Thousands of people in Russia continue to act against the war and Putin’s regime. Many of them are doing it from prison cells. The exchange of political prisoners is a success for which we are grateful to Western leaders, however, this does not negate the tragedy of what is happening. According to OVD-Info (the largest and most respectable human rights organisation monitoring repressions in Russia), as of August 3, 2024, 4672 people have been criminally persecuted for political reasons in Russia, with 2973 currently under persecution and 1289 imprisoned. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a new wave of political repression has targeted dissenters. OVD-Info recorded 996 criminal anti-war cases from February 24th, 2022, to August 3rd, 2024. The number of prisoners continues to rise, with new repressive laws and harsher sentences for political cases.
The Russian state also persecutes children. For statements against the war and graffiti, 17-year- old Lyubov Lizunova was sentenced to 3,5 years, and Valery Zaitsev, a 15-year-old schoolboy with tuberculosis, is on trial for supporting the Azov Battalion.
These people knew what they were doing, they knew that their lives and freedom would be in the complete power of Putin who could kill them at any moment, just as he killed Alexei Navalny or Pavel Kushnir. Nevertheless, they made their choice; they fulfilled their human duty and acted against Putin’s regime to uphold the ideas of equality and justice. These heroes fight not only for the freedom of Russia but also for the freedom of the entire civilised world, for the preservation of peace in Europe.
We urge you to advocate for their safety and freedom. Please remember them at international conferences, during meetings with decision-makers, and in conversations with journalists. Men- tion them in your articles and speeches because these individuals pay the highest price every day for their and our beliefs — they pay with their freedom, their health, and their lives.
We must protect them as much as they protect us from Putin’s tyranny, war, and the spread of dictatorship around the world.