From documenting unjust detentions during protests to becoming Russia's leading human rights defenders, we've come a long way since 2011. Roughly translated from Russian as “cop watch”, OVD-Info stands strong against political persecution.
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‼️ Masha, a 12 year old Russian girl, drew a picture in support of Ukraine. The regime’s authorities beat up Masha’s father, stole his savings, detained him and sent the girl to an orphanage. 1/6
2/6 Alexei Moskalev (pictured) was threatened by the regime in January, for his daughter’s drawing & his anti-war posts on social media. Police said they’ll put him behind bars and send the girl to an orphanage.
3/6 Masha was taken by the regime several times. In December they interrogated the 12-year-old for several hours — alone, without her father or an attorney present. After that, Masha no longer went to school because she began having panic attacks.
4/6 In January, police broke in to search their house, stealing all the cash the family had. After the search, the father was taken to an interrogation where he was brutally beaten, and Masha - to an orphanage for a day.
6/6 The regime took Masha to an unspecified orphanage. Alexei faces 3 years in prison but his case might be easily reclassified for a more severe penalty.
5/6 The family jumped cities, but police found them today and detained Alexei. They brought him to the family’s apartment where Masha was at the time. Police showed Alexei to her, informing the girl that they’re taking her father away, locking her in the apartment.
“Please, just don't give up. Believe, hope and love.” Masha Moskaleva, the 13-year-old girl held by Russian authorities wrote a letter off support to her dad, who is on the runs from a 2 year sentence. Full translation in thread. 1/8
1/4 TW: violence, self harm
‼️Journalist Maria Ponomarenko sentenced to 6 years in prison for an instagram post about the Kremlin’s bombing of civilians in Mariupol. The court also barred her from practicing journalism for 5 years. She is represented by our lawyer Dmitri Sheetov
‼️ a 23-year-old student from Moscow sentenced to 8.5 years in prison for posting on social media. The court also forbade him from using the internet for 4 years after release.
‼️Check out the trailer for our latest film - FROM PROTEST TO PRISON. It’s telling the story of the Kremlin’s crackdown on civil society that partially precipitated the full-scale invasion of 🇺🇦. Stay tuned for screenings+talks around the world & for an eng subs YouTube premiere!
‼️‼️ authorities refused to let Masha Moskaleva out of the orphanage. They refused to elaborate why. Masha was put in an orphanage for an anti-war drawing. Her father is under house arrest.
#freemasha
‼️ Masha, a 12 year old Russian girl, drew a picture in support of Ukraine. The regime’s authorities beat up Masha’s father, stole his savings, detained him and sent the girl to an orphanage. 1/6
Here’s our in-depth article on the case of Masha Moskaleva, the 12-year-old who was taken to an orphanage & her father arrested - for the girl’s anti-war drawing.
Write a letter of support to the jailed dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza, sentenced to 25 years for standing up against Putin & war. Send your letters to us, we will translate (as required by law) and mail them to
@vkaramurza
free of charge. Please share.
A new protest in Russia’s Bashkortostan, as Fail Alsynov, a leader of the 2020 protests defending the sacred Kushtau mountain from mining, is put on trial. Alsynov also spoke out against the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Some 5k people reportedly gathered to protest in Baymak
Here is our translation of the interview with Masha Moskaleva, conducted by the local activist Elena Agafonova. Shortly after the interview, the 12-year-old girl was taken to an unspecified orphanage for her anti-war drawing.
‼️ Police is currently raiding the homes of several
@MemorialMoscow
members. Lawyers are arriving on scene, we know of at least 6 members raided. The Memorial Centre was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
Protests flare up in Russia’s Bashkortostan region. In freezing cold, thousands defy police brutality, tear gas, internet shutdown, protesting a trial of an anti-war opposition leader. We have reporters on the ground and will continue to post updates in this thread.
Russian authorities sentenced disabled 64-year-old Igor Baryshnikov to 7.5 years for anti-war activism. They separated him from his mother, a paralysed WWII survivor, for whom he was the only caregiver. The mother died today, away from Igor.
The refusal of IT companies to work with Russians helps the Kremlin. From December 31, the American domain registrar GoDaddy will stop working with Russian clients. OVD-Info is among them.
1/4
Bashkir activist Dim Davletkildin is reportedly in critical condition after security services beat him for partaking in the Baymak protests, breaking a part of his vertebrae
It’s vital to keep as many eyes on Russian repression as possible. So every day we will post key updates from Russia in this megathread under
#OVDInfoBrief
tag. Bookmark, share, like! Subscribe to our newsletter for weekly deep dives for more info
‼️Anti-war activist dies in prison, lawyer suspects he was tortured to death. Anatoly Berezikov, 40, was jailed for putting up anti-war leaflets. Shortly before his death Berezikov told his attorney that he was tortured & threatened with execution.
We demand Navalny’s body to be handed over to his family. The authorities thus far refuse to give up the body or even show it to the loved ones who believe that the Kremlin is trying to hide the real cause of death which has yet to be ascertained.
Navalny’s wife, Yulia: “I don’t know if we should believe the terrible news… But if this is true, I want Putin and his cronies to know that they will be punished for what they have done to our country and my family… We should all come together and fight this horrific regime.”
1/4 OVD-Info is proud to announce the launch of a free weekly newsletter in English — the Dissident Digest!
The Digest is your window into the dark world of the Kremlin’s war on human rights and civil society in Russia. Subscribe here:
People shouldn't be tortured: Russia needs a UN special rapporteur on human rights!
A mandate will only be created if a majority of the 47 UNHRC member states votes in favor of it on October 7th.
If you want to help make this request louder, please share this post.
BREAKING: anti-trans bill that will ban gender-affirming care approved in Russia. Gosduma, the lower house of Parliament approved the bill unanimously in its third reading. But the Kremlin’s assault on trans rights didn’t start overnight. Read these stories to find out more
Here’s our in-depth article on the case of Masha Moskaleva, the 12-year-old who was taken to an orphanage & her father arrested - for the girl’s anti-war drawing.
Here is how we will remember 2022. Watch our video summing up the Kremlin’s assault on Russian civil society — and remember to stand together against oppression.
Shocking: Russian authorities sentenced 72 year old woman Yevgenia Mayboroda to 5 years and 6 months in jail for writing two anti-war posts on social media. Mayboroda said her brother lives in Ukraine and was caught under rubble after the Kremlin’s forces shelled his city
Understanding Russia’s struggle for human rights is vital for understanding the region & the world. To read these stories of courage & resilience under an unprecedented repression, check out our newsletter — the Dissident Digest.
‼️Alexei Moskalev is out of detention but was put under house arrest till March 27. His daughter Masha is scheduled to be reunited with her dad tomorrow. He said he’ll be very happy to be with her again.
BREAKING: Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny is dead, according to Russian prison authorities. Navalny has been imprisoned and mistreated for standing up to Putin & fighting corruption in Russia.
Here is our translation of the interview with Masha Moskaleva, conducted by the local activist Elena Agafonova. Shortly after the interview, the 12-year-old girl was taken to an unspecified orphanage for her anti-war drawing.
Hello, this is OVD-info — a Russian human rights media project that monitors political repression. We fight for freedom of assembly, and help those persecuted for their anti-war stance. Give us a follow!
‼️Russian authorities detained a gay Chechen man in a Moscow airport, on the request from Chechen authorities. Idris Arsamikov, a resident of Netherlands, was visiting for his father’s funeral despite the enormous threat LGBT+ Chechens face in Russia. His lawyer was denied access
Girl detained at Lesya Ukrainka monument in Moscow while laying flowers in memory of those lost in Uman missile strike by the Russian forces.
Yesterday, some Muscovites began to bring flowers to the monument in memory of the people who died during the strike on Uman.
Russian opposition figure
@IlyaYashin
was sent to solitary confinement for 15 days, just three days before a scheduled visit of his parents. The official reason was allegedly getting up three minutes late.
Systematic and prolonged suppression of human rights in Russia has led to societal paralysis. OVD-info member Violetta Fitsner explained to the Daily Maverick why it is necessary to establish a mandate for a Special Rapporteur on human rights in Russia:
Tomorrow (March 17) at noon (local time) many Russians will join the Noon Against Putin action proposed by the opposition: those voting against Putin will show up to polling stations at 12:00. In this 🧵 we’ll collect updates on the Kremlin’s repression of voters
Do you like these frog earrings? Well, if you were to wear them in Russia you could get imprisoned for “gay propaganda”. Anastasia Ershova was first approached by men in plainclothes demanding she takes off the earrings. Soon she was detained and sentenced to 5 days admin arrest
Today is the anniversary of OVD-Info.
It's been 11 years that we've been working together with you to help those persecuted by the Russian state for exercising their freedom of assembly and other basic political rights.
Gulina Naumann (pictured) and her friend were detained at the Red Square for filming this. Cops cited “the unusual size of the bread and the caviar bucket” as reasons for suspicion, according to Gulina
Sergei Bykov, shortly before being detained, in Bezenchuk, a small town in southwest Russia. His poster reads “June 4 is the birthday of Alexei Navalny, political prisoner”
1/5 There are good news sometimes - thanks to a pressure campaign organised by OVD-Info an anti-war activist was saved from harassment and bullying in his prison cell.
Two anti-war presidential candidates Yekaterina Duntsova & Boris Nadezhdin (both were barred from running through Kremlin lawfare) came to pay their respects to Navalny.
Here is our latest report on police brutality during the numerous anti-war protests in Russia. Main takeaways: we documented 413 cases of police brutality. Police beat anti-war detainees with batons, kicked, punched, starved, tortured them & more.
Distressing news about
@vkaramurza
's declining health. Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in a strict regime colony on charges of treason and spreading fake news about the army.
BREAKING: The Kremlin’s censors block all of our remaining websites in Russia. These online resources are vital for Russia’s civil society, as thousands of Russians used our website and socials to get truthful news, learn about their rights and avoid unjust persecution.
1/3
We will persevere, but we are disturbed by this situation. Such decisions hit not only pro-Kremlin sources, but human rights activists and civil society in general. Without access to foreign services, Russian-language media cannot freely counter propaganda.
2/4
‼️right now a wave of FSB raids against artists in several Russian cities. Enforcers break into apartments, seize electronics, kidnap people for interrogations. Lawyers on the ground can’t establish contact with several artists.
8/8 But don’t worry, we'll meet and I'll tell you everything.
Here is a sign [☮️drawn by Masha] it is an anti-war sign, I will give you a pendant with this sigh as you are the bravest person in the world!
Love you, you are a hero.
My hero.
Memorial is working on preserving the memory of repressions. The members are accused of “rehabilitation of Nazism” for, allegedly, including Nazi collaborators in their list of repressed people.
@meduza_en
@ioannZH
of Navalny’s team says Navalny’s body hasn’t yet been given to relatives. Says relatives arrived to the morgue at 10 am but authorities thus far refused to hand the body over. It’s now 12.20 pm in Moscow. The ceremony is on in less than 2 hours
‼️ You can now send letters to Russian political prisoners ‼️
We will translate & mail them. Jailers don’t allow ✉️ in foreign languages so we’re launching this tool connecting our foreign audience with political prisoners across Russia.
1/2 When
#Navalny
was thrown behind bars in 2021, thousands of Russians came onto the streets to stand up for him. The Kremlin cracked down mercilessly, precipitating the big war in Ukraine. We made a movie about this crackdown and it’s victims. Here’s the trailer:
On this international women’s day we must remember the women & girls repressed by the Kremlin for standing up for what’s right. We’ve told their stories & will continue to do so. 🧵
We urge IT companies to make decisions only after assessing the impact of restrictions on the already deplorable human rights situation in Russia and to make exceptions for everyone who opposes the regime, no matter how dire the situation.
4/4
It takes roughly 30 min to walk from the church hosting Navalny's funeral at 2pm Moscow time (6am EST) to the cemetery where he'll be buried at 4pm (8am EST). Public access at both sites is questionable. How cops handle mourners walking from A to B is a bigger question still.
Today it has been 34 days since jailed anti-war activist Ivan Kudryashov went on a hunger strike. Ivan made “f*ck the war” street art and for that he was detained and tortured. The authorities fabricated a case against him and sentenced him to 6 years in jail.