Although even in Moscow none of the democratic parties is campaigning with sufficient energy, voters in a few regions of our city do have candidates they can get behind and give their support to, in the lead up to 18 September.

Alexei Navalny

Those who live in the South Western constituency are particularly lucky. Here the candidate for the State Duma is Konstantin Yankauskas, one of the best city Duma members in Moscow. Helping Yankauskas defeat the United Russia candidate, Morozov (who happens to be the most well financed single-mandate candidate in the country, with an election budget of 35 million roubles), is definitely worthwhile, for a number of reasons.

For a start, as city member for Zyuzino, Yankauskas proved himself hugely capable in carrying out his responsibilities. He managed to cancel several high-rise developments, he prevented the closure of the region’s only maternity clinic, he saved Zyuzinsky Park from the mass felling of trees, and he’s done many other useful things besides. Thanks to Yankauskas, the region acquired its independent regional organization, Zyuzino HQ. These fantastic people are engaged in numerous worthwhile projects; in 2013 they canvassed for me in the mayoral elections, and now they’re actively supporting Kostya’s campaign.

Secondly, Konstantin is no shrinking violet. Before the elections to the Moscow City Duma, which he should have won, ludicrous criminal charges were brought against him – and against Nikolai Lyaskin and Vladimir Ashurkov – for violating the funding of my election campaign. Of course, there were no violations whatsoever, and to this day not one complainant has come forward. Nonetheless, Konstantin was kept under house arrest for exactly a year. But when he was released, he began to aim his fire at the rogues and swindlers, with even greater intensity. In particular, he won a case in the Constitutional Court proving that he had been illegally denied participation in the Moscow City Duma elections.

Thirdly, and finally, it is Konstantin’s campaigning for constituency 209 that has been most impressive. Since April, he has had more than 300 meetings with the public, has distributed more than half a million copies of the excellent newspaper Besedka at election billboard-stands and through letter-boxes, and has set up between 15 and 20 such billboards every day. I really hope that the leaders of PARNAS and Yabloko can still come to an agreement in the final hours of today to allow Kostya to be the only candidate for the constituency, with a real chance of defeating United Russia.

In any case, Yankauskas’s team needs all the help they can get in the last five days of the campaign. Sign up to be a canvasser on one of the billboard-stands and/or an observer. Kostya also needs donations for the final stages of his campaign – to pay for the call-centre work, to deliver personal letters to supporters, and other activities.

If you live in Akademichesky, Gagarinsky, Zyuzino, Obruchevsky, Lomonosovsky, Konkovo, Tyoply Stan or Cheremushki, and you don’t know who to cast your vote for on 18 September, then vote for Yankauskas.