Yesterday, the human rights project «No to Gulag» reported, citing its sources, about the deportation of several dozen Russians from the USA to Russia via Cairo, among whom were political asylum seekers. Anna Shumova, an activist of the American nonprofit organization Russian Seattle for Freedom, is aware of the stories of several passengers on this flight. We spoke with her.

#America #state #deportation #immigrationzone #interview #society #politicalconclusions #Putin #repressions #Russia #Trump

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Across the country, bookstores are undergoing searches and prosecutor inspections. Publishers send them lists of «banned» books that must be removed from sale and destroyed. All foreign agent books must be sold by the end of summer: from September 1, any educational activity by authors with this status will be prohibited. How do small bookstores in the regions survive under these conditions? A report from Rostov-on-Don, where, despite all difficulties, there are three such stores.

#business #foreignagents #Books #LGBT #youth #society #education #Regions #reportage #repressions #Russia #securityforces #south

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The forested Sandarmokh tract seems to threaten the Russian authorities by its very existence. From their point of view, since people do not forget about it, their memory must be reformatted—by any means and at any cost.

#thecaseofYuriDmitriev #dictatorship #historicalmemory #Karelia #NKVD #Putin #repressions #Sandarmokh #theUSSR #Stalin #FSB

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Since early 2022, thousands of opponents of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have tried to seek asylum in the US — only to face tightening immigration policies. With Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, those who hadn’t secured legal status in previous years found themselves in direct danger. Since early 2025, US authorities have deported two activists to Russia — Vladimir Mashinin and Leonid Melekhin. The first managed to escape; the second was placed in pre-trial detention last week for two months due to anti-war statements made in previous years. Julia Nikolaeva, a US immigration lawyer of Russian origin practicing in San Francisco for 15 years, confirms that the situation for asylum seekers in the States has significantly worsened, as has the overall attitude of authorities toward foreigners. We spoke with her about this.

#America #deportation #dictatorship #DonaldTrump #interview #personalexperience #society #petition #politicalasylum #protests #repressions #Russia #USA #Emigration

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Foreign agents, extremists, individuals cooperating with «undesirable organizations,» and other types of «enemies of the people.» In Russia, these labels are imposed weekly on writers, poets, journalists, scientists, civil activists, human rights defenders, and simply people with a conscience—along with criminal and administrative cases, inclusion in various lists, and outrageous legislative demands. Some call these statuses a «recognition of merit» and a special title to be proud of. I will try to explain why this is not the case.

#west #foreignagent #personalexperience #MinistryofJusticeoftheRussianFederation #politicalasylum #repressions #Russia #USA

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In recent years, some in the Russian public have been strongly tempted to engage in victim-blaming regarding the events of 1939-1940. The idea goes that the Baltic peoples chose their own fate: they signed the treaties, let the Red Army in, and voted for pro-Soviet candidates in elections. Who else can they blame for this but their own short-sighted and cowardly governments? Indeed, formally the Stalinist regime at the time did nothing that the authorities of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia did not allow. But in reality, the Soviet leadership fully understood the true meaning of these documents and procedures.

#Baltics #East #WorldWarII #dictatorship #west #historicalmemory #History #Latvia #Lithuania #MolotovRibbentropPact #Poland #repressions #theUSSR #Stalinism #Estonia

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Boris Akunin has been sentenced in absentia in Russia to 14 years, Dmitry Bykov declared wanted: two of the most important Russian writers have been subjected to exemplary criminal repressions. This is a milestone and another signal, as they say, for the entire intelligentsia. Although what signals are there, everything is already clear. Rather, this is a milestone for the repressive apparatus itself, which is worth noting.

#akulin #bulls #dictatorship #dissidents #intelligentsia #kgb #movie #literature #aftertheUSSR #Putin #repressions #series #Sovietpower

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At the end of February 2025, journalist and film critic Ekaterina Barabash was detained in Moscow. For social media posts about the war in Ukraine, the Russian Investigative Committee accused her of spreading «fakes» about the Russian army out of hatred. In Russia, this charge carries a prison sentence of five to ten years. Fortunately, Ekaterina managed to escape from house arrest and reach Europe. Today, we can finally tell the story of how it happened.

#WarinUkraine #dictatorship #lifeinRussia #KaterinaBarabash #personalexperience #repressions

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