October 2023

A call to OVD-Info hotline or a message to our Telegram bot are the easiest ways to report persecution and get a free consultation. Specialists will advise you on how your situation may develop, and instruct you about your next steps.

• 303,642 users were connected to our Telegram-bot
• our legal instructions were viewed 13,544 times
• we received 564 calls on our hotline.

In total, our operators and volunteers spoke on the phone for 26 hours, 47 minutes and 39 seconds.

Lawyers of the hotline

• conducted 53 consultations by phone;
• responded to 149 letters received at legal@ovdinfo.org;
• audited 11 appeals received through the generator;
• prepared and submitted 4 cassation appeals.

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

In October, our lawyers, jurists, and defenders

• went to the police departments 20 times, where they helped 24 detainees
• helped 88 people in court sessions on administrative cases
• managed to terminate, cancel or return at least 1 case of administrative offence.

Criminal cases

Our lawyers and jurists in October 2023

• were present during 2 searches
• accompanied clients on 3 interrogations
• entered into 6 new criminal cases
• in total, at the end of October, lawyers from OVD-Info worked on 70 criminal cases against 81 people in 39 cities.

We consider all the charges and criminal cases brought in connection with them to be illegal and politically motivated.

European Court of Human Rights complaints campaign

• We have sent 21 complaints to the European Court of Human Rights.
• A total of 2,935 complaints were submitted during the campaign.
• On 448 complaints, ECHR issued judgements — all in favour of the applicants; the remaining complaints are pending trial or registration.

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

• 427 express news about political persecution in 78 regions of Russia
• 2 longreads on political persecution

What you should pay attention to

• «My place is among the suffering»
  A Christian, publicist and caver — these words describe Krasnoyarsk resident Igor Orlovsky. Two more have recently been added. The Kremlin’s authorities accused him of inciting terrorism and extremism, spreading «fakes» about the Russian army and «rehabilitating Nazism». The Nobel-winning Memorial Centre has recognized him as a political prisoner. Read more about the deeply religious man who received a three-year prison sentence and faces the prospect of a new term.
• «I am sure that I will go to prison» 
  Until recently, Olga Nazarenko was a professor in the Medical Academy of Ivanovo, a city northeast of Moscow. She had been working at the pharmacology department for 22 years. But in 2022 she was suspended. The reason for such suspension was the criminal charges due to her anti-war activity and support of political prisoners. In October she passed away, reportedly from an accident.
• Letters across borders
  OVD-Info has launched a new tool that allows foreigners to write letters to Russian political prisoners. In this essay, Helpdesk Media correspondent Ksenia Mironova and OVD-Info editor Dan Storyev explain why you should use it. 
• Western hostility to russian exiles plays into Putin’s hands
  The European Union parliament adopted a resolution last week that, among other things, highlighted how members of Russian civil society and opposition groups living in exile in Europe struggle to live under the bloc’s sanctions policy. Instead of helping bring an end to the war, this state of affairs could «instead harm the credibility of the EU.» This is an accurate assessment of the situation.
• 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 you can subscribe to our Digest, follow us on Twitter or visit our website! Everything helps.

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.

• Repressions Report. September 2023
  Chechen warlord’s son brutalises a prisoner on camera. New detentions for donating to Navalny and election interference — here’s the key political repression news for September.
• «Hell within Hell» and Cold Torture
  Over the last months, more and more people persecuted for political cases have been reported to be regularly placed in a punishment cell (a so-called «SHIZO» in Russian). It happened not to Alexei Navalny, who has already spent 226 days in a punishment cell, but also to deputy Alexei Gorinov, politician Vladimir Kara-Murza, left-wing activist Daria Poliudova, journalist Maria Ponomarenko, Alexei Moskalyov (father of Masha Moskalyova), and other convicted people.

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: Subscribe to the newsletter.

How much we collected

Total transfers

• 18,534 donations
• RUB 19,208,488

The figure includes

• 4,336 donations made through the GlobalGiving platform (RUB 9,628,043). As per our agreement with GlobalGiving, we are currently receiving deferred transfers from the previous year.
• 1,060 direct transfers made to OVD-Info clients through the Zaodno platform, totalling RUB 944,329.

How much we spent

In October, we expended a total of RUB 26,121,365, all of which was funded by your donations and transfers from various sources. Here’s a breakdown of how the funds were used:

• RUB 8,770,772 — 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.
• RUB 2,350,080 — 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.
• RUB 2,213,534 — 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.
• RUB 1,609,502 — 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.
• RUB 2,381,862 — 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.
• RUB 969,467 — 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.
• RUB 4,755,126 — 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.
• RUB 1,954,311 — infrastructure costs — since October 2023, we have included the payment for key services (such as telephony) in the expenses of the respective departments. The infrastructure expenses now include those parts of the infrastructure related to the overall work of the team and the project (e.g., office and accounting).
• RUB 354,918 — 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.
• RUB 761,793 — additional taxes and fees. We have separated this portion of fees in the expense structure to cover taxes that are not included in other expense items.

Thank you so much for being with us!