United Russia mayor forces Yabloko party candidate to take down banner reading ‘For peace and freedom’
Pavel Kharitonenko, a single-mandate candidate from the Yabloko party in the State Duma election, said Vasily Temgenevsky, the mayor of Baikalsk in the Irkutsk region and a member of the United Russia party, has been hindering his campaign.
Kharitonenko said his first campaign banner — bearing the slogan “For Peace and Freedom” — was taken down in the city “under pressure” from the mayor. The banner had been hanging at a local market since August 11.
“He [Temgenevsky] called business owners and demanded they take down my poster. No argument — that this is official campaign material, that the election commission has been notified of it, and that it was paid for from the candidate’s campaign account, and is therefore legal — could get through to him,” Kharitonenko said.
Kharitonenko is one of three candidates registered in the Irkutsk region for single-mandate seats in the State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s parliament, running from Yabloko. Russia’s Supreme Court removed the party’s federal list from the State Duma election. Nationwide, 126 Yabloko candidates are running for single-mandate seats.
Russia will hold elections to the State Duma on September 20, 2026, the country’s single nationwide election day.
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