It is wrong to say that the Russians do not protest

The writer is English managing editor at OVD-Info, a Russian human rights monitoring group

More than a year after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, my Western friends often ask me: Why don’t the Russians protest? The answer is that some do – but the protests are largely meaningless in the face of a decade-long rift in the Kremlin.

But OVD-info, a Russian human rights organization with several hundred affiliated lawyers, we see daily signs of resistance. We do our best to defend those persecuted for anti-war beliefs, a movement that persists despite harsh punishments. Standing against Russian aggression from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Protests ranged from distributing leaflets to solitary pickets and burning of military recruitment offices.

The authorities responded by jailing dissidents and harassing activists for decades. Vladimir Kara-Murza, an opposition activist, was imprisoned last month for 25 years on a false charge of treason in a trial he compared to Joseph Stalin-era trials. Another opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has been jailed since his return to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he was recovering from an assassination attempt.

Ordinary Russians live in fear of committing a thought crime for opposing the war. The Kremlin’s repression did not emerge overnight on 24 February 2022, when a full-scale assault on Ukraine began. It has evolved over time, shaped by fear of a wave of democracy in the former Soviet Union and by preparations for the war. To explain contemporary Russian protest, we have to understand how and why the Kremlin has become so efficient at suppressing it.

Russians are best viewed as a nation held hostage by Vladimir Putin, an authoritarian ruler who, like the KGB security police for whom he once worked, has become experts at stamping out dissent. In such a situation, they are afraid to express their opinion. Those who talk to journalists are attacked by the regime. Only a minority of Russians are either strong supporters of the war or strong opponents of the war. Most of the people are living in helplessness and fear.

We recently released a report on the use of Article 212.1 Russian Criminal Code. This is only a small part of the apparatus of repression, but it shows the goals of the Kremlin. The article targets politically minded people and frames activists as “repeat offenders”. First participation in an “illegal” protest or alleged participation in a protest (the authorities consider almost all opposition protests to be illegal) is usually only punishable by a fine, but repeat offenses can land you in prison for up to five years. May have to eat air.

The article was introduced in 2014, partly in response to Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution, and some two years after Russia’s 2011–2012 pro-democracy protests at Bolotnaya Square in Moscow, where thousands demonstrated against Putin’s regime. did the march. Pro-government MPs called Article 212.1 a “vaccination against Maidan”.

The Kremlin wanted to instill fear, and it worked. At first the article was rarely used, but when it was, it chilled activism and intimidated the media and potential protestors. The sword of Damocles hangs permanently above his head.

The introduction of this article was the first sign of the regime’s rampant persecution of protestors. We estimate that since 2015, 496 people have been criminally prosecuted for protesting and more than 60,000 other protesters have been punished for minor offenses. Every Russian protester now knows that simply walking in the streets can land them straight in jail. Still they protest.

To finally stoke the fire, several months before a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin launched a scorched-earth offensive against civil society. Activists were deported, organizations destroyed, their websites and funding blocked – OVD-Info included. Russians are now afraid to express themselves openly because any action can be considered “protest”.

The powerlessness of the Russian opposition to stop the invasion was to be expected. What was unexpected was that Russian civil society did not collapse in the face of this onslaught. Thousands of Russians took to the streets anyway. Exiles continued anti-war activism abroad. Every major independent Russian media organization opposed the war. Human rights groups like ours continued to protest the Kremlin’s authoritarianism.

So why don’t the Russians protest? They do, but their protest is suppressed by a powerful and brutal regime. If governments and people abroad want Russians to protest more, they should support Russian civil society and help us overcome fear. Together we can fight this evil.

The writer is English managing editor at OVD-Info, a Russian human rights monitoring group

More than a year after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, my Western friends often ask me: Why don’t the Russians protest? The answer is that some do – but the protests are largely meaningless in the face of a decade-long rift in the Kremlin.

But OVD-info, a Russian human rights organization with several hundred affiliated lawyers, we see daily signs of resistance. We do our best to defend those persecuted for anti-war beliefs, a movement that persists despite harsh punishments. Standing against Russian aggression from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Protests ranged from distributing leaflets to solitary pickets and burning of military recruitment offices.

The authorities responded by jailing dissidents and harassing activists for decades. Vladimir Kara-Murza, an opposition activist, was imprisoned last month for 25 years on a false charge of treason in a trial he compared to Joseph Stalin-era trials. Another opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, has been jailed since his return to Russia in 2021 from Germany, where he was recovering from an assassination attempt.

Ordinary Russians live in fear of committing a thought crime for opposing the war. The Kremlin’s repression did not emerge overnight on 24 February 2022, when a full-scale assault on Ukraine began. It has evolved over time, shaped by fear of a wave of democracy in the former Soviet Union and by preparations for the war. To explain contemporary Russian protest, we have to understand how and why the Kremlin has become so efficient at suppressing it.

Russians are best viewed as a nation held hostage by Vladimir Putin, an authoritarian ruler who, like the KGB security police for whom he once worked, has become experts at stamping out dissent. In such a situation, they are afraid to express their opinion. Those who talk to journalists are attacked by the regime. Only a minority of Russians are either strong supporters of the war or strong opponents of the war. Most of the people are living in helplessness and fear.

We recently released a report on the use of Article 212.1 Russian Criminal Code. This is only a small part of the apparatus of repression, but it shows the goals of the Kremlin. The article targets politically minded people and frames activists as “repeat offenders”. First participation in an “illegal” protest or alleged participation in a protest (the authorities consider almost all opposition protests to be illegal) is usually only punishable by a fine, but repeat offenses can land you in prison for up to five years. May have to eat air.

The article was introduced in 2014, partly in response to Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution, and some two years after Russia’s 2011–2012 pro-democracy protests at Bolotnaya Square in Moscow, where thousands demonstrated against Putin’s regime. did the march. Pro-government MPs called Article 212.1 a “vaccination against Maidan”.

The Kremlin wanted to instill fear, and it worked. At first the article was rarely used, but when it was, it chilled activism and intimidated the media and potential protestors. The sword of Damocles hangs permanently above his head.

The introduction of this article was the first sign of the regime’s rampant persecution of protestors. We estimate that since 2015, 496 people have been criminally prosecuted for protesting and more than 60,000 other protesters have been punished for minor offenses. Every Russian protester now knows that simply walking in the streets can land them straight in jail. Still they protest.

To finally stoke the fire, several months before a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin launched a scorched-earth offensive against civil society. Activists were deported, organizations destroyed, their websites and funding blocked – OVD-Info included. Russians are now afraid to express themselves openly because any action can be considered “protest”.

The powerlessness of the Russian opposition to stop the invasion was to be expected. What was unexpected was that Russian civil society did not collapse in the face of this onslaught. Thousands of Russians took to the streets anyway. Exiles continued anti-war activism abroad. Every major independent Russian media organization opposed the war. Human rights groups like ours continued to protest the Kremlin’s authoritarianism.

So why don’t the Russians protest? They do, but their protest is suppressed by a powerful and brutal regime. If governments and people abroad want Russians to protest more, they should support Russian civil society and help us overcome fear. Together we can fight this evil.