EXPLAINING THE STRUGGLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN RUSSIA |
|
|
Hello and welcome back to the Digest.
And especially a warm welcome to those of you I met (virtually) at ASEEES! |
Today we have three sections — on the Kremlin’s continuing assault on the bodily autonomy, on uncivil society and the Quran burning. |
Additionally, please note that I will be on leave next week so we will be skipping one issue. |
In solidarity, Dan Storyev |
|
|
We need your input! If you ever donated to us we would like to invite you for an anonymous online interview (no more than 30 minutes). This is vital for our understanding of our audience. |
|
|
Trigger warning:
This is a newsletter about Russian repressions. Sometimes it will be hard to read. |
|
|
It’s official now. Putin signed a ban on “child-free propaganda” into law. I discussed my perspective on the ban in an earlier issue. This is a disappointing, but expected development. The “child-free ideology” the Kremlin is purportedly targeting is a movement of women advocating childlessness. In fact, there was never a “child-free movement” at all. Child-free is best described as a lifestyle and a somewhat ironic self-positioning that young women in Russia occasionally adopt in their opposition to the patriarchal society around them.
|
|
|
Feminist activists protesting against the law in front of the State Duma in costumes from the “The Handmaid’s Tale” dystopia, Moscow, 12 November 2024 / Photo: Tatyana Sukhareva’s Facebook page |
|
|
However, the Kremlin is so intent on controlling Russians’ bodies, that they are now going after women’s choice. The state is encroaching on sex, romance, birth — with bans on “LGBT”, “child-free propaganda”, and looming restrictions on abortion. The most visceral and natural functions of our bodies are being restricted and regulated. We wrote a lot on the Kremlin’s desire to control bodies. I personally tie it primarily to the influence of the global conservative movement, which I wrote about for Carnegie. The most charitable reading of these repressive laws is that the Kremlin wants to boost declining demographics — but they are fighting a losing battle, as their disastrous policies have led to a massive brain drain, unprecedented exodus, and of course, an enormous death toll in the war.
|
|
|
Something that I cover extensively is the emergence of the phenomenon called “uncivil society” — Kremlin-affiliated or Kremlin-adjacent “activists” who do the authorities’ bidding in persecuting whoever is chosen as the scapegoat by the Kremlin. This time I would like to point out the segment of uncivil society that is closely affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church, which is in turn, a strong ally of the Kremlin.
|
Orthodox activists have long been the bane of free expression throughout Russia, engaging in activities like the 2016 boycott of a movie about the love life of Nicholas II — because the latter has Saint status. These Orthodox activists, along with other pro-Kremlin groups, have managed to create a bona fide cancel culture in Russia — one that is aimed at stifling dissent from the Kremlin and now the war.
|
Оne particularly standout Orthodox group is The Russian Obshchina (Russian for community). Created in 2020, the group has emerged as one Siberia’s largest white-power, pro-war, anti-migrant groups, rapidly gaining influence throughout Russia, with support from Russian authorities. Earlier this month, the group committed a raid on street vendors (who tend to be ethnic minorities) in Yekaterinburg, one of Russia’s largest cities. In the best traditions of uncivil society, the raid was accompanied by local officials and police. The latter proceeded to arrest street vendors after the attack.
|
The Russian Obshchina procession in Ufa, Republic of Bashkortostan, 4 November 2024 / Photo: The Russian Obshchina social media |
|
|
Just a few days ago, we learned that the Obshchina managed to cancel a Yekaterinburg concert by rock musician Gleb Samoilov — they reported him to the authorities for the musician’s anti-war stance. Unfortunately, it is quite likely that the Obshchina will continue their nefarious activities, egged on by the authorities. |
|
|
While some might think that repression in Russia is justified solely through Orthodox Christian values, that’sincorrect. In Russia, opposition to ruling powers is stamped out ruthlessly, while the veneer of legitimacy is often sought in Christianity, conservativism, communism — or Islam.
|
This has been the case with 20-year-old Nikita Zhuravel. The young man was born in now-annexed Crimea, but lived in Volgograd, in southwestern Russia. In 2023 he shot a video of himself burning a Quran in front of Volgograd’s Central Mosque. The video was leaked by unknown sources to a Dagestani Telegram channel. |
|
| Nikita Zhuravel in court / Photo: SOTAvision |
|
|
We can’t take Zhuravel’s further confessions as fact, as we don’t know whether they were legally obtained. He supposedly claimed that he filmed the video on an assignment from Ukrainian special services, and that he also filmed several military objects for his Ukrainian handlers prior to the Quran video. This raises suspicions, as Russian security services are known to be setting up pro-Ukrainian youth by pretending to be Ukrainian agents.
|
I don’t approve of the burning of the Quran. But regardless of that and of whether Zhuravel committed treason or not — his fate after the swift arrest showcases the cruelty and corruption of the Russian legal system. Zhuravel’s case was rapidly transferred to Chechnya. The region is majority-Muslim and is ruled like a fiefdom by ex-warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, who seeks the support of the local majority-Muslim population by positioning himself as a defender of traditional Islam.
|
Later that year, human rights lawyers rang alarm bells about an official complaint submitted by Zhuravel that sounded like something from a mafia book. In August Zhuravel alleged that Kadyrov himself visited Zuravel in his holding cell, and that later his 15-year-old son came over to beat the prisoner. |
|
|
The next month, Kadyrov senior released a video in his Telegram channel that documented his son brutally beating Zhuravel. Kadyrov added that he is “proud” of his son for defending traditional values. Chechen and Russian lawmakers alike supported the Kadyrovs. |
| Adam Kadyrov posing with Vladimir Putin / Photo: Adam Kadyrov’s Instagram |
|
|
In February 2024 Zhuravel was sentenced to 3.5 years in jail for “offending religious feelings” and “hooliganism”. But the system wasn’t done with the young man. This Monday he was sentenced again — this time to 13.5 years for “state treason” consisting of allegedly filming military objects. |
|
|
Please answer our questionnaire so we can better understand our audience! |
|
|
Sources cited in the reading list are not necessarily aligned or in a formal partnership with us. It is just what the editor finds interesting. |
|
|
The Digest is created by OVD-Info, written by Dan Storyev, edited by Dr Lauren McCarthy |
OVD-Info English newsletter privacy policy: how we work with your data |
|
|
|
