For this protest, called “Noon for Peace,” Russians opposing the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine are asked to come to polling stations at noon on September 20 and vote against the ruling “United Russia,” I. Yashin told the AFP news agency in Helsinki, where he met with supporters abroad this month.
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“If people come to vote against ‘United Russia’ at the same time and line up, then everyone will see how many of us there really are,” he said.
There is no doubt about the voting results.
Russia tightly controls elections. They are, as human rights groups have previously stated, overshadowed by fraud, coercion, and the banning of real opposition.
V. Putin’s attacks on opponents have only intensified during the war in Ukraine, and all his critics have already left the country, been detained, or died.
Last month, the Russian Supreme Court banned the only anti-war party “Yabloko” from participating in the September elections.
“We do not consider this an election,” emphasized I. Yashin.
He is the leader of the “Peaceful Russia” party founded in Berlin in June. The goal of this party is to unite the fragmented Russian opposition groups to call for an end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and defend rights.
“Peaceful Russia” does not directly participate in elections in any other way.
However, “we want to give people the opportunity to express their views on what is happening, a negative attitude towards the war and Vladimir Putin’s dictatorship,” said I. Yashin, hoping that thousands of people will join the campaign.
“I will be the first to return to Russia”
Former Moscow city legislator and long-time opponent of V. Putin, I. Yashin was imprisoned in 2022 for criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
After two years, he was released in a large prisoner exchange with the West.
It is often thought that the Russian opposition is persecuted by internal conflicts and unable to convey its message in Russia.
“I would not dramatize the conflicts within the Russian opposition,” said I. Yashin.
According to I. Yashin, his party hopes to gain power in the future, when that may be a more realistic goal.
“There are many precedents in the world where dissidents formed political parties abroad but after some time returned to their homeland and took power,” said I. Yashin, who lives in Berlin.
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According to him, now is the time to prepare for “political struggle.”
“When the window of opportunity opens, I will be the first to return to Russia,” he added.
He said the timing mostly depends on when the war in Ukraine ends, “how it ends and under what conditions.”
Mobilization after the elections
I. Yashin warned of escalation in Russia after the elections.
In his opinion, V. Putin will mobilize between 300,000 and 500,000 men into the army to be able to launch a larger-scale offensive next spring or summer.
“There is not a single sign that Putin is ready to start serious negotiations with Ukraine (…), but there are many signs that Putin is preparing for escalation,” said I. Yashin.
“If Putin moves to an escalation mode, mobilization will become inevitable,” he added.
Last time, V. Putin ordered a “partial” mobilization of reservists in 2022 and called up about 300,000 additional fighters after suffering a series of military defeats on the Ukrainian battlefield.
This decision was unpopular in the country and prompted tens of thousands of draft-age men to flee the country.
The Kremlin has repeatedly denied plans to hold another draft.
I. Yashin believes other events are possible – “perhaps a provocation against NATO,” for example, “an attempt to seize one of the Baltic countries’ cities, or a provocation against Poland related to the Kaliningrad (region) location.”
Moscow has repeatedly denied plans to attack any NATO country.
Ukraine has also warned that after the September elections, Russia is likely to mobilize more soldiers.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stated in July that Moscow appears to be preparing for another phase of mobilization, citing recently adopted laws allowing the military to recruit a wider range of convicted individuals during wartime.
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