Russian opposition politicians and activists have launched a new political party, betting that a formal political structure can help unite Russia’s fragmented anti-war movement and eventually challenge President Vladimir Putin’s rule.
Led by Ilya Yashin, a former political prisoner and close ally of late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, Peaceful Russia seeks to act on behalf of Russians both inside and outside the country.
While numerous anti-war and anti-Kremlin organizations have been created since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Yashin said that Peaceful Russia would fill a gap by serving as a larger political platform which he says did not previously exist.
“A political party is not just a club of concerned citizens or a committee for anti-war advocacy. A party is, first and foremost, an instrument for the struggle for power,” Yashin told The Moscow Times.
“By choosing the party format, we are openly declaring that our key goal is to take power in the country. That is exactly why we are uniting and exactly why we are building this structure — so that we can claim power,” he said.
