EXPLAINING THE STRUGGLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN RUSSIA |
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Hey there, and welcome back to Dissident Digest! |
We’re excited to share our unique project on criminal persecution in Russia with you. It is a massive dashboard designed for journalists, lawyers, researchers, and anyone curious about political repression—going deeper than numbers to show the real trends and stories behind them. This project’s built to stay current and keep evolving based on what you’re looking for. We would welcome any feedback you have on it — send your thoughts to dan.storyev@ovdinfo.org.
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In solidarity, Inna Bondarenko |
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Trigger warning:
This is a newsletter about Russian repressions. Sometimes it will be hard to read. |
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This past week, Yulia Navalnaya, widow of the late opposition leader Alexei Navalny, introduced Alexei’s book chronicling his fight against the Russian regime. Navalny’s story shows the harsh price you pay for standing up to Putin. But while Navalny captured the world’s attention, hundreds were prosecuted in silence, their stories untold.
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Lack of visibility breeds impunity, and that is why OVD-Info’s data team helps make sure that these stories aren’t forgotten. We have been collecting the data on criminal political persecutions and updating it daily since 2014, keeping track of new cases as they become known to us.
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To understand what modern repression looks like in today’s Russia, we have to start by analyzing data about criminal political repression. |
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About the project “Criminal repression in Russia” |
Our interactive dashboard presents data on criminal political persecutions collected by OVD-Info. It was created specially for experts to make following trends easier. It is easily accessible with maps and numbers which allow you to easily get a picture of what is happening in Russia, giving you a unique window into the usually opaque world of the Kremlin's repression. Our data covers criminal cases that we consider politically motivated, using our own methodology to decide which cases to include. We define political persecution broadly. Sometimes it takes a while for a political motive to become clear, and other times we find out there wasn’t one, so we’re constantly updating the data as more information surfaces.
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We gather this information from media reports, social networks, and government websites, as well as from people directly affected by persecution, their families, and lawyers. We also collaborate with other human rights organizations. The data is available in both Russian and English.
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The project is built with journalists and analysts in mind, so if you have any feedback or ideas for features, let us know! This tool is here to meet your needs, and we’re eager to shape it further with your input. |
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The people in our dataset come from all backgrounds, and their inclusion in our dataset isn’t about judging their actions—it’s about understanding how state repression works. |
Sometimes, the government turns on its own former allies, accusing them of false crimes, but most of the people in this data are victims of the regime, and their stories need to be told. We’ve built this tool to help you see the real people behind the numbers and get a better sense of their struggles.
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How about we check out a few sections? |
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First of all, how many people are imprisoned today? |
When we talk about people facing criminal political persecution in Russia, we’re referring to those accused of crimes by the state for political reasons.
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This dataset provides an overview of those currently imprisoned on political grounds. |
So, who are these people? |
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As of now, at least 1,389 people are being held in Russia for political reasons. Of those, 368 (26%) are in pre-trial detention, waiting for their case to go to court. The other 1,021 (74%) have already been sentenced and are serving their punishment.
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Most of the people imprisoned are men—91%, while 8% are women. Nearly half (49%) are between 31 and 50 years old, followed by 21% who are 51 to 70 years old. The median age is 40. The oldest person in custody is 86, and the youngest is just 15. |
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Under Russian law, people who are sentenced to prison end up in various types of correctional institutions: correctional colonies, settlement colonies, educational colonies, prisons, and sometimes pre-trial detention centers. |
The type of facility affects how prisoners serve their sentences, including security levels, whether they share dorms or have individual cells, and limits on how much money they can spend each month on food and essentials. It also impacts the number of visits and packages they can receive each year. |
Russian law allows courts to impose compulsory medical treatment for individuals deemed insane when they committed an offense or those who develop a mental disorder afterward. Medical measures can include outpatient psychiatric treatment or inpatient care in specialized facilities.
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Sadly, these medical measures are misused against political prisoners under various pretexts. We know of at least 51 individuals currently undergoing compulsory treatment as a result of political persecution. |
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And what are Russians persecuted for? |
When we categorize persecution by the primary civil liberty that was violated, here’s how it breaks down:
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cases
Freedom of association
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Freedom of conscience
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cases
Freedom of expression
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But also, why are there so many terrorists and extremists in the dataset? It's definitely something to think about. |
It’s worth noting how often people persecuted for political reasons are accused of terrorism and extremism.
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In Russian law, “extremism” is defined really broadly. It covers everything from violent acts against the government to promoting terrorism, inciting social or racial tensions, and using Nazi symbols. Because of this vague wording, non-violent actions can still be labeled as extremist in court. |
For example, in 2021, Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation was declared an extremist organization for calling out the government and organizing protests. Now, any support for ACF, including donations or showing its symbols, is banned. |
In March 2022, Russia also labeled Meta Platforms Inc. as extremist and blocked Facebook and Instagram. This was because the platforms temporarily lifted bans on posts that called for violence against the Russian military in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. Now, even linking to these social media sites can get you in trouble.
In November 2023, the Supreme Court declared the “international LGBT social movement” extremist, making any mention of LGBT people or displaying a rainbow flag illegal in Russia. |
In the same vein, terrorism is broadly defined as a form of extremism, usually involving violent acts meant to scare people and destabilize the government. But not every case of so-called terrorism in Russia is actually violent. |
Take journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva, for example. In 2019, she was charged with justifying terrorism after she talked about a bombing carried out by a 17-year-old in 2018. Even though she didn’t support the attack, the court still found her guilty, saying she promoted the idea that state repression causes people to commit serious crimes. |
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And most important of all, who are these people? |
While the numbers help us grasp the overall situation of politically motivated imprisonments in Russia, each one represents a real person with a unique story. The last section of the dataset lets you dig deeper into the lives behind the data. Click on a name to learn more about their experiences and the specifics of their persecution. You can also download the data you’re interested in as a .csv file. |
If you have more questions about political persecutions in Russia or have ideas about how to improve our dataset, please contact us via data@ovdnfo.org. If you want to build your own project based on our data, you can use our API, just let us know.
For suggestions on how to develop this material, you can contact the author via daniel.beilinson@ovdinfo.org. |
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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. |
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created by OVD-Info, written by Inna Bondarenko & edited by Dr Lauren McCarthy |
OVD-Info English newsletter privacy policy: how we work with your data |
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