June 2024

• 200,507 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 12,810 times,
• we received 696 calls on our hotline.

In total, our operators and volunteers spent 23 hours, 13 minutes and 11 seconds on the phone.

Lawyers of the hotline

• conducted 39 consultations by phone,
• responded to 62 letters,
• audited 6 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:

• Visited police departments 12 times, where they helped 13 detainees,
• helped 27 people in court sessions for administrative cases.

Criminal cases

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

Our lawyers, jurists, and defenders:

• accompanied defendants during 1 interrogation;
• entered into 4 new criminal cases;
• worked on 89 criminal cases against 99 people in 49 cities.
   

Sentences imposed in cases involving lawyers from OVD-Info:

• Sergey Veselov, a blogger from Shuya: He was fined 350,000 rubles for repeated discrediting of the Russian army.
• Sergey Zheleznyakov from Tomsk: He was sentenced to a fine of 250,000 rubles for repeated discrediting of the Russian army.

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 317 express news about political persecution in 72 regions of Russia and 6 longreads on political persecution.

WHAT TO READ

We released a project titled «How is Russia Returning to Totalitarianism?»

For the past two years, we have tried to understand how the suppression of protests, increased censorship, and political persecution made the war possible. The result of our joint research with other experts is a project called «How Russia is Returning to Totalitarianism?» We released it to show how the Russian authorities have been for a long time preparing for war through increased political repression. It is not only an important reflection for the entire civil society, but also a warning for future generations: this should never happen again. The site is also available in the Ukrainian language.

WANT TO KNOW MORE?

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.

Our weekly bulletin

• Provocateurs and fabricated testimony
• Participants in the war against Ukraine turned out of a taxi
• Death in a penal colony
• Shibari in a cemetery

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

Reports and research

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.
 

• We collected a dataset on repressions at the legislative level

  In the dataset, we have compiled laws introduced in the State Duma of the Russian Federation after the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which we believe may contribute to increasing or intensifying political persecution. These laws may increase the number of available legal mechanisms of repression by criminalising new actions, adding new articles to the Criminal Code or Code of Administrative Offences, or expanding previous ones; they may contribute to increasing political persecution by helping to legally solidify the current power structure — e.g. laws on electronic voting; and they may also establish a legal framework for regulating relationships that do not directly relate to prosecution but restrict the rights of individuals — e.g. laws on electronic draft notices.

• We released a dataset on political persecution of journalists

  We compiled all known cases (excluding criminal cases, which are in the political repression database) of politically motivated persecution of and pressure on journalists and media outlets following the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine into a single dataset. This includes persecution under the Code of Administrative Offences, designation as a «foreign agent», detentions during protests, beatings, fines, blocking of internet resources, and more.
   

«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.

International advocacy

We have a page on our site that is dedicated to international advocacy. We’re also talking about reports and appeals to other in international institutions and the results of such.

• We submitted an appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur regarding political prisoners with health issues
  In our appeal to the UN Special Rapporteur on Russia, we highlighted the cases of five political prisoners who are being subjected to inhumane treatment and denied proper medical care. Among them are Igor Baryshnikov, suffering from a severe illness and suspected cancer; Evgeny Bestuzhev, who has heart problems and thrombophlebitis; Aleksey Moskalev, who endured prolonged solitary confinement; Maria Ponomarenko, who was subjected to forced psychiatric treatment and physical abuse; and Lyudmila Razumova, who suffered from isolation, extended solitary confinement, and inadequate medical care. In the appeal, we urge for immediate medical assistance for these prisoners and call for reforms of the state penitentiary system.

• We filed complaints with the UN Human Rights Committee regarding violations of our clients’ rights
  We have prepared and submitted three complaints to the UN Human Rights Committee regarding Russia’s violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Our goal is for the Committee to formally document  Russia’s human rights violations, particularly concerning freedom of speech and assembly. This could provide additional support for our clients seeking political asylum. More importantly, since Russia still recognizes the authority  of the UN Human Rights Committee, it will be required to act on the Committee’s decisions in some capacity.

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

• 15,796 donations
• € 128,858*

*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 1,066 direct transfers made to OVD-Info defendants through the «Zaodno» (a platform where you can support defendants of OVD-Info and other human rights projects directly — from card to card), totalling € 15,304.
 

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 € 282,455, all of which was funded by your donations and transfers from various sources. Here’s a breakdown of how the funds were used:

• € 81,123 — 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.
• € 30,921 — 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.
• € 32,250 — 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.
• € 19,010 — data projects, reports and research. 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.
• € 15,279 — international advocacy. We protect freedom of assemblies, words and associations both in Russia and on an international level and try to make visible repressions in Russia and weight with changes of laws and practices, that are violating international standards. For such a reason we’re conducting summaries and analitical data, participating in events and conferences and organising our own meetings to get visibility of such violations and get independent assessment from international institutions, such as UN, OSCE, Europe Union. The help of lawyers in preparations of complaints that are sent to ECHR and their work on strategic cases also is part of this direction of work.
• € 34,407 — 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.
• € 10,729 — 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.
• € 51,946 — 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.
• € 2,272 — 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.
• € 4,517 — 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 standing with us!