24–26% of votes. Many experts said the election had been fair, that the number of irregularities had been much lower than those of other elections held within the country, and that the irregularities had had little effect on

11304-468: The dominant party in the Duma. In 1996–1999, only 76% of the legislation that passed the third reading was signed by the President while in 1999–2003 the ratio was 93%. While Yeltsin had often relied on his decree powers to enact major decisions, Putin almost never had to. United Russia's dominance in the Duma enabled Putin to push through a wide range of fundamental reforms, including a flat income tax of 13%,

11461-560: The election. Navalny called for a boycott of the 2018 presidential election, stating his removal meant that millions of Russians were being denied their vote. Navalny filed an appeal against the Russian Supreme Court's ruling on 3 January, however a few days later on 6 January, the Supreme Court of Russia rejected his appeal. Navalny led protests on 28 January 2018 to urge a boycott of Russia's 2018 presidential election. Navalny

11618-472: The end of his second presidential term "is completely realistic, but it's too early to talk about it now." United Russia refused participate in any broadcast political debates, but on 1 October, it approved a program in which it promised to continue Putin's political course. The electoral program was called "Putin's Plan: A Worthy Future for a Great Country." During the 2007 campaign, President Putin gave United Russia official permission to use his name and image in

11775-445: The failure in the elections. He sharply criticized many actions by the party and asked for "immediate resignation of the party chairman and all his deputies, re-election of at least 70 percent of the bureau". He said: "Yabloko completely failed in these elections ... This is not a matter of counting [the votes]. The elections were dishonest and unfair. But we would get even less in fair elections. Because fair elections should not be just

11932-478: The first time, openly violated the principle of departization of the economy and public life, which was introduced on 20 July 1991 by Boris Yeltsin 's decree "On the termination of the activities of the organizational structures of political parties and mass social movements in state bodies, institutions and organizations of the RSFSR" and which became one of the foundations of the Russian political system. Statements that

12089-744: The former Soviet Union's major monuments to the victims of political terror, the Levashovo Memorial Cemetery , was already in existence in St Petersburg but the city administration made no contribution, although it had a significant budget allocation from federal and regional funds to celebrate three hundred years of the city on the Neva's existence. Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolyevich Navalny (Russian: Алексей Анатольевич Навальный , IPA: [ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj] ; 4 June 1976 – 16 February 2024)

12246-400: The front is the next step in the consolidation of United Russia and outside organizations. We would like to involve public organizations in writing the program. We would like as many public associations and organizations as possible to offer their ideas for the further development of our country. On 7 May 2011, the first meeting of the coordinating council of the new organization was held, which

12403-406: The fundraising campaign, and the personality of Navalny himself. The campaign received very little television coverage and did not utilise billboards. Thanks to Navalny's strong campaign (and Sobyanin's weak one ), his result grew over time, weakening Sobyanin's, and in the end of the campaign, he declared the runoff election (to be conducted if none of the candidates receives at least 50% of votes)

12560-570: The future form of any memorial to the victims of Stalinism had still not been resolved. Subsequently many monuments erected across Russia to the victims of the Soviet regime emulated the same stark and abstract simplicity, also using large unshaped or rough-hewn boulders, for example the memorial in Nizhny Novgorod's Bugrovskoe cemetery. According to the Russian NGO Memorial , the monument

12717-440: The government was accusing Navalny of assaulting an officer during the protests. Navalny was among 1600 people detained during 5 May protests prior to Putin's inauguration; Navalny was charged with disobeying police. On 15 May, he was sentenced to 30 days in jail. Immediately after his release on 25 September 2018, he was arrested and convicted for organising illegal demonstrations and sentenced to another 20 days in jail. During

12874-699: The head of some regional groups of the party in the elections and did not rule out that after the elections, the composition of the Russian Government would change. Also in 2011, United Russia took part in a televised debate for the first time. It was announced that Speaker of the State Duma Boris Gryzlov, Secretary of the Presidium of the General Council Sergey Neverov , head of the CEC of

13031-471: The highest indicator of the party in the elections to the State Duma. Elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the VIII convocation were held on 17–19 September, ending on a single voting day on 19 September 2021. The elections were held according to a mixed electoral system: according to party lists (225 deputies) and single-mandate constituencies (225 deputies). At

13188-499: The hospital's motives. Supporters of Navalny and journalists near the hospital were attacked by the police and many were detained. In response, he initiated the Smart Voting project. Navalny campaigned against the vote on constitutional amendments that took place on 1 July, calling it a "coup" and a "violation of the constitution". He also said that the changes would allow President Putin to become " president for life ". After

13345-597: The initiative to create the All-Russia People's Front, a political union of public organizations. Representatives of the ONF, according to his idea, were included in United Russia list in the Duma elections in 2011 and took part in the party's primaries. I propose to create what in political practice is called a broad popular front. It is a tool for uniting congenial political forces. I would very much like United Russia, some other political parties, trade unions, women's, youth, and veteran organizations, including veterans of

13502-510: The law was stacked against Yabloko and Union of Right Forces , and he decided to join, even though he was not "a big fan" of either organisation. In 2001, he was listed as a member of the party. In 2002, he was elected to the regional council of the Moscow branch of Yabloko. In 2003, he headed the Moscow subdivision of the election campaign of the party for the parliamentary election held in December . In April 2004, Navalny became Chief of Staff of

13659-489: The leadership of the former president of Chuvashia , Nikolay Fyodorov , in the fall of 2011 and was adopted by the party congress. As Fyodorov noted, the People's Program became a guide for the legislative work of the State Duma of the new convocation, and all agreed decisions became mandatory for deputies from United Russia and the ONF. According to a Gazeta.ru author, by creating the ONF, Vladimir Putin and United Russia, for

13816-447: The list, and one voted against. The election program of United Russia was announced in speeches by Medvedev and Putin at the congress. Medvedev identified seven strategic government policy priorities, and Putin proposed writing off 30 billion rubles in erroneous tax debts of 36 million Russians and raising the salaries of public sector workers by 6.5% from October 10. Putin also noted that taxes for wealthy citizens should be higher than for

13973-404: The lists by the party leadership (often under strange pretexts), and their places on the party list were given to persons who showed very low results in the voting on 22 May 2016. For example, in the final regional party list for Sverdlovsk Oblast , the "passing" 2nd and 3rd places went to the participants who took 9th and 10th places in the primaries. By a similar principle, some of the winners of

14130-429: The middle class and suggested raising housing and communal services tariffs only over the established norm. Among other priorities, Putin named the complete rearmament of the army and navy in 5–10 years, doubling the pace of road construction in 10 years, creating or updating 25 million jobs in 20 years, and Russia becoming one of the five largest economies in the world. At the 13th Party Congress on 26 May 2012, Medvedev

14287-435: The nationalist 2006 Russian march . However, he added that Yabloko condemned "any ethnic or racial hatred and any xenophobia" and called on the police to oppose "any fascist, Nazi, xenophobic manifestations". In December 2007, Yabloko lost legislative election to Russian State Duma by receiving only 1.6% votes . At a meeting of the party bureau, Navalny had proposed to reform the party and change its leadership because of

14444-434: The number of such voters being 5% of those who voted, and added this did cause questions if Sobyanin would score 50% if this did not take place. Dmitry Oreshkin, leader of the "People's election commission" project (who did a separate counting based on the data from election observers; their result for Sobyanin was 50%), said now that the runoff election was only 2% away, all details would be looked at very closely, and added it

14601-402: The office by a registered party, and then to collect 110 signatures of municipal deputies from 110 different subdivisions (three-quarters of Moscow's 146). Navalny chose to be pegged by a party, RPR–PARNAS . Among the six candidates who were officially registered as such, only two (Sobyanin and Communist Ivan Melnikov) were able to collect the required number of the signatures themselves, and

14758-467: The operational headquarters (meets twice a week in a narrow format to solve operational problems) and the extended headquarters (meeting in full force once every two weeks). On 22 January 2017, Medvedev was re-elected as party chairman. On 26 May 2019, for the first time in the history of large-scale political elections held in Russia, the party applied the secret electronic preliminary voting procedure using blockchain technology. Secret electronic voting

14915-514: The other four were given a number of signatures by the Council of Municipal Formations, following a recommendation by Sobyanin, to overcome the requirement (Navalny accepted 49 signatures, and other candidates accepted 70, 70, and 82). On 17 July, Navalny was registered as one of the six candidates for the Moscow mayoral election. On 18 July, he was sentenced to a five-year prison term for the embezzlement and fraud charges that were declared in 2012. Several hours after his sentencing, he pulled out of

15072-468: The papers, Hungary sold a former embassy building in Moscow for US$ 21 million to an offshore company of Viktor Vekselberg , who immediately resold it to the Russian government for US$ 116 million. The property's real value was estimated at US$ 52 million. Irregularities in the paper trail implied collusion. Three Hungarian officials responsible for the deal were detained in February 2011. Navalny

15229-418: The participants of United Russia's "locomotive" were the President of the Russian Federation (2007, 2011), the heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation , ministers of the Russian Government , and mayors of cities. Elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of Russia of the fourth convocation were held on 7 December 2003 and became the first elections in which United Russia acted as

15386-422: The participation of single-mandate candidates. Vladimir Putin single-handedly headed United Russia's federal list. On 1 October 2007, President Putin announced at the United Russia party congress that he would accept the party's invitation to head the list of candidates, although he refused to join the party. In his speech, Vladimir Putin said that a previous speaker's suggestion that he become prime minister after

15543-506: The party Andrey Vorobyov , deputies Andrey Isayev , Svetlana Orlova , Andrey Makarov , Governor of the Krasnodar Krai Alexander Tkachev could take part in the debate. However, United Russia members participated in free debates within the framework of the air provided by law. They abstained from participating in some paid debates, particularly with the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, preferring to meet with

15700-614: The party congress on 19 June 2021, President Vladimir Putin proposed to include Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Chief Physician of the Moscow City Clinical Hospital No. 40 "Kommunarka" Denis Protsenko, head of the Sirius Educational Center and co-chairman of the central headquarters of the All-Russia People's Front Yelena Shmelyova, and the Commissioner for Children's Rights under

15857-571: The party declared it had registered 43 regional branches. An unnamed source of Izvestia in the ministry said registrations completed after the six-month term would not be taken into consideration, adding, "Yes, trials are taking place in some regions ... they cannot register new branches in other regions during the trials, because the main term is over". Navalny's blog countered, "Our answer is simple. A six-month term for registration has been legally prolonged ad interim prosecution of appeals of denials and registration suspensions". On 1 February 2015,

16014-498: The party held a convention, where Navalny stated the party was preparing for the 2016 elections, declaring the party would maintain its activity across Russia, saying, "We are unabashed to work in remote lands where the opposition does not work. We can even [work] in Crimea". The candidates the party would appoint were to be chosen via primary elections; however, he added, the party's candidates may be removed from elections. On 17 April 2015,

16171-494: The party initiated a coalition of democratic parties. On 28 April 2015, the party was deprived of registration by the Ministry of Justice, which stated the party had not registered the required number of regional branches within six months after the official registration. Krainev claimed that the party could be eliminated only by the Supreme Court, and he added that not all trials of registration of regional branches were over, calling

16328-470: The party was registered by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. On 29 March 2003, the Second Party Congress took place. The Congress approved the report presented by Boris Gryzlov and approved the manifesto "The Path of National Success". At the congress, it was decided to develop an election program for the upcoming parliamentary elections. Sergei Shoigu stood down, and Boris Gryzlov

16485-425: The party were present during the congress, even though the papers contained their signatures. Navalny reacted to that with a tweet saying, "A salvo of all guns." Following the mayoral election, on 15 September 2013, Navalny declared he would join and, possibly, head the party. On 17 November 2013 Navalny was elected as the leader of the party. On 8 January 2014, Navalny's party filed documents for registration for

16642-503: The party's activities, which, according to them, has ceased to fulfil its political function. On 5 October 2013, the 14th Party Congress took place in Moscow. According to the registration data, out of 726 delegates to the 14th Congress, 697 were present. On 6 May 2011, during the interregional conference in the Southern Federal District , the acting Prime Minister of Russia and the leader of United Russia, Vladimir Putin, took

16799-447: The party's election campaign to the State Duma of the V convocation. The voter turnout was 63.78%, and United Russia received 64.20%, which allowed it to get 315 seats and secure a constitutional majority in the State Duma after uniting with single-mandate members and members of the faction of the People's Party of Russia . Elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of

16956-405: The party, and Navalny's ally Vladimir Ashurkov, explained this was intended to help the party get a large share of voters. Navalny said the concept of political parties was "outdated", and added his participation would make maintaining the party more difficult. However, he "blessed" the party and discussed its maintenance with its leaders. They, in turn, stated they wanted to eventually see Navalny as

17113-465: The party. United Russia supports the policies of Putin, who is the incumbent Russian president and served as party leader during the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev ; despite not currently being the official leader or a member of the party, Putin operates as its de facto leader. United Russia's votes peaked in the 2007 Russian legislative election with 64.3% of the vote, while in recent years, it has seen its popularity decline. The party's ideology

17270-453: The party. Since 2005, the leaders of the large industrial corporations Rot Front , Babaevsky , Mechel , and AvtoVAZ have joined the party. On 26 November 2005, the 6th Party Congress was held in Krasnoyarsk , which approved a new charter version. According to one of the amendments, in case of failure to comply with the decisions of the central and regional party bodies, the activities of

17427-541: The presidential elections. In addition, it was decided to rename the party from Unity and Fatherland - United Russia into United Russia. Throughout Putin's first years as president, the country's economy improved considerably, growing more each year than in all of the previous decade and Putin's approval ratings hovered well above 70%. Russia's economic recovery was helped by high prices for its primary exports such as oil, gas and raw materials. The passage rate of law proposals increased considerably after United Russia became

17584-407: The previous post-election demonstration. Speaking to the crowd, he said, "I see enough people to take the Kremlin right now". In March 2012, after Putin was elected president, Navalny helped lead an anti-Putin rally in Moscow's Pushkinskaya Square , attended by between 14,000 and 20,000 people. After the rally, Navalny was detained by authorities for several hours, and then released. On 8 May 2012,

17741-519: The primaries in single-member constituencies were replaced. For example, the party appointed a person as a candidate from the party in the Nizhny Tagil district , who, according to the results of the voting in the district, took only fourth place. More than 20 people who did not participate in the primaries on May 22 were nominated by the party as candidates for the State Duma, moreover, in "passing places". In addition, in 18 single-member districts where

17898-418: The primaries were held, United Russia did not nominate anyone to the State Duma in 2016. The motives for this decision are unknown, especially since the results of the primaries for these districts were not canceled. By the beginning of the active stage of the election campaign for the State Duma, reshuffles were made in the campaign headquarters headed by Sergei Neverov, which began work in two different formats:

18055-555: The profit from Usmanov's purchase of the British steel company Corus . Navalny posted scans of documents to his blog showing the money transfers. Usmanov and Shuvalov stated the documents Navalny had posted were legitimate, but that the transaction had not violated Russian law. "I unswervingly followed the rules and principles of conflict of interest," said Shuvalov. "For a lawyer, this is sacred". In July, Navalny posted documents on his blog allegedly showing that Alexander Bastrykin , head of

18212-481: The race and called for a boycott of the election. Later that day, the prosecution office requested that Navalny be freed on bail and released from travel restrictions, since the verdict had not yet taken legal effect, saying that he had previously followed the restrictions. Navalny was a mayoral candidate, and imprisonment would thus not comply with the rule for equal access to the electorate. On his return to Moscow after being freed, pending an appeal, he vowed to stay in

18369-450: The race. The Washington Post has speculated that his release was ordered by the Kremlin in order to make the election and Sobyanin appear more legitimate. Navalny's campaign was successful in fundraising: out of 103.4 million rubles (approximately $ 3.09 million as of the election day ), the total size of his electoral fund, 97.3 million ($ 2.91 million) were transferred by individuals throughout Russia; such an amount

18526-476: The result. Dmitri Abyzalov, leading expert of Center of Political Conjuncture, added low turnout figures provide a further sign of fairness of the election, because that shows they were not overestimated. However, according to Andrei Buzin, co-chairman of the GOLOS Association , State Departments of Social Security added people who did not originally want to vote to lists of those who would vote at home, with

18683-437: The results were announced, he called them a "big lie" that did not reflect public opinion. The reforms include an amendment allowing Putin to serve another two terms in office (until 2036), after his fourth presidential term ends. In 2008, Navalny sought to become an activist shareholder in five Russian oil and gas companies ( Rosneft , Gazprom , Gazprom Neft , Lukoil , and Surgutneftegas ), investing 300,000 rubles with

18840-424: The same congress, the pre-election list of candidates from the party for the December elections to the State Duma was approved. The list included 416 party members and 183 non-party members, 363 of whom are running for the first time. On 29 September 2011, the list was submitted to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation . President Medvedev headed the party's list. 582 congress delegates voted for

18997-399: The second time. On 20 January, registration of the party was suspended; according to Russian laws, no two parties can share a name. On 8 February 2014, Navalny's party changed its name to "Progress Party". On 25 February 2014, the party was registered, and at this point, had six months to register regional branches in at least half of the federal subjects of Russia . On 26 September 2014,

19154-406: The self-nominated faction, allowed it to form a qualified majority in the State Duma. Elections of deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the fifth convocation were held on 2 December 2007. United Russia won 315 seats in the parliament following the elections. For the first time, the elections were held exclusively according to the proportional system, without

19311-415: The seventh convocation. On 22 May 2016, United Russia held party elections (primaries) on an all-Russian scale - formally for selecting candidates from the party in the elections to the State Duma ; however, the victory of one or another person in these primaries did not mean at all that the winner would become a candidate from United Russia in the elections to the State Duma. Some winners were excluded from

19468-578: The site of a mass execution at the Solovki prison camp in December 1923. The rock is set on a polished granite base bearing four inscriptions: "To the inmates of the Gulag ", "To the victims of Communist Terror", "To those who Fought for Freedom" and a famous line from Anna Akhmatova 's long poem Requiem (1935-1961): "I would like to recall them all by name,/ but ..." (the lists have been taken—there's no one to ask). [Хотелось бы всех поименно назвать...] The monument

19625-422: The ultimate goal of increasing the transparency of their financial assets. Such transparency is required by law, but there are allegations that high-level managers of these companies are involved in theft and resisting transparency. In November 2010, Navalny published confidential documents about Transneft 's auditing. According to Navalny's blog, about US$ 4 billion were stolen by Transneft's leaders during

19782-533: The verdict "illegal twice". He added that the party would appeal to the European Court of Human Rights , and expressed confidence that the party would be restored and admitted to elections. The next day, the party officially challenged the verdict. On 30 May 2013, Sergey Sobyanin , the mayor of Moscow, argued an elected mayor is an advantage for the city compared to an appointed one, and on 4 June, he announced he would meet President Vladimir Putin and ask him for

19939-461: The votes. The Communist Party became a distant second with 11.57% of the votes. Putin was the only name on United Russia's national list. United Russia also introduced tougher party, candidate and voter registration requirements and increased the election threshold from 5% to 7% for the 2007 elections. During the December 2007 election, the party was accused by voters and election monitoring group Golos of numerous election law violations banned in

20096-428: The voting showed Navalny received 27% of the vote, more than candidates appointed by the parties that received second, third, fourth, and fifth highest results during the 2011 parliamentary elections, altogether. Navalny fared better in the center and southwest of Moscow, which have higher income and education levels. Sobyanin received 51% of the vote, winning the election. The turnout was 32%. The organisations explained

20253-465: The work, and on 17 April, Navalny declared a wide discussion had taken place among Progress Party, RPR-PARNAS, and other closely aligned parties, which resulted in an agreement of formation of a new electoral bloc between the two leaders. Soon thereafter, it was signed by four other parties and supported by Khodorkovsky's Open Russia foundation. Electoral blocs are not present within the current law system of Russia, so it would be realised via means of

20410-539: The worse the results, the stronger the leadership's position." He was expelled from Yabloko at the same meeting for his nationalist views and for participating in the Russian March. According to Russian opposition politician Ilya Yashin , Navalny was expelled from Yabloko because he challenged party leader Grigory Yavlinsky . In December 2011, after parliamentary elections and accusations of electoral fraud, approximately 6,000 people gathered in Moscow to protest

20567-410: Was "a hair's breadth away". The largest sociological research organisations predicted that Sobyanin would win the election, scoring 58% to 64% of the vote; they expected Navalny to receive 15–20% of the vote, and the turnout was to be 45–52%. ( Levada Center was the only one not to have made any predictions; the data it had on 28 August was similar to that of other organisations.) The final results of

20724-598: Was 53% in a poll held in October 2009. On 28 September 2010, the dismissed mayor of Moscow, Yury Luzhkov , left the post of co-chairman of the Supreme Council of United Russia and left the party. In 2010–2011 and following the economic crisis, support for United Russia was variable but declined overall. The share of the population voting for the party reached its lowest point in January 2011 (35%) before recovering to 41% in March 2011. At

20881-570: Was 60.1% of voters. According to official data from the Central Election Commission of Russia , 49.31% of voters voted for United Russia. In the 2011 Duma elections , United Russia formed an electoral list based on the All-Russian primaries together with the All-Russian Popular Front , at least 150 of whose representatives were included in the party's federal list. Boris Gryzlov also noted that federal politicians and ministers would be at

21038-588: Was a Russian opposition leader, anti- corruption activist and political prisoner . He founded the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) in 2011. He was recognised by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience and was awarded the Sakharov Prize for his work on human rights. Through his social media accounts, Navalny and his team published material about corruption in Russia, organised political demonstrations and promoted his campaigns. In

21195-660: Was a founder of United Russia: "Now United Russia does not like to remember that Berezovsky had something to do with the idea of the emergence of Unity. But history is history. We must not forget those who stood at its origins. Otherwise, it resembles the history of the VKP(b) , which was carefully rewritten every time when its next founder turned out to be an enemy of the people ." In 1999, Prime Minister Putin's support increased to double-digit figures after he sent troops into Chechnya in retaliation for bombings in Moscow and other cities attributed to Chechen terrorists and in response to

21352-466: Was again headed by Dmitry Medvedev, chairman of the United Russia party. As a result of the elections, United Russia received 343 mandates in the new convocation and formed a constitutional majority. The turnout in the elections was 47.88%; the party won 54.20% of the votes on the lists, which brought it 140 mandates. United Russia received another 203 mandates according to voting results in single-mandate constituencies. The final 343 seats in parliament are

21509-619: Was arrested in Moscow for participating in protests and was sentenced to 30 days in jail for organising illegal protests. In September 2017, Human Rights Watch accused Russian police of systematic interference with Navalny's presidential campaign. "The pattern of harassment and intimidation against Navalny's campaign is undeniable," said Hugh Williamson, Europe, and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "Russian authorities should let Navalny's campaigners work without undue interference and properly investigate attacks against them by ultra-nationalists and pro-government groups." On 21 September,

21666-437: Was arrested on the day of the protest and then released the same day, pending trial. OVD-Info reported that 257 people were arrested throughout the country. According to Russian news reports, police stated Navalny was likely to be charged with calling for unauthorised demonstrations. Two of Navalny's associates were given brief jail terms for urging people to attend unsanctioned opposition rallies. Navalny stated on 5 February 2018

21823-521: Was attended by representatives of 16 public organizations. On 13 June, a draft declaration on the formation of the front was published on the United Russia website. The ONF included more than 500 public organizations. The largest are Opora Rossii, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs , the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia , Delovaya Rossiya, the Union of Pensioners of Russia,

21980-416: Was created precisely for the preparation of a people's program "based on the widest discussion in all public organizations" (and now at enterprises) and for joint participation in the elections On 5–6 February 2016, the 15th Party Congress of United Russia took place in Moscow. The main topic was the approval of the procedure for holding a preliminary vote to select candidates for elections to the State Duma of

22137-449: Was disputed by Anastasia Vasilyeva , an ophthalmologist who previously treated Navalny after a chemical attack by an alleged protester in 2017. Vasilyeva questioned the diagnosis and suggested the possibility that Navalny's condition was the result of "the damaging effects of undetermined chemicals". On 29 July 2019, Navalny was discharged from hospital and taken back to prison, despite the objections of his personal physician who questioned

22294-475: Was elected as the new party leader. On 20 September 2003, the Third Party Congress adopted the election program and approved the list of candidates for the elections. The congress was welcomed by Vladimir Putin, who wished the party success in the elections . On 7 December, the party "Unity and Fatherland - United Russia" won the elections, receiving 37.57% of the vote, and with single-mandate members,

22451-426: Was elected as the only leader of RPR-PARNAS, and the party was renamed to just PARNAS. He added he would like to eventually re-establish the institution of co-chairmanship, adding, "Neither Alexei Navalny nor Mikhail Khodorkovsky will enter our party today and be elected as co-chairmen. But in the future, I think, such time will come". On 7 July, in an interview released by TV Rain , he specified Navalny could not leave

22608-610: Was elected chairman of United Russia. United Russia decided not to use Medvedev and Putin's portraits during the autumn election campaign. On 26 September, the Vedomosti newspaper wrote about this, citing a high-ranking source within the party. In March 2013, about 50 United Russia members from the Abansky District of Krasnoyarsk Krai announced their withdrawal from the party. They sent an open letter (stating that 60 people signed it) to party chairman Medvedev, in which they criticized

22765-590: Was erected on 30 October 1990 to commemorate a 1974 initiative by political prisoners to establish a "Day of Political Prisoners in the USSR ." In 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Russia officially established 30 October as Remembrance Day for the Victims of Political Repression . It was on 30 October 2007 that Vladimir Putin visited the Butovo firing range near Moscow and ten years later on the same date he and Patriarch Kirill of

22922-483: Was founder of the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK). In February 2012, Navalny concluded that Russian federal money going to Ramzan Kadyrov 's Chechen Interior Ministry was being spent "in a totally shadowy and fraudulent way." In May, Navalny accused Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov of corruption, stating that companies owned by Roman Abramovich and Alisher Usmanov had transferred tens of millions of dollars to Shuvalov's company, allowing Shuvalov to share in

23079-462: Was impossible to prove "anything" juridically. On 9 September, the day following the election, Navalny publicly denounced the tally, saying, "We do not recognise the results. They are fake". Sobyanin's office rejected an offer of a vote recount. On 12 September, Navalny addressed the Moscow City Court to overturn the result of the poll; the court rejected the assertion. Navalny then challenged

23236-500: Was imprisoned for staging protests in January 2018. Subsequently, Viktor Zolotov published a video message on 11 September challenging Navalny to a duel and promising to make "good, juicy mincemeat" of him. United Russia Defunct The All-Russian Political Party "United Russia" ( Russian : Всероссийская политическая партия «Единая Россия» , romanized :  Vserossiyskaya politicheskaya partiya "Yedinaya Rossiya" , pronounced [(j)ɪˈdʲinəjə rɐˈsʲijə] )

23393-456: Was kept in the same prison as several other activists, including Ilya Yashin and Sergei Udaltsov , the unofficial leader of the Vanguard of Red Youth , a radical Russian communist youth group. Udaltsov went on a hunger strike to protest against the conditions. Upon his release on 20 December 2011, Navalny called on Russians to unite against Putin, who Navalny said would try to claim victory in

23550-518: Was one of the organisers of the movement-run political debates, which soon resonated in the media. Navalny also organised television debates via state-run Moscow channel TV Center ; two initial episodes showed high ratings, but the show was suddenly canceled. According to Navalny, the authorities prohibited the appearance of certain people on television. In late 2006, Navalny appealed to the Moscow City Hall, asking it to grant permission to conduct

23707-536: Was sentenced to an additional nine years in prison after being found guilty of embezzlement and contempt of court in a new trial described as a sham by Amnesty International. Following the rejection of his appeal, Navalny was transferred to a high-security prison in June. In August 2023, he received another sentence of 19 years on extremism charges. In December 2023, Navalny went missing from prison for almost three weeks. He re-emerged in an Arctic Circle corrective colony in

23864-596: Was the Unity bloc, which was created three months before the December 1999 Duma elections to counter the advance of the Fatherland – All Russia (OVR) party led by Yuri Luzhkov . The creation of the party was heavily supported by Kremlin insiders, who were wary of what looked like a certain OVR victory. They did not expect Unity to have much chance of success since President Boris Yeltsin

24021-576: Was the most viable contender to Vladimir Putin in the 2018 election. Navalny organised a series of anti-corruption rallies in different cities across Russia in March. This appeal was responded to by the representatives of 95 Russian cities, and four cities abroad: London, Prague, Basel and Bonn. Navalny was attacked by unknown assailants outside his office in the Anti-Corruption Foundation on 27 April 2017. They sprayed brilliant green dye , possibly mixed with other components, into his face in

24178-579: Was unveiled on 4 September 2002 in the run-up to the tercentenary celebrations of the founding of Saint Petersburg. According to the Solovki Encyclopedia , the architect Ukhnalyov and State Duma deputy Yuly Rybakov themselves covered the costs of the memorial's creation, including transportation of the 10,400 kg (22,900 lb) boulder from the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea . One of

24335-498: Was used by voters in 47 regions of Russia in multi-level elections to determine candidates for subsequent nomination from United Russia to the State Duma, regional parliaments, and local governments. In the 2021 Duma elections , the party retained its supermajority in the State Duma, despite polls before the election indicating historic low levels of support for the party at around 30%, leading to widespread allegations of electoral fraud in favour of United Russia. In March 2022, during

24492-431: Was very unpopular and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin 's ratings were still minuscule. The new party attempted to mimic OVR's formula of success, placing an emphasis on competence and pragmatism. Charismatic Minister of Emergency Situations Sergei Shoigu was appointed as the party leader. Tatyana Yumasheva , the daughter of Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin , wrote on her LiveJournal blog that Boris Berezovsky

24649-477: Was yearned for by Russian citizens after a decade of chaotic change. With the exception of the continued fighting in the Northern Caucasus , Putin was perceived to have delivered it. After the merger of the parties at the founding congress, the leaders of the merged parties (Sergei Shoigu, Yuri Luzhkov, and Mintimer Shaimiev) were elected co-chairs of the Supreme Council of the party. Alexander Bespalov became

#301698