From September 18 to 20, 2026, Russia was holding so-called ‘parliamentary elections,’ which for years have been a sham. They are a sham this year too. As the senior digital editor of the Economist Larry Green said in the recent Economist newsletter:
…The state has stacked the deck for Vladimir Putin’s party in every conceivable way. Voters are suitably cynical. The other day in this newsletter I mentioned the Soviet joke “we pretend to work and they pretend to pay us.” Now the charade is “we pretend to vote and they pretend to campaign.”
But there was one unexpected thing that happened during the so-called campaign. Pro-democratic party Yabloko (translated as Apple), which has never been a ‘force’ in any way, with negligible percentage of vote over decades, was allowed to run for election.
However, the party started its campaign with what in contemporary Russia is considered extremist: it announced slogans “For Peace and Freedom. For life without fear,” and even managed (as a party officially registered to run) to put them on political ads.
There was a wave of unofficial support for the party on social media, by young people on TikTok, which still works in Russia, and Instagram, which is banned, but people use VPN to circumvent the prohibition. Popular influencers and simple users started posting and reposting reels supporting the Yabloko (Apple) party, using various visuals and music, such as symbols of Apple phones or computers, apples the fruit, songs about apples and so on.
Presumably, official sociological polls that the Kremlin ordered were predicting a large number of votes for the Yabloko party. Only two weeks after it was registered, the party was banned from elections by a court decision.
Global Voices found some of the memorable reels and videos supporting Yabloko in the brief moment of hope that at least one anti-war party would have been on the ballot.
TikToker: “Ping anyone who already has the [Yabloko (Apple) Party merchandise]”:
@7katrina_7 Отмечай того, у кого уже есть мерч🍎❤️ #яблоко #партия #выборы #замир #врек #fyp #apple #iphone #applemusic ♬ Яблоко – IOWA & Ёлка
Another TikToker: “Yabloko party has their own signature move. Here is how it looks like. Now we know who Yabloko hidded supporters are!”
@jegortkachenko Тайные яблочники раскрыты! #fyp #мем #партияяблоко #яблоко ♬ оригинальный звук – Егор Ткач
Two of the most popular TikTokers in Russia (both live abroad), posted videos supporting Yabloko.
Vlogger Danya Milokhin, who has 18.6 million followers on TikTok, posted a video on August 7, 2026, showing him dancing in front of an apple-shaped sculpture to the pre-war song “Yabloko” by IOWA and Yolka. The video is accompanied by the caption “Apple, go forward!”
@danya_milokhin♬ оригинальный звук – катеrrr
TikToker Nekoglay (12.3 million followers) posted a similar video on his page, dancing in support of the Yabloko party to the lyrics: “I’m falling, singing amidst the dandelions. Splitting a single apple in two.”
@nekoglai #nekoglai ♬ оригинальный звук – катеrrr
Another TikToker says in the reel: “POV: I want Apple (Yabloko) 2016 — real apple, 2021 — MacBook Apple, 2022 — 2026: The party Apple (Yabloko).”
@sofaprost за яблоко! #выборы #выборы2026 #яблоко #партияяблоко #россия ♬ оригинальный звук – “ano.fiy”
A vlogger said “I want really bad to vote for Yabloko (Apple) in my first elections,” and they had posted a video where popular artists ‘dance’ to music about apples.
@just.lusha очень-очень сильно хочется верить, что в мои первые выборы получится проголосовать за 🍏 как говорится, надежда умирает последней #партияяблоко #яблоко #выборы #2026 #россия ♬ оригинальный звук – #примк🍎.пк
Here, two young vloggers dance to the accompaniment of the same Yabloko song, and the caption says: “I am excited (and afraid) to imagine what will pass after the 18th, 19th and 20th of September (the days of the elections)”
@nenekit21 @ТГК: ТАПСЯ #яблоко #партияяблоко #выборы #выборы2026 ♬ оригинальный звук – 엄청난|lemmy°🐾🍃
After Yabloko was deleted from the ballots, many people were very disappointed. Some, though, seemed to use imagination (and AI): in this video, AI character Yabloko gets saved by AI generated Alexey Navalny (an important opposition leader who was assassinated in jail in Russia in 2024), and follows through to ‘deal’ with Putin, also an AI character.
@scoombria_shitpost Проще простого, осталось одно маленькое дельце #яблоко #партияяблоко #путин #навальный #единаяроссия ♬ оригинальный звук – xXx_Скумбрия⁴²_xXx
Russian voters are cynical: They know that elections are a sham. Yet as soon as someone appeared genuinely committed to an anti-war agenda, many had their hope raised as a chance to change something. Not this time. Perhaps there will be another.