Russian TikTokers wanted to vote for an anti-war agenda. Putin's farce elections did not allow that.

Filed 1h ago · Via Global Voices · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

Music for Funeral Home - Part 11

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: Number 10 · CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Russia held its annual not-really-an-election from September 18 to 20, 2026, with the ruling party's win preordained well before anyone voted.

This year featured one wrinkle: the long-irrelevant Yabloko (Apple) party was allowed to register and ran ads with slogans like ‘For Peace and Freedom. For Life Without Fear,’ prompting a wave of TikTok and Instagram support from young Russians using apple puns, songs, and dance memes.

Two weeks after registering, Yabloko was banned from the ballot by court decision, ending the brief experiment before any actual votes could complicate the outcome.

Disappointed users turned to AI-generated fantasy instead, including a clip pairing an AI Yabloko with an AI Alexey Navalny confronting an AI Putin.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

Source: Read the original at Global Voices → Scored: Music for Funeral Home - Part 11 · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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