Political Prisoners Memorial: our work in the first half of 2026
In the first half of 2026, Political Prisoners Memorial raised 3,327,522 roubles (approx. €33,116) to provide assistance to political prisoners.
We spent the funds as follows:
- 2,936,462.90 roubles (approx. €29,224) on legal assistance in politically motivated criminal cases
- 842,299.25 roubles (approx. €8,384) on legal assistance to protect the rights of political prisoners
- 793,228.54 roubles (approx. €7,895) on humanitarian assistance to those deprived of their liberty for political reasons
In total, we spent 4,571,990 roubles (approx. €45,508) — more than we raised. We cover the shortfall with funds donated to the project’s core operations. Unfortunately, this leaves us unable to develop the project further: to make the website faster and more user-friendly, to hire specialists who could significantly increase the assistance we provide to political prisoners, and to scale up our efforts to expose political repression.
Legal assistance in politically motivated criminal cases
We provided 53 instances of legal assistance to 26 victims of political repression who were deprived of their liberty. This work not only provided legal representation, but also helped protect prisoners’ rights, prevented the most serious violations against them, and offered moral support to those facing politically motivated prosecution.
In total, we funded 63 months of lawyers’ work on behalf of these 26 people.
This legal assistance included:
- Legal representation during the pre-trial investigation
- Legal representation before the court of first instance
- Legal representation before the court of appeal
- Legal representation before the court of cassation
Legal assistance in detention
We provided assistance to 16 prisoners on 39 occasions, as some received this legal assistance more than once.
What we did:
- Arranged for lawyers to visit political prisoners in detention
- Ensured the submission of applications, petitions and complaints about conditions of detention and violations of prisoners’ rights, including cases where medical care was denied or inadequate
- Pursued legal claims and represented prisoners in court in cases concerning conditions of detention
This work helped secure appropriate medical care for prisoners with health conditions, as well as the medical examinations they required.
Humanitarian assistance
In the first half of the year, we provided 60 instances of humanitarian assistance to 40 victims of political repression and their family members, including 30 Ukrainian citizens held in Russian detention.
Forms of assistance:
- Transferring money to prisoners’ personal FSIN (Federal Penitentiary Service) accounts for them to spend on food and everyday necessities
- Sending parcels and care packages, including medical supplies
- Subscribing political prisoners to magazines and newspapers
- Helping prisoners’ families cover travel costs for long and short prison visits
- Providing released political prisoners with financial assistance to cover transport and other essential expenses during the first days after their release
Supporting the project’s work
In addition, we raised 4,544,317 roubles (approx. €45,233) to support the Political Prisoners Memorial‘s work as a whole.
These funds allowed us to:
- Organise direct assistance to political prisoners
- Collect and publish up-to-date information on prisoners’ postal addresses, account details, support groups and upcoming solidarity initiatives
- Maintain the project’s technical infrastructure
- Analyse hundreds of criminal cases and prepare case assessments that form the basis for recognising individuals as political prisoners, enabling us to maintain our lists of political prisoners
- Produce analytical materials based on data from our database of political prisoners and identify trends in politically motivated repression
- Carry out advocacy work in defence of political prisoners
- Document and report on ongoing political repression in Russia