Russia
Russia’s crackdown on free expression intensified as part of broader efforts to stifle opposition to its war in Ukraine and solidify restrictions on critics and civil society generally. Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, more writers and artists were jailed for their anti-war expression, activism, journalism, or artistic expression. Attempts to control artistic expression and discourage dissent by writers and other cultural figures has become more widespread and writers have been detained on accusations that they are “foreign agents.” Criminal charges prohibiting “discrediting” and “disseminating false information” about the Russian armed forces have become common and have resulted in prison sentences.
What You Need to Know
Russian authorities jailed 16 writers during 2023, 11 of whom were targeted for anti-war expression.
Hundreds of thousands of people, including many writers, intellectuals, and artists, have fled Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. Many of these émigrés cite censorship and the repression of political opposition, in addition to the threat of conscription, as their reasons for leaving.
In 2023, Russian authorities detained a significant number of women writers as the Russian feminist movement focused on anti-war resistance.
News
Individual Cases
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Nikolay Dayneko
Status: ImprisonedIn September 2022, poet Dayneko was arrested along with Egor Shtovba at the Mayakovsky Readings in Moscow. The next day,… More
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Zhenya Berkovich
Status: ImprisonedTheater director and poet Zhenya Berkovich was detained for allegedly “justifying terrorism” in her play Finist, the Bright Falcon. She… More
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Egor Shtovba
Status: ImprisonedIn 2022, Shtovba was arrested along with others at the Mayakovsky Readings in Moscow. The next day, Artem Kamardin was… More
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Svetlana Petriychuk
Status: ImprisonedPlaywright Svetlana Petriychuk was detained in May 2023 for writing the play Finist, the Bright Falcon. She was accused alongside… More
Russian Independent Media Archive
The Russian Independent Media Archive is preserving the last two decades of independent Russian journalism, guarding this irreplaceable historical record against erasure as media outlets not aligned with the regime of President Vladimir Putin are shuttered and their reporters and editors cast into exile.