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Novaya Gazeta Europe
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Novaya Gazeta Europe
Picking your battles. Novaya Europe analysed almost 40,000 protests to see how Russia's war in Ukraine has changed civil society — Novaya Gazeta Europe
Three's a crowd The Russian constitution guarantees the right to peaceful assembly, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets. In practice, street protests are prohibited. No wonder, then, that their number has declined sharply in the past three years. But other, safer ways — petitions, legal appeals, video messages — are gaining in popularity. The authorities usually find a far-fetched reason to stop protests going ahead, such as a rally risking the spread of the coronavirus, according to OVD-Info. Yet people continue to take to the streets to solve non-political issues in the areas of housing and utilities, urban development and the environment. Petitions and appeals to the authorities are a safe alternative to street protests. 'Although petitions aren't direct action, they are currently the most readily available tool of pressure,' a former local councillor and teacher explains. 'Of course, people would make a greater statement if they came out onto the streets. But that's fairly unrealistic now.' One expert calls this 'petitioning the tsar'. People complaining to the authorities means they recognise their legitimacy. A member of PS Lab, an autonomous research group focusing on politics and society in Russia and post-Soviet regions, says that in autocracies, appeals and petitions remain one of the few legal and relatively safe ways for people to fight for their rights. 'Ultra-patriots' and communists Before the war, Alexey Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK) was the main instigator of protests in the country. The movement unleashed the largest protest of the 2010s. In January 2021, Russia declared the foundation extremist, meaning it was banned from taking part in elections or protests, and three years later Navalny died in a penal colony in the Arctic Circle. Over the past three years, political parties and other movements have only organised 15% of protests. Mainstream political forces cannot now criticise Putin or the war, though parties such as the Communist Party and the Liberal Democratic Party can still speak out on local problems such as housing, utilities, education, healthcare and urban planning. Ultra-patriotic sentiments are also much more noticeable in the regions. They form 6% of all protests. Their main mouthpiece is the National Liberation Movement (NLM), whose members petition for 'emergency powers for Putin' or to 'annul Gorbachev's decisions'. They protest in support of the war and against 'foreign agents'. They hand out their newspaper The National Course and call for nuclear weapons to be aimed at the US. In some cities, such as Irkutsk, NLM activists protest every week and are never detained. But the vast majority of protests are organised and carried out by local people. Over the past three years, political parties and other movements have only organised 15% of protests.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russian prosecutor seeks 6 years in prison for independent election monitor
MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian prosecutor on Monday requested six years in prison for Grigory Melkonyants, co-chair of the independent election monitoring group Golos. Melkonyants was arrested in August 2023, accused of organising the work of an "undesirable organisation". He has pleaded innocent. Six years is the maximum term for the offence he is charged with. Prosecutor Ekaterina Frolova also demanded that he be banned from public activity for 10 years. Golos first angered the Russian government by publicising evidence of alleged fraud in a 2011 parliamentary election that sparked opposition protests, and then in the presidential vote that returned President Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin for a third term in 2012. Human rights campaigners say the case against Melkonyants is part of a much wider crackdown on civil society that has intensified since the start of Russia's war in Ukraine. Rights group OVD-Info says more than 1,600 people are currently imprisoned on political grounds. The Kremlin says it does not comment on individual cases but that Russia needs to uphold its laws and protect itself against subversive activity.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia jails 19-year-old activist for quoting Ukrainian poet, criticizing war
A court in St. Petersburg sentenced 19-year-old Darya Kozyreva to two years and eight months in a penal colony on April 18 for allegedly "discrediting" the Russian army, including by sticking a quote from a Ukrainian poem onto a monument. Kozyreva was arrested on Feb. 24, 2024, after she affixed a verse from Taras Shevchenko's "My Testament" to his statue in St. Petersburg, according to the Russian human rights group OVD-Info. The excerpt read: "Oh bury me, then rise ye up / And break your heavy chains / And water with the tyrants' blood / The freedom you have gained." A second case was filed against her in August after she gave an interview to Radio Free Europe in which she called Russia's war in Ukraine "monstrous" and "criminal." At one of her hearings, Kozyreva defended her actions by saying she had "merely recited a poem, and pasted a quote in Ukrainian, nothing more," the St. Petersburg courts' press service said. Prosecutors reportedly sought a six-year sentence. Kozyreva has been targeted by authorities before. OVD-Info said she was detained in December 2022 while still in high school for writing, "Murderers, you bombed it. Judases," on a city installation honoring the twinning of St. Petersburg and occupied Mariupol. She was later fined for "discrediting" the army and expelled from university for a post about the "imperialist nature of the war," according to the human rights group Memorial, which has recognized her as a political prisoner. "Daria Kozyreva is being punished for quoting a classic of 19th-century Ukrainian poetry, for speaking out against an unjust war and for refusing to stay silent," Amnesty International's Russia Director Natalia Zviagina said in a statement. "We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Daria Kozyreva and everyone imprisoned under 'war censorship laws.'" OVD-Info reports that more than 1,500 people are currently jailed in Russia on political grounds, and over 20,000 have been detained for anti-war views since February 2022. Read also: US proposes leaving occupied areas under Russian control, easing sanctions, Bloomberg reports We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Russia sentences 19-year-old woman to nearly three years in a penal colony after poetic anti-war protest
A St Petersburg court has sentenced a 19-year-old woman to nearly three years in a penal colony after she was accused of repeatedly 'discrediting' the Russian army, including by gluing a quotation on a statue of a Ukrainian poet. Darya Kozyreva was sentenced to two years and eight months, the Joint Press Service of Courts in St. Petersburg said in statement Friday. Kozyreva was arrested on February 24, 2024, after she glued a verse by Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko onto his monument in St Petersburg, according to OVD-Info, an independent Russian human rights group. The verse from Shevchenko's My Testament read, 'Oh bury me, then rise ye up / And break your heavy chains / And water with the tyrants' blood / The freedom you have gained,' OVD-Info said. A second case was brought against her in August 2024, following an interview with Radio Free Europe in which she called Russia's war in Ukraine 'monstrous' and 'criminal,' OVD-Info said. During one of her hearings, the teenager maintained that she had merely recited a poem, and pasted a quote in Ukrainian, 'nothing more,' the court press service said. The anti-war activist has had previous run-ins with the law, having been detained in December 2022 while still at high school for writing, 'Murderers, you bombed it. Judases,' on an installation dedicated to the twinning of the Russian city of St Petersburg and Ukraine's Mariupol, the rights group said. She was then fined for 'discreditation' a year later and expelled from university for a post she made on a Russian social media platform discussing the 'imperialist nature of the war,' according to Memorial, one of the country's most respected human rights organizations. Describing Kozyreva as a political prisoner, Memorial condemned the charges against her as 'absurd' in a statement last year, saying they were aimed at suppressing dissent. Prosecutors had been seeking a six-year sentence for Kozyreva, Russian independent media channel, SOTA Vision, reported from inside the courtroom. Video footage by Reuters showed Kozyreva smiling and waving to supporters as she left the court. Kozyreva's lawyer told Reuters they would likely appeal. The verdict was condemned by Amnesty International's Russia Director Natalia Zviagina as 'another chilling reminder of how far the Russian authorities will go to silence peaceful opposition to their war in Ukraine.' 'Daria Kozyreva is being punished for quoting a classic of 19th-century Ukrainian poetry, for speaking out against an unjust war and for refusing to stay silent. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Daria Kozyreva and everyone imprisoned under 'war censorship laws,'' Zviagina said in a statement. Russia has a history of attempting to stifle anti-war dissent among its younger generation. Last year, CNN reported that at least 35 minors have faced politically motivated criminal charges in Russia since 2009, according to OVD-Info. Of those, 23 cases have been initiated since Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Currently, more than 1,500 people are imprisoned on political grounds in Russia, according to a tally by OVD-Info, with Moscow's crackdown on dissent escalating since the war began. Between then and December 2024, at least 20,070 people were detained for anti-war views, and there were 9,369 cases of 'discrediting the army,' relating to actions including social media posts or wearing clothes with Ukrainian flag symbols, according to OVD-Info.
CNN
18-04-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Russia sentences 19-year-old woman to nearly three years in a penal colony after poetic anti-war protest
A St Petersburg court has sentenced a 19-year-old woman to nearly three years in a penal colony after she was accused of repeatedly 'discrediting' the Russian army, including by gluing a quotation on a statue of a Ukrainian poet. Darya Kozyreva was sentenced to two years and eight months, the Joint Press Service of Courts in St. Petersburg said in statement Friday. Kozyreva was arrested on February 24, 2024, after she glued a verse by Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko onto his monument in St Petersburg, according to OVD-Info, an independent Russian human rights group. The verse from Shevchenko's My Testament read, 'Oh bury me, then rise ye up / And break your heavy chains / And water with the tyrants' blood / The freedom you have gained,' OVD-Info said. A second case was brought against her in August 2024, following an interview with Radio Free Europe in which she called Russia's war in Ukraine 'monstrous' and 'criminal,' OVD-Info said. During one of her hearings, the teenager maintained that she had merely recited a poem, and pasted a quote in Ukrainian, 'nothing more,' the court press service said. The anti-war activist has had previous run-ins with the law, having been detained in December 2022 while still at high school for writing, 'Murderers, you bombed it. Judases,' on an installation dedicated to the twinning of the Russian city of St Petersburg and Ukraine's Mariupol, the rights group said. She was then fined for 'discreditation' a year later and expelled from university for a post she made on a Russian social media platform discussing the 'imperialist nature of the war,' according to Memorial, one of the country's most respected human rights organizations. Describing Kozyreva as a political prisoner, Memorial condemned the charges against her as 'absurd' in a statement last year, saying they were aimed at suppressing dissent. Prosecutors had been seeking a six-year sentence for Kozyreva, Russian independent media channel, SOTA Vision, reported from inside the courtroom. Video footage by Reuters showed Kozyreva smiling and waving to supporters as she left the court. Kozyreva's lawyer told Reuters they would likely appeal. The verdict was condemned by Amnesty International's Russia Director Natalia Zviagina as 'another chilling reminder of how far the Russian authorities will go to silence peaceful opposition to their war in Ukraine.' 'Daria Kozyreva is being punished for quoting a classic of 19th-century Ukrainian poetry, for speaking out against an unjust war and for refusing to stay silent. We demand the immediate and unconditional release of Daria Kozyreva and everyone imprisoned under 'war censorship laws,'' Zviagina said in a statement. Russia has a history of attempting to stifle anti-war dissent among its younger generation. Last year, CNN reported that at least 35 minors have faced politically motivated criminal charges in Russia since 2009, according to OVD-Info. Of those, 23 cases have been initiated since Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Currently, more than 1,500 people are imprisoned on political grounds in Russia, according to a tally by OVD-Info, with Moscow's crackdown on dissent escalating since the war began. Between then and December 2024, at least 20,070 people were detained for anti-war views, and there were 9,369 cases of 'discrediting the army,' relating to actions including social media posts or wearing clothes with Ukrainian flag symbols, according to OVD-Info.
