Write to Russia – List of Political Prisoners / Prisoners of Conscience
Below is a list of persons unjustly imprisoned by Russia whose plight our project has so far highlighted. Updates are in bold. Each week we add at least one new…
Write to Russia: Maksim Kruglov, sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment for posts about the killing of civilians in Ukraine
'I believe in the future of the country. I believe that Russia will achieve what I am talking about—it will be a peaceful, prosperous country. A country that its neighbors…
Rights in Russia Update
16 October 2026 https://www.rightsinrussia.org/write-to-russia-155/ https://www.rightsinrussia.org/news-of-the-week-151/ https://www.rightsinrussia.org/karp/ https://www.rightsinrussia.org/donate-support-us/
News of the Week
Week-ending 16 October 2026 Russia’s War against Ukraine US President Donald Trump said Ukraine should "get a new leader.” (RFE/RL, 10/10/26) US President Trump has eased sanctions on Russian diesel exports.…
Write to Russia: Velimor Merkulov, sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment on baseless charges of treason and justifying terrorism
‘The prosecution of Velimor Merkulov is retribution for his anti-war stance and yet another attempt to intimidate opponents of the war in Russia.’ – Memorial, 12 November 2025 On 1…
Masha Karp reviews ‘Betrayal: Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest’ by Luke Harding
13 October 2026 by Masha Karp Luke Harding, Betrayal: Trump, Putin and the New Age of Conquest, Guardian Faber, London, 2026, vi + 354 pp., £20. ISBN 978-1-78335-337-8. This review…
Rights in Russia Update
9 October 2026 https://www.rightsinrussia.org/write-to-russia-154/ https://www.rightsinrussia.org/news-of-the-week-150/ https://www.rightsinrussia.org/dewhirst-34/ https://www.rightsinrussia.org/donate-support-us/
News of the Week
Week-ending 9 October 2026 Russia’s War against Ukraine A St. Petersburg court has sentenced Oleg Kuvaev to four years and one month in prison in absentia for a cartoon allegedly…
Martin Dewhirst reviews ‘Biopower in Putin’s Russia: From Taking Care to Taking Lives’ by Andrey Makarychev and Sergei Medvedev
7 October 2026 by Martin Dewhirst Andrey Makarychev, Sergei Medvedev, Biopower in Putin’s Russia: From Taking Care to Taking Lives, Central European University Press, Budapest-Vienna-New York, 2024, x +186 pp. £80…
Write to Russia: Elena Mironova, a Jehovah’s Witness sentenced to four years’ imprisonment for her faith
'The criminal prosecution and, in particular, the imprisonment of Jehovah’s Witnesses is one of the most egregious and shameful manifestations of the system of political repression in modern-day Russia.' -…
Rights in Russia Update
2 October 2026 https://www.rightsinrussia.org/write-to-russia-153/ https://www.rightsinrussia.org/news-of-the-week-149/ https://www.rightsinrussia.org/podcast-101/ https://www.rightsinrussia.org/donate-support-us/
