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Independent Russian Media
USRF supports independent Russian media — including journalists, writers, investigators, bloggers, artists, film producers, and experts in Russia and abroad with the capability to reach the Russian public and help them understand the present reality, Russia’s international isolation and domestic repression, and especially its implications for economic opportunity and human development for ordinary Russian people.
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Scholars at Risk
USRF has been actively involved in supporting Russian scholars at risk (SAR), in response to the increased danger that scholars and journalists with Western or anti-war connections and principles are facing in Russia since February 2022. The Foundation has led a consortium of partner institutions in the U.S. to advance the conversation around scholars at risk and presently, USRF supports 16 institutions with scholars at risk components – supporting between 250-400 scholars.
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Advancing the Rule of Law Inside and Outside Russia
USRF supports Russian organizations within and outside Russia to defend freedoms of expression and information, property rights, and Russia’s international legal obligations. USRF support enables educational exchanges with renowned institutions in Europe and the United States, and professional development and networking programs for practicing Russian attorneys.
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Expertise on Russia in the United States
USRF supports programs to provide young professionals with the skills and knowledge they need to become the next generation of Russian experts. Such support includes not only university language and area studies programs, but travel grants for language and cultural immersion (including in Russian communities outside Russia), internships with organizations working in the independent Russian private sector and civil society, and joint research between U.S. and Russian scholars.
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Support for Civil Society
USRF supports civil society initiatives of pro-democracy, anti-war groups of Russians inside the country and abroad.
This includes the work of non-government organizations, initiatives by Russian anti-war groups, and community building efforts in new Russian diasporas.
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“Our duty, our mission, stays the same, to provide independent, objective information to our readers and not to leave them alone at the darkest hour.”
Galina Timchenko
CEO and Publisher, Meduza -
“Being young and liberal in today’s Russia is no easy feat. With a government bent on curbing freedoms and an economy in decline, options for the country’s democratically-oriented youths are limited. Yet while many young Russians are fleeing a nation that has left them with little hope, some are determined to stay and fight.”
Zhanna Nemtsova
Founder, Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom -
"Resistance inside the country, despite all the repressive tools used by the authorities, continues, and civil society is alive - no one has destroyed it. Yes, they [activists inside Russia] do operate in some absolutely terrible conditions, but they are there, they exist, this potential is visible, and it seems to me that it is important to talk about it in order to support it and to help those people who represent this democratic Russia."
Evgenia Kara-Murza
Advocacy Director, Free Russia Foundation -
“For the last 200 years, freedom has always won over a lack of freedom…Sooner or later, probably Russia too will become a democracy."
Sergey Guriev
Provost and Professor of Economics at Sciences Po, Paris -
"In the long term, we want the West to choose a strategy to support Russia in the future - after Putin; so that Russia is not fenced off with a moat of crocodiles and decide that Russia was doomed. We want Russia to have a chance to return to a civilized path of development despite everything that Putin arranged."
Dmitry Gudkov
Russian opposition politician -
"Since the beginning of the war, hundreds of thousands of Russians have left the country. Many of them went into the unknown, having neither work nor savings. We support Russian emigrants who deprecate the military aggression against Ukraine and do not see opportunities for themselves to live in Putin’s Russia."
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"Anyone who publicly does not support Putin's policy and allows himself to make critical statements in Russian is in equal danger of persecution today. It can be not only criminal or administrative prosecution. It can be an attack, and beating, and marking, and harassment in social networks. People came to us who were fired (teachers, students, state employees). Most are asked to write a letter of resignation. This is a war against everyone."
Pavel Chikov
Head, Agora International Human Rights Group -
"Not all people who support democracy, who support rights and freedoms have left Russia. Everyone present [at the conference] still has colleagues in Russia, still has associates who take huge risks and continue to do this work. No independent media, even if its editorial office is located abroad, could work without correspondents in Russia. Yes, these correspondents are anonymous, yes, these correspondents have to encrypt themselves, especially when it comes to those media outlets that are declared undesirable in Russia, but these are real people who do real work."
Tanya Lokshina
Associate Director, Human Rights Watch - Europe and Central Asia Division -
“We're fully committed to investigative journalism and to debunking fake news. We're proud of our growing recognition, having received, among many others, The Council of Europe's Innovation Award, The European Press Prize and the Free Media Award.”
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“Russian journalism is like the dandelion that sprouts through three layers of asphalt. Everything will bloom. No one has given up the profession. People who are now engaged in journalism are aware of the risks. So, everything will be in blossom. But let's survive first.”
Galina Timchenko
CEO and Publisher, Meduza -
“I believe that it is important for Russia to preserve human capital…I think that many people who left…maybe not many, but some of them are active people. I do not rule out that they will return at some point.”
Zhanna Nemtsova
Founder, Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom -
“Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, tens of thousands of Russians have fled the country as a result of their anti-war, anti-Putin views…The grim reality is that these are mostly young, well-educated, successful professionals and creative workers who have liberal political views and were involved in political and civic activities in Russia. In other words, Russia is losing some of its brightest people—and this trend has been only growing over the last decade.”
Natalia Arno
President and Founder, Free Russia Foundation -
"We’re not going to change our profession, we’ll work in the courts as they are, we’ll defend people who, so to speak, did not come to the courts of their own volition, but who were brought there. Other than defenders such as us, no one will help them. We shall do everything for them that we can. Honour and respect to those defenders who still remain in Russia, regardless of such difficult conditions, in order honestly to fulfil their duty. I know many lawyers who work conscientiously, defending their clients in very difficult circumstances, sometimes even putting themselves at risk of colossal danger."
Ivan Pavlov
Human Rights Lawyer -
"We are growing, we are getting stronger, despite all this repression inside Russia, despite the fact that so many people are now in prison, some have been killed, and so many of us have been kicked out of our own country. Nevertheless, in emigration we were able to relaunch, to become stronger, to redefine ourselves as a community of anti-war Russians, not a new Russian diaspora detached from Russia and not concerned about what is happening inside Russia, but (a community) of those Russians who, wherever they are, are trying to make a difference in Russia."
Natalia Arno
Natalia Arno, President and Founder of the Free Russia Foundation -
"We live in an era when not only in Russia, but also in many countries, protest and broad public actions tend to be rather broad and leaderless [...] Nowadays, the activity of a wide range of grassroots movements, different media, and diverse actors, is much more important than one particular leader. [...] There are many actors who are engaged in investigative journalism, human rights services, international representation and advocacy, and in helping those who are fleeing Russia. Yes, we are quite strong in [those areas]."
Greg Frolov
Vice President, Free Russia Foundation