#OVD-Info

[unfogging]

E' sbagliato dire che i russi non protestano

Se i governi e le persone all'estero vogliono che i russi protestino di più, dovrebbero sostenere la società civile russa e aiutarci a superare la paura #dissidenti #oppositori #dirittiumani #prigionieripolitici #Russia #protesta #OVDinfo

Il Financial Times pubblica l’analisi del caporedattore inglese di OVD-Info, un gruppo che monitora i diritti umani in Russia. A più di un anno dall’invasione su vasta scala dell’Ucraina, i miei amici occidentali spesso mi chiedono: perché i russi non protestano? La risposta è che alcuni lo fanno, ma la protesta è in gran parte inutile di fronte a una repressione decennale del Cremlino. A…

[russianreader]

Russian Buddhists and the War

Telo Tulku Rinpoche, the now-former Supreme Lama of Kalmykia On Friday, January 27, 2023, the Russian Justice Ministry placed Telo Tulku Rinpoche (Erdni-Basan Ombadykov) on its registry of “foreign agents.” Rinpoche is еру president of the Association of Buddhists of Kalmykia and the 14th Dalai Lama’s official representative in Russia, Mongolia and the CIS countries. The ministry’s press service…

[seefasters]

hes so real for this

[perishrad]

The number was provided by russian OVD-info and the memorial organisations.

[morokinema]

Two years ago, russian atrocities in Bucha were discovered.

The russians tortured and killed over 440 people in one small suburban town. More Ukrainians were killed in Bucha alone than russians in the whole 140 mln 🇷🇺 were pressed with criminal charges for “protesting war”.

The number was provided by russian OVD-info and the memorial organisations.

[coochiequeens]

Russia gave her a harsher sentence for placing stickers in a grocery store then they do men who kill women.

17 Nov 2023

Russian artist Alexandra Skochilenko has been sentenced to jail for seven years after being found guilty of spreading “false information” about the Russian military by replacing a handful of supermarket price tags with messages criticising the war in Ukraine.

The 33-year-old, known as Sasha, is one of thousands of Russians to be detained, fined or jailed for speaking out against Moscow’s invasion of its neighbour amid an escalating crackdown on free speech and opposition to President Vladimir Putin.

Skochilenko was arrested in her native St Petersburg in April 2022, after an elderly customer at the supermarket found the slogans on the price tags and notified the police.

“The Russian army bombed an arts school in Mariupol. Some 400 people were hiding in it from the shelling,” one read, in reference to Russia’s brutal siege of the southern Ukrainian city. Another said, “Russian conscripts are being sent to Ukraine. Lives of our children are the price of this war.”

Judge Oksana Demiasheva delivered the verdict on Thursday hours after Skochilenko, who has a congenital heart defect and coeliac disease, had made a final statement to the court, asking for compassion and to be set free.

As well as the prison term, the artist was banned from using the internet for three years.

Skochilenko, wearing a colourful T-shirt decorated with a large red heart, reacted with shock to the sentence, covering her face and wiping away tears.

Supporters shouted “shame” and “we’re with you Sasha”, the AFP news agency reported.

Skochilenko’s lawyers left without giving any comment.

Skochilenko’s arrest came about a month after authorities adopted a law effectively criminalising any public expression about the war that deviated from the Kremlin’s official line.

Human rights group Memorial – now banned in Russia – said police spent 10 days interrogating supermarket staff and inspecting security camera footage before arresting the artist.

“They sometimes give less for murder than for five price tags in a supermarket,” Boris Vishnevsky, a politician linked to the opposition Yabloko party, told AFP.

“Hopefully, someday, the pendulum will turn the other way.”

Skochilenko was accused of committing what the state prosecutor described as a serious crime out of “political hatred” towards Russia. He had asked��for her to be jailed for eight years.

Skochilenko admitted to swapping the tags but denied that the text written on them was false. She said she was a pacifist who valued human life above all else.

“How weak is our prosecutor’s faith in our state and society if he thinks our statehood and public safety can be ruined by five little pieces of paper?” she said in court.

“Everyone sees and knows that you are not judging a terrorist. You’re not trying an extremist. You’re not even trying a political activist. You’re judging a pacifist,” she said.

Skochilenko’s friends and supporters said the verdict was a disgrace [Olga Maltseva/AFP]

Amnesty International condemned the verdict.

“Her persecution has become synonymous with the absurdly cruel oppression faced by Russians openly opposing their country’s criminal war,” it said in a statement.

Memorial has designated Skochilenko a political prisoner and has launched a campaign calling for her release.

She has already been in detention for nearly 19 months, meaning that her overall term will be reduced by more than two years, since every day served in a pre-trial detention centre counts as 1.5 days of time served in a regular penal colony.

But she has struggled in custody due to pre-existing health conditions, and her need for a gluten-free diet, according to her lawyers and her partner.

According to OVD-Info, a prominent rights group that monitors political arrests and provides legal aid, a total of 19,834 Russians have been arrested between February 24 2022, when Russia began its invasion, and late October 2023 for speaking out or demonstrating against the war.

Also on Thursday, opposition politician Vladimir Milov was convicted in absentia of spreading false information about the army and sentenced to eight years. Milov, who was once Russia’s deputy energy minister and is now an ally of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has left the country.

[ohsalome]

i think i remember you once talking about (or maybe reblogging) something about how the whole "in russia its impossible to protest, everyone who protests gets sent to prison" thing is mostly a lie and just an excuse - which i believe 100%. do you happen to have any links or resources regarding this? i'd love to have some on hand for these "every russian is just a poor little uwu baby who is terrified of their government" idiots

Yup, I've got you

One big source that is considered somewhat reliable on the number of russians arrested is OVD Info - a non-profit advocacy group that specialises in exactly cases like this. Just looking at their latest report you will see that there are very few people who actually got sent to prison, and for the most part protestes had deal with administrative punishment. And then you can just use simple math to calculate the actual % of protesters who got imprisoned.

For the lazy version, I also have this twitter thread. It is a bit outdated if you're looking for exact numbers, but since most protests happened during first month of war, the general picture will still remain the same.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Donald Padgett at The Advocate (12.30.2024):

The director of a Russian travel agency arrested last month on charges of international LGBT extremism died yesterday while in custody in Moscow, OVD-Info reports. Andrei Kotov, 48, was found dead around 4 a.m. on Sunday at the Vodnik pretrial detention center, where he was awaiting trial on charges of supporting an international LGBT extremist terrorist movement. Leisan Mannapova, Kotov’s lawyer, confirmed her client died by suicide. His body was discovered in his cell covered in blood, and “cuts were found” on his body, an internal source told RIA Novosti.

Kotov ran Men Travel, a travel agency reportedly catering to gay men. He had recently concluded a cruise along the Volga River and was planning a trip to Egypt to ring in the New Year at the time of his arrest. Security forces arrested Kotov on Nov. 28 but it was not made public until two days later. Video of the arrest posted to multiple Telegram channels shows the muscled Kotov shirtless with his hands cuffed behind his back. Kotov testified at a court hearing earlier this month that he was beaten and threatened with a stun gun if he did not confess his alleged crimes during the arrest. “About 15 people came to me at night, they beat me, hit me in the face, on the legs, left bruises,” Kotov said at a detention hearing on Dec. 2, Zona Media reported at the time. “I did not offer any resistance. I was extremely surprised by this procedure.”

He told the court he was beaten by two masked men who demanded he confess to LGBT extremism. Kostov said one man punched him in the face while the second man threatened him with a stun gun. When he insisted the tours were not LGBT-centric, Kostov said he was escorted to the kitchen where he was told to say hello to the man’s “brothers in the regiment.”

[...]

Last month, Putin signed two new laws outlawing the promotion of non-traditional families and the adoption of Russian children by foreign nationals from countries that recognize a person’s right to gender-affirming care.

The adoption law effectively prohibits citizens of Australia, Austria, Argentina, Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and other countries from adopting children from Russia or taking guardianship over them. Citizens of the U.S. were banned from adopting Russian children in 2012. The second law bans what it terms “childfree propaganda” that promotes non-traditional families as a positive environment for children. Media companies and social media sites will be required to monitor content to ensure compliance with the law. An exemption would be made for positive portrayals of a monastic life that included celibacy.

In December of 2022, Putin signed a law strengthening a ban on LGBTQ “propaganda” in Russia and making it illegal to promote same-sex sexual relations or suggest non-heterosexual attractions are “normal.” Individuals can be fined up to 400,000 rubles ($6,370) for “LGBT propaganda” and up to 200,000 rubles ($3,185) for “demonstrations of LGBT and information that encourages a change of gender among teenagers.” The fines increase to 5 million rubles ($80,000) and 4 million rubles ($64,000) respectively for legal entities. Last year, Putin directed sexologists in the country to treat homosexuality as a mental illness no different than bestiality and ordered the Ministry of Health to create an institute to study homosexuals at the Serbsky Center for Psychiatry and Narcology. [...] In November of last year, Putin requested that the Russian government officially recognize the “international public LGBT movement” as “extremist” under the law, and his request was granted that same month. Less than two days later, security forces raided at least four LGBTQ+ establishments in Moscow.

Andrei Kotov, who ran Men Travel, died in Russian prison custody earlier this week on charges that he violated Russia's arbitrary laws that baselessly paint the international LGBTQ+ movement as "extremist".

[beardedmrbean]

A Russian man arrested for allegedly running a travel agency for gay customers was found dead in custody in Moscow, rights group OVD-Info reported Sunday, amid a crackdown on LGBTQ+ rights in Russia.

According to OVD-Info, which tracks political arrests, Andrei Kotov — director of the “Men Travel” agency — faced charges of “organizing extremist activity and participating in it.”

OVD-Info said an investigator told Kotov’s lawyer that her client had died by suicide early Sunday while in pretrial detention and was found dead in his cell.

Prior to Kotov’s death, independent media outlet Mediazona reported earlier this month that Kotov had rejected the charges and said in court that law enforcement officers beat him and administered electric shocks during the arrest, even though he didn’t resist.

Just over a year ago, Russia’s Supreme Court effectively outlawed any LGBTQ+ activism in a ruling that designated “the international LGBT movement” as extremist. The move exposed anyone in the community or connected to it to criminal prosecution and prison, ushering in an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.

The LGBTQ+ community in Russia has been under legal and public pressure for over a decade but especially since the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine in 2022. Russian leader Vladimir Putin has argued that the war is a proxy battle with the West, which he says aims to destroy Russia and its “traditional family values” by pushing for LGBTQ+ rights.

[rostomanologist]

Russia Is Fucking Up Queer Lives. How Can I Help?

i kno there are several masterposts with links and etc, but i want to make one for our foreign friends

so, the help how? mostly, donations and signing petitions. for now ru-queers are in need for legal and psychological support, sheltering and evacuation, which is done by several organisations also, please spread the word. there's little info on what's happening here, so any reblog of news or info posts would be appreciated

Petitions

Quarteera's petition for providing easier access to refugee status for trans people from russia (since the transition is prohibited here) in germany. can be signed from any country. more details here

Sphere's petition for easier obtain of visas and travel documents for ru-queers in countries that have signed international human rights conventions

Donations

Coming Out - helping organisation, provides legal, informational and psychological support

Queer-Svit - organisation helping lgbtq and bame people; provides help for people affected by war in ukraine (relocation, financial support), national minorities in russia, belarus and other "post-soviet" countries, trans people in russia

SK SOS - crisis group working in north caucasus regions, including chechnya/ichkeria; focuses on evacuation of women and queer people from there

Centre-T - initiative group for trans and non-binary people

Dept One - advocacy organisation which also works with lgbtq community (accepts donations with crypto currency, for other currencies email them)

OVD-Info - advocacy organisation which also works with lgbtq community

Resource Center for LGBT in Ural - focuses mainly on helping people in yekaterinburg offline, but also provides online help

Parni PLUS - russian lgbtq media, which also provides informational support for people in need

some of the sites are in russian, so use translate if it's hard to navigate.

im afraid i didn't mention a lot of organisations and initiatives (sphere, russian lgbt network and etc are not included since i can't find links for donations. if you find them i'll add). so additions are welcomed

thank you!

[russianprotesters]

Another 2,700 people are still being persecuted for political reasons, and more than 1,250 people are behind bars right now - OVD-Info Human rights activists wrote that 36% of those politically persecuted are serving time for freedom of conscience, 40 % for freedom of association. 10 political prisoners were killed in custody. Another 100 people have health problems, among them cancer patient Igor Baryshnikov. The youngest age of a political prisoner is 15 years, and the most mature is 86 years. “These people are not imprisoned for murder, theft or robbery - they are being persecuted for political reasons: for posts and statements, for expressing an anti-war position, for actions objectionable to the state, for religious and political views.”

https://t.me/sotavisionmedia/33701

[unfogging]

I 'Casi' contro la guerra

Le persone parlano della guerra sui social e indossano simboli contro la guerra. Sono passibili di procedimento penale #prigionieripolitici #libertadiespressione #dirittiumani #humanrights @ovdinfo_en

La guerra con l’Ucraina ha cambiato irrevocabilmente la società russa. Dal 24 febbraio, le azioni contro la guerra si sono svolte quotidianamente, le persone hanno parlato della guerra sui social network e indossano simboli contro la guerra. Tali dichiarazioni diventano motivo di procedimento penale. OVD-Info è un gruppo di difesa dei diritti umani indipendente. Ci concentriamo sui diritti alla…

[mariacallous]

Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, YouTube has removed tens of thousands of Russian propaganda and pro-war videos. Still, the platform hasn’t entirely rid itself of this type of content. Channels with videos that praise the Russian government and the war in Ukraine are still accessible and boast hundreds of thousands of subscribers — and millions of views. Moreover, YouTube’s algorithm continues to recommend these videos to users. Meduza explains what’s happening with pro-Kremlin content on the world’s largest video-sharing platform.

Walking the line

YouTube frequently blocks channels that spread Russian propaganda, often citing systematic violations of platform rules and incitement of hatred. While the company hasn’t disclosed the number of affected channels, estimates suggest that the platform has removed more than 10,000 channels and several tens of thousands of videos.

Following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, YouTube blocked the channels of Russian state-funded media outlets, including Russia Today, Sputnik, and RBC. It also began blocking vloggers who supported Russian government policies and justified the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.

In response, Russian vloggers, government agencies, and major media outlets began migrating to Russian YouTube “alternatives” like Rutube and VKontakte’s VK Video — albeit with limited success. Even the Russian authorities admit that these platforms can’t yet compete with YouTube and predict that a fully-fledged competitor won’t emerge for at least another five years. Despite this, there are persistent rumors that the Google-owned service could be blocked in Russia at any moment.

Shortly after the February 2022 invasion, YouTube suspended monetization for Russian users but continued operating in Russia. In May 2022, then-CEO Susan Wojcicki stated that the platform remained in the country because the company wanted to “help citizens know what’s going on and have perspectives from the outside world.”

Since the start of the full-scale war, Russia has fined the company multiple times for things like blocking Russian users and refusing to remove content disapproved of by the authorities. By the end of April 2024, Russian media reported that there were more than 60,000 videos YouTube hadn’t removed despite Roskomnadzor’s demands.

However, this doesn’t mean that Google completely ignores the Russian authorities. The company regularly pays fines amounting to the equivalent of tens of millions of dollars. Recently, independent media reported that YouTube had also begun blocking Russian opposition content. On May 20, it was revealed that, at Roskomnadzor’s request, the platform had blocked videos on how to avoid military service, citing violations of Russia’s federal law “On information.” These videos were later partially restored: accessible via direct link but not searchable on the platform. At the time of writing, they were once again fully accessible.

In early May, the human rights advocacy group OVD-Info received a warning their channel Kak Teper (What’s Going On) might soon be blocked. Dmitry Anisimov, OVD-Info’s spokesperson, told journalists from Agentstvo that this was “the first case in Russia where Roskomnadzor demanded the complete blocking of a channel, not just specific videos.” Reuters sent two inquiries to YouTube representatives about the channel, but they didn’t comment on the situation. As of the time of writing, the channel was still on the platform.

Hardly hidden

Despite YouTube’s efforts to block certain channels spreading Russian propaganda, many pro-war channels remain easily accessible and boast hundreds of thousands of subscribers. For instance, Empatia Manuchi, a channel with 1.7 million subscribers, provides a platform for Russian propagandists and pro-government figures to share their views on the war.

Launched in September 2019 by Vyacheslav Manucharov (an actor, TV host, and trusted Putin envoy in Russia’s recent presidential “elections”), Empatia Manuchi initially featured informal and generally banal interviews with celebrities. Over time, however, the tone became more serious. With the onset of the war, Manucharov himself changed. He started acting more concerned and contemplative, asking “difficult” questions and using every interview as an opportunity to talk about the “special military operation” and criticize people who left the country because of it.

Manucharov began inviting guests who fit this new agenda, including propagandists like RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan, pro-government bloggers like Artemy Lebedev, and war-supporting artists like actor Ivan Okhlobystin. Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin was given a full two and a half hours for his episode.

The show’s format allows Manucharov to ask seemingly neutral questions, giving guests the opportunity to make propagandistic statements — one they eagerly take. For example, when asked whether it’s possible to build the “Russian world” with love and without cruelty or “cracking down,” Okhlobystin responded that Russia is facing a “cruel” enemy, making extreme measures unavoidable.

Shifting the focus to the war has helped expand the show’s audience. Before February 24, 2022, the channel had 90 videos, only seven of which surpassed one million views (though most had several hundred thousand). Of the 125 episodes released after February 24, 2022, 93 have more than one million views.

The Internet Development Institute (IDI), which funds the production of “patriotic” content, has supported Manucharov’s project since at least 2020. In the spring of 2023, a source familiar with the IDI’s grant application process told Meduza that Manucharov “regularly applies for and receives grants.”

Another openly pro-war YouTube channel, SVOi, features Russian combatants sharing their war experiences. Since its launch in February 2023, it’s already amassed half a million subscribers. A joint investigation by Meduza and iStories revealed that its content is also funded by the IRI. In June 2023, the channel was among 163 projects that received a combined total of 10 billion rubles ($112 million) for the production of “national content.”

Despite some less popular episodes, most videos garner several hundred thousand views. Three videos, including two interviews with Wagner Group mercenaries, have surpassed one million views. However, the channel hasn’t had much success on Rutube, where it has only 143 subscribers and its most successful video has fewer than 300 views.

Smaller YouTube channels also post Russian propaganda content, including interviews with “‘special military operation’ participants,” advice on what to bring to the combat zone, or patriotic shows. The channel ETO OT NAS features a “documentary series” about life in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Donetsk region, patriotic songs, and even entire musical albums about the “special military operation.” Some of its videos have millions of views.

The glorification of Russian soldiers has become its own separate genre, with this type of content particularly prevalent on YouTube Shorts, a section of the website that features vertical videos under a minute long. Both private users and local media outlets share short videos of soldiers reuniting with their families or receiving awards for their participation in the war. These videos are extremely popular, with some getting millions of views and hundreds of thousands of likes.

Whether or not YouTube struggles to identify and block these videos, its algorithm has no trouble finding and promoting them. Some videos and channels discovered during the research for this article were recommended by the platform based on previously viewed content. This effect is even more pronounced in the Shorts section, where watching just a few similar clips results in more propaganda appearing in one’s main feed.

[gellavonhamster]

I’m sorry for your friends in Russia. How are they now? Do you think it is possible to do something for the people who are dissidents and are at risks of being targeted by the governement?

Well, the general mood is dejected and angry. Some people are bringing flowers to the monuments to victims of Soviet-era political repressions or creating improvised memorials, which get promptly dismantled by the police. Some are just quietly grieving. Like I said, most people didn't even really like Navalny, but his death is proof that if even a popular public figure like him may be disposed of with no trouble (even if it was not assassination proper and his health actually failed him, it's still murder - he was kept in harsh conditions on purpose), then the great number of other political prisoners who aren't as well-known are at even more risk. (And right now, people in Russia are getting thrown in prison for basically anything - one man, I kid you not, was imprisoned because his daughter drew an anti-war drawing at school). Besides, the Russian opposition is already atomized as it is, with leftist politicians disconnected from ordinary people nearly as much as the current government, and most prominent activists having been arrested or forced to flee abroad. Navalny, for all his faults and those of his team, was one of the very few people still in Russia who could pass for some sort of leader. The only two other such people I can think of, Vladimir Kara-Murza and Ilya Yashin, are also in prison.

Regarding what can be done, OVD-Info is a human rights defense group that provides legal aid to anti-war protesters and other people persecuted for their political views. It is possible to support them through GlobalGiving. Also, in terms of spreading awareness, Mediazona is a good independent media reporting, among other things, on politically motivated court cases. Here's the link to the English version of their page.

[shattered-pieces]

"Fucking fascist, bitch!" 87-year-old pensioner beaten in central Moscow for negative remarks about Wagner PMC. He is a victim of the Great Terror of 1937 On a bus passing Lubyanka in Moscow, two people attacked 87-year-old pensioner Dmitry Grinchiy, OVD-Info writes , citing eyewitnesses and lawyer Oskar Cherdzhiev. When the bus passed the memorial to Yevgeny Prigozhin and Dmitry (Wagner) Utkin on Varvarka, Grinchiy allegedly called the PMC mercenaries murderers. Two mature men began to insult 87-year-old Grinchiy, attacked him, twisted his arms and forcibly dragged him out of the transport. "Get out, bitch! You fucking fascist, bitch!" — the attacker shouts at the elderly man. He was handed over to the traffic police officer on duty. The police detained both Grinchiy and the attackers. The pensioner was taken to the Kitay-Gorod police department, and then to the Basmanny police department. The attackers filed a complaint against him, but the police released the elderly man. Dmitry Grinchiy was born in 1937, but learned his last name only at the age of 15. His father, Pavel Grinchiy, head of the Civil Air Fleet's planning department, was executed in 1938 on charges of spying for Japan; he was rehabilitated in 1966.

[adrl-pt]

The two-year ongoing full-scale invasion and the ten-year ongoing aggressive war by Russia in Ukraine continue. Protesting in front of the Russian Embassy in Lisbon, we, Russians who are against the war and the criminal Putin regime, demand the withdrawal of Russian troops from all of Ukraine's territory, hand over war criminals to Hague, and the restoration of what has been destroyed. We also ask the international community to provide all necessary assistance to Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the invasion, Ukrainians have become an example of a community's response to a common problem. They are trying many different ways to help their country: with money, by spreading information, by communicating with politicians, the local population, they unite and help each other.

There's a common saying, "good deeds are done in silence." There's a meme circulating on the internet of a well-dressed person with food packages is making a selfie in front of a hungry family for whom he brought these packages. Some people in the comments under this picture wrote that it's not necessary to publicize one’s charity on the misfortune of others. But there were many people who said that it's an important part of the work. By telling about whom and why you are helping, you show an example for other people and thus your help becomes many times greater.

Full video: https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ebe4czkSvRg

Ways to help that we discussed at the rally:

Support Ukraine:

Help for Ukrainians unlawfully detained in Russia and in the occupied territories: https://youtube.com/watch?v=HmfLO3Hl8tk

Fundraiser for the Kharkiv hospital: https://facebook.com/AjudaAUcrania/posts/pfbid02o2Brh5zwMjxKjbwrVC8T2uqfXKsRKM8YEWqdhpEarU8eqnv9y9VCQmty9sZbRyVal

Rassvet: https://rassvet.world

Davaite: https://helpdesk.foundation/davaite

Siberian Battalion: https://civiccouncil.info/sibirskij-batalon/

United 24: https://u24.gov.ua

Support the anti-war movement in Russia:

Go by the forest: https://iditelesom.org

OVD-Info: https://ovd.info

More civil society initiatives on our website: https://adrl.pt/civil-society