As a result of the agreement between Nikita Belykh and Grigory Yavlinsky, reached in October 2005, the Union of Rightist Forces and Yabloko formed a coalition, Yabloko-United Democrats, to contest the Moscow City Duma elections on December 4, 2005.
He quickly established himself as just as fiery and hot-headed as his party's leader, assaulting former economic adviser to prime minister Mikhail Delyagin and Yabloko deputy chairman Sergey Mitrokhin on November 21, 2003.