Skip to content

The fight for freedom must go on until it is won; until our country is free and happy and peaceful as part of the world community, we cannot rest.

Activists

Killed

Boris Nemtsov

Nemtsov was an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin. He was assassinated on 27 February 2015 on a bridge near the Kremlin in Moscow with four shots fired from the back.

Anna Politkovskaya

She was a journalist and human rights activist, who reported on political events in Russia. On 7 October 2006, she was murdered in the elevator of her block of apartments

Sergei Magnitsky

He was a tax advisor who exposed corruption and misconduct by Russian government officials. Magnitsky died aged 37 in detention on 16 November 2009.

Yelena Grigoryeva

She was murdered in St. Petersburg, Russia on 21 July 2019, when she was stabbed and strangled to death by unknown assailants, her body being found near her home.

Alexander Litvinenko

On 1 November 2006, Litvinenko, British-naturalized Russian defector, suddenly fell ill and was hospitalized after poisoning with polonium-210. He died on 23 November.

More

Jailed

Alexey Navalny

In August 2020, Navalny was hospitalised in serious condition after being poisoned with a Novichok nerve agent. He was medically evacuated to Berlin. In January 2021, Navalny returned to Russia and was immediately detained.

Vladimir Kara-Murza

In April 2022, Kara-Murza was arrested on charges of disobeying police orders. Later his arrest was extended after new charges of "discrediting" the military and treason. In April 2023, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

6295CR-UKRAINE-CRISIS_RUSSIA_OPPOSITION_DECISION_ROUGH_CUT_O_
Ilya Yashin

He was arrested in June 2022 and later accused under the new war censorship laws of disseminating fake news about the Armed Forces. In December 2022, he was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in prison.

Andrei Pivovarov

Pivovarov was taken off the flight to Warsaw, arrested, and charged with carrying out activities of an undesirable organization. In July 2022, he was sentenced to four years incarceration.

Yaroslav Shirshikov

The Verkh-Isetsy district court ruled at a closed-door session on April 19 that Yaroslav Shirshikov must stay in pretrial detention until at least June 17. If convicted, Shirshikov may face up to seven years in prison.

ivanov-slider
Dmitry Ivanov

A Moscow court has sentenced activist and student Dmitry Ivanov to 8.5 years in prison on charges of “spreading false information” about the Russian Armed Forces on 7 March, 2023.

More

In Exile

Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, businessman and opposition activist, has been released from prison at the end of 2013 and immediately left Russia and was granted residency in Switzerland.

Nadezhda Kutepova

Nadezhda Kutepova, founder of the NGO Planet of Hopes, has left Russia with her children in summer 2015, after she was accused of “industrial espionage” on a State television channel.

Lyubov Sobol

In December 2020, Russian authorities raided Sobol's home and opened a criminal investigation. The Russian police put out an arrest warrant for Sobol in October 2021. She fled Russia in 2021.

Leonid Volkov

Leonid Volkov is chief of staff for Alexei Navalny and political director of Navalny’s team. He was campaign manager for Navalny’s campaigns of 2013 and 2018. He is currently operating from Lithuania.

ponomarev-slider
Ilya Ponomarev

In 2015, while in the United States, Ponomarev was formally charged with embezzlement, which he called politically motivated. In 2016, he went into exile in Ukraine.

More

History of Fights for Freedom

Bolshevik Revolution
The opposition to Bolsheviks was called the enemies of the people. Repression was conducted by the Cheka secret police and its successors. State repression led to incidents of popular resistance and the Soviet authorities suppressed such resistance with overwhelming military force and brutality. The number of the Red Terror's victims is at least 1.2 million.
Read More
1917-1991
Putin's Presidency
Power in Russia’s authoritarian political system is concentrated in the hands of President Vladimir Putin. With loyalist security forces, a subservient judiciary, a controlled media environment, and a legislature consisting of a ruling party and pliable opposition factions, the Kremlin manipulates elections and suppresses genuine dissent.
Read More
2006-2008
Strategy-31
Strategy-31 was a series of civic protests in support of the right to peaceful assembly in Russia guaranteed by Article 31 of the Russian Constitution. Since 31 July 2009, the protests were held in Moscow on Triumfalnaya Square on the 31st of every month with 31 days.
Read More
2011–2013
Anti-war protests
In 2014, Russian opposition have held anti-war protests in opposition to the Russian intervention in Ukraine in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and Crimean crisis. The protests took place in Moscow on 15 March, a day before the Crimean referendum. The protests have been the largest in Russia since 2011.
Read More
2017–2018
Pension Protests
From July 2018, almost every weekend, protest rallies and demonstrations were organized against the planned retirement age hike. Such events occurred in nearly all major cities countrywide. These events were coordinated by all opposition parties with the leading role of the communists.
Read More
2019
Khabarovsk Krai Protests
On 9 July 2020, the popular governor of the Khabarovsk Krai, Sergei Furgal, who defeated the candidate of Putin's United Russia party in elections two years ago, was arrested. Every day since 11 June, mass protests have been held in the Khabarovsk Krai in support of Furgal.
Read More
2021
Election Protests
The 2021 Russian election protests, also known as the "For Fair Elections" protests, began in September 2021 due to alleged large-scale electoral fraud of the 2021 Russian legislative election.
Read More
2022
1917
Soviet Russia
Throughout the history of the Soviet Union, tens of millions of people suffered political repression, which was an instrument of the state. It culminated during the Stalin era, then declined but continued to exist during the "Khrushchev Thaw", followed by increased persecution of Soviet dissidents during the Brezhnev era, and it did not cease to exist until late in Mikhail Gorbachev's rule. 9-23 million Russians were killed during Communist Party rule from 1917 to 1987.
Read More
2006
Dissenter's March
The Dissenters' March was a series of Russian opposition protests started in 2006. The Dissenters' March rally was organized by The Other Russia, a broad umbrella group, including National Bolshevik Party, far-left Vanguard of Red Youth as well as liberals such as United Civil Front.
Read More
2009–2011
Protests
Starting from 5 December 2011, the day after the elections to the State Duma, there have been repeated massive political actions of Russian citizens who disagree with the outcome of these "elections". These rallies continued during presidential elections and afterwards.
Read More
2014
Protests
On 26 March 2017, protests against alleged corruption in the Russian government took place simultaneously in many cities across the country. The protests began after the release of the film He Is Not Dimon to You by Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Read More
2018
Protests
From July 2019, protest rallies for an access to 2019 Moscow City Duma election of independent candidates started in Moscow. The 20 July rally was the largest since 2012. The 27 July rally set a record in number of detainees and police violence. The 10 August rally had 50-60 thousand participants.
Read More
2020-2021
Protests
On 23 January 2021, protests across Russia were held in support of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was detained and then jailed after returning to Russia on 17 January following his poisoning. A few days before the protests, an investigation by Navalny was published, accusing Putin of corruption.
Read More
2021
Anti-war Protests
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, protesters have used the white-blue-white flag as a symbol of opposition. On 17 March, Putin gave a speech in which he called opponents of the war "scum and traitors". More than 2,000 people were detained or fined by May 2022 under the laws prohibiting "fake" information about the military.
Read More
More History

History of Fights for Freedom

1917
1917-1991
2006
2006-2008
2009–2011
2011–2013
2014
2017–2018
2018
2019
2020-2021
2021
2021
2022
Bolshevik Revolution
The opposition to Bolsheviks was called the enemies of the people. Repression was conducted by the Cheka secret police and its successors. State repression led to incidents of popular resistance and the Soviet authorities suppressed such resistance with overwhelming military force and brutality. The number of the Red Terror's victims is at least 1.2 million.
Read More
Soviet Russia
Throughout the history of the Soviet Union, tens of millions of people suffered political repression, which was an instrument of the state. It culminated during the Stalin era, then declined but continued to exist during the "Khrushchev Thaw", followed by increased persecution of Soviet dissidents during the Brezhnev era, and it did not cease to exist until late in Mikhail Gorbachev's rule. 9-23 million Russians were killed during Communist Party rule from 1917 to 1987.
Read More
Putin's Presidency
Power in Russia’s authoritarian political system is concentrated in the hands of President Vladimir Putin. With loyalist security forces, a subservient judiciary, a controlled media environment, and a legislature consisting of a ruling party and pliable opposition factions, the Kremlin manipulates elections and suppresses genuine dissent.
Read More
Dissenter's March
The Dissenters' March was a series of Russian opposition protests started in 2006. The Dissenters' March rally was organized by The Other Russia, a broad umbrella group, including National Bolshevik Party, far-left Vanguard of Red Youth as well as liberals such as United Civil Front.
Read More
Strategy-31
Strategy-31 was a series of civic protests in support of the right to peaceful assembly in Russia guaranteed by Article 31 of the Russian Constitution. Since 31 July 2009, the protests were held in Moscow on Triumfalnaya Square on the 31st of every month with 31 days.
Read More
Protests
Starting from 5 December 2011, the day after the elections to the State Duma, there have been repeated massive political actions of Russian citizens who disagree with the outcome of these "elections". These rallies continued during presidential elections and afterwards.
Read More
Anti-war protests
In 2014, Russian opposition have held anti-war protests in opposition to the Russian intervention in Ukraine in the aftermath of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution and Crimean crisis. The protests took place in Moscow on 15 March, a day before the Crimean referendum. The protests have been the largest in Russia since 2011.
Read More
Protests
On 26 March 2017, protests against alleged corruption in the Russian government took place simultaneously in many cities across the country. The protests began after the release of the film He Is Not Dimon to You by Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Read More
Pension Protests
From July 2018, almost every weekend, protest rallies and demonstrations were organized against the planned retirement age hike. Such events occurred in nearly all major cities countrywide. These events were coordinated by all opposition parties with the leading role of the communists.
Read More
Protests
From July 2019, protest rallies for an access to 2019 Moscow City Duma election of independent candidates started in Moscow. The 20 July rally was the largest since 2012. The 27 July rally set a record in number of detainees and police violence. The 10 August rally had 50-60 thousand participants.
Read More
Khabarovsk Krai Protests
On 9 July 2020, the popular governor of the Khabarovsk Krai, Sergei Furgal, who defeated the candidate of Putin's United Russia party in elections two years ago, was arrested. Every day since 11 June, mass protests have been held in the Khabarovsk Krai in support of Furgal.
Read More
Protests
On 23 January 2021, protests across Russia were held in support of the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was detained and then jailed after returning to Russia on 17 January following his poisoning. A few days before the protests, an investigation by Navalny was published, accusing Putin of corruption.
Read More
Election Protests
The 2021 Russian election protests, also known as the "For Fair Elections" protests, began in September 2021 due to alleged large-scale electoral fraud of the 2021 Russian legislative election.
Read More
Anti-war Protests
Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, protesters have used the white-blue-white flag as a symbol of opposition. On 17 March, Putin gave a speech in which he called opponents of the war "scum and traitors". More than 2,000 people were detained or fined by May 2022 under the laws prohibiting "fake" information about the military.
Read More
More History

News

More News

Events

More Events

World Press Freedom Day

‘Freedom Сannot Be Shut Down’: Defiance as Russia’s Sakharov Center Holds Last Public Event

Reports

Freedom House 2022 Report

Reports Freedom House 2022 Report   Russia NOT FREE19100 Political Rights 5 40 Civil Liberties 14 60 LAST YEAR’S SCORE & STATUS20 100 Not FreeGlobal freedom statuses are calculated on a weighted scale. See the
Read More

Amnesty International 2022 Report

Reports Amnesty International 2022 Report Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine was accompanied by escalating repression against dissent within Russia. Peaceful anti-war protests were dispersed, often forcibly, and those speaking
Read More

Human Rights Watch 2022 Report

Reports Human Rights Watch 2022 Report The legislative crackdown that started in November 2020 intensified ahead of the September 2021 general elections. Numerous newly adopted laws broadened the authorities’ grounds
Read More
More Reports

Opinions

What Putin Fears Most

Opinions April 10, 2023 What Putin Fears Most Robert Person and Michael McFaul   Russian president Vladimir Putin wants you to believe that NATO is responsible for his February 24 invasion of Ukraine—that rounds of NATO enlargement made Russia insecure, forcing Putin to lash out. This argument has two key flaws. First, NATO has been a variable and not a constant source of tension between Russia and the West. Moscow has in the past acknowledged Ukraine’s right to join NATO; the Kremlin’s complaints about the alliance spike in a clear pattern after democratic breakthroughs in the post-Soviet space. This highlights
Read More
More Opinions

Videos

More Videos

Podcasts

Lessons from "Cold War Radio": A Conversation with Mark Pomar

More Podcasts

Sign up for our weekly news email

Sign up for 35% off

Fusce pharetra convallis urna. Praesent congue erat at massa. Vivamus quis accumsan cursus velit.