March 2024

• 201,689 users were connected to our bot
  We used to count all users when counting bot users, but since February we count only active users — those who haven’t unsubscribed and continue to receive our newsletters.
• our legal instructions were viewed 93,953 times
• we received 2,055 calls on our hotline

In total, our operators and volunteers spoke on the phone for 33 hours, 19 minutes and 3 seconds.

Lawyers of the hotline

• conducted 154 consultations by phone,
• responded to 152 letters,
• audited 29 appeals received through our online-generator.

Legal aid

We provide and coordinate legal assistance in cases related to the restrictions of freedom of peaceful assembly or freedom of speech. Our attorneys visit those detained in police departments, support defendants in Russian administrative and criminal courts, and file complaints with the European Court of Human Rights.

Assistance on cases of administrative offences

Our lawyers, jurists, and defenders

• went to the police departments 67 times, where they helped 117 detainees,
• helped 134 people in court sessions on administrative cases,
• managed to terminate, cancel or return at least 7 cases of administrative offence.

Criminal cases

Our lawyers, jurists, and defenders

• were present during 5 searches;
• accompanied clients on 11 interrogations;
• entered into 7 new criminal cases;
• worked on 81 criminal cases against 95 people in 48 cities.

News and media

The authorities that violate human rights prefer to avoid publicity. But as they say, silence in the face of evil is itself evil. We believe that information protects, and that media and social attention can prevent violations and change the whole picture.

We have prepared and released 407 express news about political persecution in 73 regions of Russia and 4 longreads on political persecution.

What you should pay attention to

• «Girls, didn’t you know you’re not allowed to carry flowers?»
  A young woman, Ksenia (name changed for her safety), was stopped from leaving flowers in memory of Alexey Navalny by law enforcement. Here’s what she had to say.
• The Dissident Digest — free weekly newsletter in English!
  The Digest is your window into the dark world of the Kremlin’s war on human rights and civil society in Russia. The Dissident Digest informs you through data, news and explainers. The newsletter is by no means all-encompassing but we strive to provide you with a snapshot of most important developments.

If you want to be informed about political repressions in Russia, follow us on Twitter and Instagram or visit our website.

Media about us

• «Navalny’s Funeral: Is protest dead in Putin’s Russia?»
  There were unprecedented scenes at Alexei Navalny’s funeral in Moscow, as thousands turned out to pay their respects to the dead opposition leader. But will there be consequences? And can people meaningfully protest in modern-day Russia? Dan Storyev from the monitoring group OVD-info English discusses the challenges facing what’s left of democracy in Russia.

Reports, research, and advocacy

At our organisation, we examine emerging problems from various angles, which helps us work out present-day tactical solutions and lay the strategic foundation for future systemic change. The results of our analyses are published as reports, data sets, or special projects.
 

In March we called for the UN to hold an international investigation into Navalny’s death

Together with colleagues from the Memorial Human Rights Centre, the Sphere Foundation and the human rights advocacy project Za prava cheloveka (For Human Rights), we sent an appeal to the UN Secretary General António Guterres with a request to organise an international independent investigation into the death of the politician.

We also held an international campaign to support political prisoners:

• Criticised Russia’s fulfilment of its international obligations to protect human rights, recalling the numerous violations that the Russian delegation keeps silent. Violetta Fitzner, lawyer at OVD-Info and the Memorial Human Rights Centre, and Evgenia Kara-Murza, Director of Advocacy at the Svobodnaya Rossiya (Free Russia) Foundation, spoke at the UNHRC during The Universal Periodic Review.
• Participated in a press conference and told the international media about the political persecution in Russia, to which more than 3,800 people have already been subjected.
• We held a series of meetings with state delegations, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and participated in an event for diplomats with the participation of the UN Special Rapporteur on Russia Mariana Katzarova.
• We sent appeals to the UN Special Rapporteur on political persecution in connection with the rallies in memory of Alexei Navalny, as well as on detentions on the days of voting in the Russian presidential election.
• Warned of the risks of increased repression, explained the importance of supporting Russian civil society and called for a tougher response from the international community. 
  
  
  «According to OVD-Info» newsletter
  Our research team is very active, and it is difficult to put all of their work into one letter. Therefore, we have a newsletter available in English. You can subscribe to follow our news and publications of upcoming reports and datasets.

How much we collected

We highly value our community of donors who participate in crowdfunding initiatives. Their contributions not only provide essential financial support but also signify a shared commitment to our mission and values. We recognize the trust and dedication of our donors and strive to foster a strong sense of community and transparency in all our crowdfunding efforts.

Total transfers

• 29,550 donations
• € 550,679*

We convert donations made in other currencies into euros at the average exchange rate of the month or the exchange rate on the date of payment.

The figure includes

• 1,539 direct transfers made to OVD-Info clients through the Zaodno platform, totalling € 16,811,
• transfer from the GlobalGiving platform — in March, GlobalGiving transferred a part of donations for several years at once: 12,617 donations, totalling € 399,644, which were made in September 2022 — February 2024.

At the end of January, the international crowdfunding platform GlobalGiving was added to the registry of «undesirable» organizations. On February 21, 2024, they hid our project and stopped accepting donations to OVD-Info and other Russian projects due to increased risks for them. This came as a big surprise for us and our regular donors. All donations transferred to us before February 21 will reach us. If you have set up a recurring donation through GlobalGiving and have not canceled it, please do so in your GlobalGiving account or contact GlobalGiving directly to request a refund.

We had to quickly reorganize and find another way to accept donations from foreign cards: now, it can be done on our website. If something doesn’t work or works with errors, please let us know. We are collecting bugs and gradually fixing them, and later, we will announce this method to everyone. Help us using a foreign card.

How much we spent

OVD-Info spends donors' donations on legal assistance to defendants, dissemination of information about political repressions in Russia and development of the project. About 40-60% of all private donations go to pay defenders, advocates and lawyers.

We expended a total of € 344,975, all of which was funded by your donations and transfers from various sources. Here’s a breakdown of how the funds were used:

• € 114,844 — legal assistance. Our lawyers and human rights defenders worked tirelessly to provide legal aid to detainees in police departments and courts, and coordinated assistance in criminal cases throughout the month.
• € 29,082 — the work of our hotline operators and reporters. Our monitoring group received calls to the hotline and messages in the telegram bot every day, and reported news to aid detainees, not only during large-scale actions, but also for regular detentions that occur almost every day in Russia.
• € 29,261 — the work of our media team. We believe that information can be a powerful tool in protecting political rights. To make information about political rights violations public, we prepared and published significant articles, created guides for major criminal cases, launched special projects, gave interviews, and talked about it on all available social networks.
• € 28,395 — data projects, reports, research, and advocacy. We collect and analyse data on political persecution to make informed decisions and help journalists and researchers understand the situation. Based on the collected data, we prepare comprehensive reports that analyse how legislative practices and repressive laws enable political persecution.
• € 26,879 — the work of our IT team. We developed tools and services that help to protect ourselves and others, ensure the stable operation of our entire system, and share our work with other initiatives.
• € 9,587 — volunteer coordination. Our volunteers are our backbone and the best team of like-minded individuals. We are committed to expanding our community and ensuring that volunteers actively participate in the project’s life.
• € 72,563 — operational support of the project. Thanks to this work, which is not always visible, we continue to help those who need help and spend our energy and resources more efficiently. It includes the costs of team members who ensure the daily work and planning of the project and are responsible for the sustainability of OVD-Info in the long term, budget planning, strategic goals, communication with donors and financial transparency. This also includes the costs of caring for team members: psychological assistance, development of the competencies of participants and their safety.
• € 29,371 — infrastructure costs. Since October 2023, we have included payments for key services (such as telephony) in the expenses of the respective areas. Infrastructure costs encompass components directly related to the team’s operations and the overall project, including office expenses, accounting fees, commissions to infrastructure partners who assist us, and applicable taxes.
• € 4,994 — bank account maintenance and payment systems commission. We use several payment systems, and the interest rates are all different. This amount is calculated as a percentage of donations and expenses on the account. It depends not only on our expenses but also on the amount of income. The increase in the amount was also influenced by an increase in the commission from the payment system that we use to accept and process donations.

Thank you for being with us!