Kremlin Tool Breaks Out of Shed?

Independent outlet Verstka reported that Russia’s Novye Lyudi ("New People") party, created six years ago with Kremlin backing to channel protest-minded voters into a controllable political force, is rapidly becoming the country’s second-most popular party, unsettling both the Kremlin and the party’s own leadership.

According to weekly polling by VTsIOM, in the latter half of April 13.4% of respondents said they would vote for Novye Lyudi – the party’s highest rating in the past year. It is the first time the party has ranked second behind the ruling party, Edinaya Rossiya ("United Russia"), for a sustained period. Notably, support for Edinaya Rossiya fell from a December 2025 peak of 36% to 27.7% by late April 2026.

"The triggers are old ones: prices, utility tariffs, healthcare access, and quality of life, including roads and housing services," a political consultant working with Edinaya Rossiya in Siberia told Verstka. "Internet blockages and other newer irritants matter mostly in Moscow and major cities."

If the polling reflects actual voter sentiment and Novye Lyudi maintains its standing, the party could win around 40 of the State Duma’s 450 seats in the next election, up from its current 15, becoming Russia’s second-largest parliamentary force.

That prospect appears to have alarmed both the Kremlin and the party itself. Party leader Alexei Nechayev recently said that Telegram must either move its servers to Russia or face closure in the country. These remarks contrasted with earlier efforts by Novye Lyudi party members to oppose restrictions on the messaging platform.

Verstka said Novye Lyudi began as a Kremlin-managed political experiment. The party was launched in 2020 under Nechayev, the billionaire president of cosmetics company Faberlic, with much of its early structure built from company employees and participants in his youth leadership project.

According to former insiders, attempts to craft a coherent ideology reportedly stalled because party leaders routinely sought approval from the presidential administration. The result was a deliberately vague platform centered on optimism, modernization, and opposition to "stupid bans and restrictions."

"The goal was to vacuum up votes from entrepreneurs, urban youth, and active citizens with constructive complaints about the government," a former Novye Lyudi strategist told Verstka. "Nobody expected branding, fresh faces, and a few unpolished public figures would succeed on the first try."

The party entered parliament in 2021 with 5.32% of the vote, becoming the first new political force to enter the State Duma since 2007. Since then, Novye Lyudi has cultivated an image as Russia’s most liberal parliamentary party. It has introduced fewer punitive bills than rivals and has largely avoided overt militarist rhetoric since the start of the Russia's War on Ukraine. Public support for the war from senior party figures has been limited and infrequent, though regional branches regularly report delivering humanitarian aid to Russian troops.

The party has also cautiously positioned itself against tighter internet controls. Senior figure Vladislav Davankov has argued against blocking Telegram, while also urging founder Pavel Durov to comply with Russian law by opening a representative office inside the country.

According to Verstka, the party’s rising popularity is now being treated as a manageable but sensitive problem inside the Kremlin. A source close to the presidential administration said the Novye Lyudi campaign team had been instructed to adjust its strategy to ensure Edinaya Rossiya retains its constitutional majority while Novye Lyudi returns to its "electoral niche."

Party operatives, meanwhile, are reportedly scaling back recruitment of prominent independent-minded candidates in favor of regional media personalities with no political background.

"People like Sardana aren’t being recruited anymore," one former consultant said, referring to former Yakutsk Mayor Sardana Avksentyeva. "Nechayev may want that type of figure, but he’s afraid of everything now and heavily self-censors."