Everyday heroes that may inspire us to speak up.
Who are the Russians leaving their country?
DW speaks about a few better known people in the West – one by one.
- Vasilya Vershinina
- Yekaterina Duntsova
- Yury Dud
- Dmitry Gudkov
- Dmitry Skurikhin (business owner, used his store front for pro-ukrainian messages, in prison)
- Jegor Balasejkin
- Alexander Nevzorov
- Aleksei Gorinov (Moscow deputy, spoke up in a meeting)
- Alexander Bakhtin
- Irina (spoke up in a coffee shop)
- Yevgeny Roizman (lawmaker)
- Valeria and Svetlana Zotova (daugher set fire to military station, mother)
- Anna Chagina
- Masha Moskalyova (drew pro-ukrainian image in school)
- Aleksey Moskalyov (father, now in prison)
- Alexander Ivanov
- Sasha Skochilenko (price tags – now sentenced to 7 years in prison)
- Marina Ovsyannikova
- Elena Milashina (courageous lawyer, supporting Chechnyan political prisoners)
- Olga Avdeyeva
- Edward Snowden
- Dmitry Muratov (novaja gazeta editor in chief, now foreign agent, enemy of Ru. government)
- Alla Gutnikova (student leader, fled to Berlin)
- Andrey Shalayev
A page with protest rally links to Russia media reports, translated into English
Individuals and their stories
Alexander Bakhtin
Three postings on VK; 6 years in prison
Irina
Spoke up in a coffee shop, fined for discrediting the Russian army.
Yevgeny Roizman
The co-founder of the City-Without-Drugs Foundation and former mayor of Yekaterinburg was sentenced to a fine of 260 thousand rubles for using the words “invasion”, “war” and “ridge”
Valeria Zotova from Karabikha
In June 2023 20-year-old Valeria, accused of plotting to set fire to a collection point for the Russian military in Karabikha, was sentenced to six years in prison.
Her mother Svetlana now faces charges too for her “extremist” Telegram postings in pro-Ukrainian channels.
Alexandra from Krasonyarsk
Fined for speaking up against Putin’s politics and for the rights of gay people.
Anna Chagina from Tomsk
I admit the possibility of a miracle.
Took part in anti-war rallies, was arrested and fined. Her home was searched on Nov. 30 2022, she was forbidden to use the Internet and given a bracelet to control her physical movement. In Aug. 2023 she was fined for 100.000 rubles.
Alexei Moskalev and Mascha Moskaleva
Masha at her school drew a picture in support of Ukraine.
A whole catastrophe followed from this.
For her and her father.
Aleksei Gorinov – 7 years in prison
Moscow lawmaker who publicly spoke up against the genocidal war against Ukraine.
The municipal meeting where he spoke up is available on YouTube.
He was the first person sentenced to a prison sentence, after the new law against “discrediting the army” came out on March 5 2022.
