Within Russian political parties, liberal parties advocate the expansion of political and civil freedoms and mostly oppose Russian president Vladimir Putin. In Russia, the term "liberal" can refer to wide range of politicians, from the centre-right and proponents of shock therapy to left-liberals and progressives. The term "liberal democrats" is often used for members of the far-right nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia. There are Russian opposition and pro-government liberal political parties in Russia. Pro-government liberal politicians support Putin's policy in economics.

There are no liberal factions in Russian parliament at the moment. Centre-left liberalism was represented in the State Duma of Russian parliament by the Russian United Democratic Party "Yabloko" (7.86% in 1993 election, 6.89% in 1995, 5.93% in 1999). Pro-government liberalism was represented by the Our Home – Russia (10.13% in 1995 election), the liberal political party founded by Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. Centre-right liberalism was represented by the pro-capitalist party Democratic Choice of Russia (15.51% in 1993) and its successor, the Union of Right Forces (8.52% in 1999 election).

Yabloko and the Republican Party of Russia – People's Freedom Party are members of Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party. Yabloko is also a member of Liberal International. Since Vladimir Putin's rise to power in 2000, many liberal parties and politicians have been persecuted.

Liberalism in the Russian Federation

History

Liberalism emerged in Russia before the Russian Revolution and continued to develop among Constitutional Democrats such as Pavel Milyukov living in exile after 1917. After the fall of communism, several new liberal parties were formed, but only one of them Yabloko (Yabloko – Rosiyskaya Demokraticheskaya Partiya, a member of Liberal International) succeeded in becoming a relevant force. This is a left-of-center liberal party. The Union of Right Forces (Soyuz Pravykh Sil, a member of International Democrat Union) is a right-of-center liberal party. It can also be seen as a democratic conservative market party. In this scheme, the party is not included as liberal, being considered a democratic conservative party, but it can also be called liberal because of its pro-free-market and anti-authoritarianism stances. The so-called Liberal Democratic Party of Russia is not at all "liberal" – it is an ultranationalist, right-wing populist party.

Yabloko (1993–)

  • 1993: Diverse new political parties merged into the social liberal Yavlinksii-Boldyrev-Lukin electoral bloc, led by Grigorii Yavlinskii.
  • 1994: The party is renamed Yabloko (Yabloko).
  • 1995: The party is officially registered.
  • 2003: The party is renamed Russian Democratic Party Yabloko (Rosiyskaya Demokraticheskaya Partiya/Российская Демократическая Партия Яблоко).

The Yabloko is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party and Liberal International.

Pro-Chernomyrdin and regional party (1995–2000)

  • 1995: Our Home – Russia was formed.
  • 2006: NDR merged into United Russia.

Democratic Russia

The Democratic Choice of Russia was a centre-right liberal pro-capitalist political party.

The Union of Right Forces was a Russian centre-right liberal opposition political party.

  • 1990: Democratic Party of Russia (DPR) was formed.
  • 1990: Republican Party of Russia (RPR) was formed.
  • 1992: Party of Economic Freedom (PES) was formed.
  • 1993: Choice of Russia (VR) was formed.
  • 1994: VR was renamed to Democratic Choice of Russia (DVR).
  • 1995: Forward, Russia! was formed.
  • 2001: DVR and PES merge to form Union of Right Forces (SPS).
  • 2002: Network Party for Support of the Small and Middle Business (RSPMSB) was formed.
  • 2002: Forward, Russia! merges into RPR.
  • 2004: RSPMSB was renamed to Free Russia.
  • 2004: Our Choice splits from SPS.
  • 2006: Our Choice merges into Russian People's Democratic Union (RNDS).
  • 2007: Free Russia was renamed to Civilian Power.
  • 2008: DPR, Civilian Power and SPS merge to form Right Cause.
  • 2010: RPR and RNDS merge into People's Freedom Party (PARNAS).
  • 2010: Democratic Choice (DV) splits from SPS.
  • 2012: DPR and Civilian Power are refounded.
  • 2012: Civic Platform splits from Right Cause.
  • 2012: People's Alliance is formed
  • 2014: People's Alliance renames to Progress Party
  • 2016: Right Cause renames to Party of Growth.
  • 2017: DV dissolves.
  • 2018: Progress Party renames to Russia of the Future
  • 2020: New People was formed.
  • 2023: PARNAS dissolves.
  • 2024: Party of Growth merges into New People.

Solidarnost wide movement (2008–)

Solidarnost is a liberal democratic political movement founded in 2008 by a number of well-known members of the liberal democratic opposition, including Garry Kasparov, Boris Nemtsov and others from the Yabloko and former Union of Right Forces (which had just merged with two pro-Kremlin parties).

Republican Party of Russia – People's Freedom Party (de facto 2010–)

thumb|260px|[[2017 Russian protests, organized by Russia's liberal opposition]]

People's Freedom Party "For Russia without Lawlessness and Corruption" is a liberal democratic coalition founded in 2010 by opposition politicians Vladimir Ryzhkov, Boris Nemtsov, Mikhail Kasyanov and Vladimir Milov and their organisations Republican Party of Russia, Solidarnost, Russian People's Democratic Union and Democratic Choice. The RPR-PARNAS is a member of Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party.