Our guest today is Zoia Svetova, renowned journalist and human rights activist. She continues to live and work in Moscow.  She is the author of several books, including Priznat’ nevinovnogo vinovnym [To Find the Innocent Guilty]. Her voice is perhaps one of the few authoritative oppositionist voices still heard in Russia today.   This podcast was recorded on 26 March 2024. My questions include: When it became known that Russian troops had invaded Ukraine in 2022, could you ever have imagined such a thing happening? You decided to stay in Russia. Did you discuss with your family, your four adult children, whether to leave or stay in Russia? Can I ask you to tell us a little about your family? After all, you are part of Russia’s hereditary dissident aristocracy, if I may put it like that. Tell us about your parents, what you most remember about them, about their lives?  Your husband was also involved in the dissident movement.  How did you meet? And how did you bring up your children, what were the main moral values you tried to pass on to them? When Putin became president in 2000, did you have any hopes? Was there a key episode when it became clear for you which direction his regime was heading? The title of this podcast, “Then and Now,” is associated with the fateful date of 24 February 2022. But there has since been another terrible date that will be a significant event in the perception of the world and of Russian public opinion  – 16 February this year. What was your first reaction when you learned of Aleksei Navalny’s death in the Polar Wolf penal colony. What did Navalny mean for Russia, what did he symbolise? And what did his death in prison mean for the future of Russia? You were at Aleksei’s funeral in Moscow. Could you share the mood that prevailed there, what you observed –  tell us about your impressions. Should other political prisoners in Russia now fear for their lives? Just recently, a presidential election was conducted in Russia. If I’m not mistaken, you were abroad at that time. Did you take part in the “Noon against Putin” protest? Did the protests bring any benefits? And is there any difference between such protests in Russia and abroad? Your sons Tikhon and Filip are engaged in interesting work abroad. Does the fact that Tikhon is on the register of foreign agents and is editor-in-chief of the Dozhd TV company, which has been declared an undesirable organization in Russia, affect your life in Moscow in any way? After the attack on Leonid Volkov, a leading member of Navalny’s team, in Vilnius, do you fear for your own children and other Russian oppositionists living outside Russia?  What would have to happen in Russia for you to change your mind and leave the country? What needs to happen in Russia for your children and grandchildren to return home?  What are your thoughts about the recent terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall in Moscow?  Do you think 22 March 2024 will be another milestone in the history of the Putin regime?

My guest today is Anastasia Burakova, a human rights lawyer and democratic activist from Russia.  We are still in shock at the news of the murder of Aleksei Navalny in a high-security penal colony in the settlement of Kharp.  Aleksei Navalny’s political star rose as a leader of the opposition to the Putin regime in 2011.  That year, 2011, played a significant part in the  political coming of age of  today’s guest - Anastasia Burakova, a Russian human rights lawyer and activist for democratic change in Russia - and influenced the trajectory of her professional life. However, ten years later, in November 2021, Anastasia was forced to leave Russia. She moved to Georgia after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, where she founded the Ark Project (‘Kovcheg’). Initially, set up to offer help to exiled Russians because of their opposition to the war, over time, Ark’s activities have broadened. This podcast was recorded on 22 February 2024. My questions include: I am haunted by two thoughts that never leave me now – the death in prison of Aleksei Navalny and the second year of war inUkraine. What thoughts have occupied you most this past week? In an interview almost one year ago, you talked about a ‘white rose’ of resistance in Russia. Are there grounds for optimism in Russia today? The journalist Elena Kostyuchenko wrote in her book about Russia: “Why did I ever think my life would be different?” Do you have an answer for her? Tell us a little about your childhood. Were there any key moments in your biography that led you to your choice of profession and the path you followed? You have said that the year 2011 played a big role in your own development. What does 2011 in Russia mean to you? What are your most vivid impressions of that year? You left Russia at the end of 2021, just 10 years later. What happened in the intervening years in the field of civic activism? To what extent did human rights and civic activism face new and more difficult challenges in the period leading up to the invasion of Ukraine? What defined the relationship of the authorities to civil society? Soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, you founded the Ark Project. What was the idea behind the project and who are the beneficiaries? Is there any real hope for the Russian opposition in exile? What can it really do?  What do the countries that have welcomed Russian exiles have to gain from their presence?  Aleksei Navalny from prison urged the Russian people to act. He proposed that people should go to the polling stations on the last day of the election, 17 March, at 12.00 noon local time, and stand in line outside the polling station in protest. Do you think there’s a chance that many will do this following his assassination in prison by the Russian authorities? What do you think the future holds for you? And what are your thoughts about the future of Russia?

Welcome to the fifteenth edition of our Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas.  My guest today is Anna Karetnikova. Until recently, Anna Karetnikova lived and worked in Moscow.  In 2016, she was appointed lead analyst to the Federal Penitentiary Service – FSIN. Prior to that, she served for eight years as a member of the Public Oversight Commission (POC) in Moscow and worked closely with the human rights organisation “Memorial”. Anna Karetnikova exemplified that rare combination in Russia of someone who was both a human rights activist and a government-appointed official working for the FSIN. For several years she pulled this off brilliantly. But just over a year ago, she was forced to leave Russia. The events that led to this decision and how she feels about life in exile are among the topics we will be talking about. This podcast was recorded on 8 February 2024. ou can also listen to the podcast on SoundCloud, Podcasts.com, Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts and YouTube.  My questions include: Before your appointment to the Federal Penitentiary Service, you worked in the Public Oversight Commission in Moscow. What were the functions of this commission and how did your work there lead to your appointment to the Federal Penitentiary Service? Did you have any interests or occupations from a young age which helped you decide to take up this kind of work? How did it happen that you were invited to join the FSIN? What did  your work there involve?  Is it true there is no such position as lead analyst in any other regional branch of the FSIN? How does the system of corresponding with political prisoners work? Do they really receive letters of support from people they don’t know? Do the authorities still allow this? Unlike many of your colleagues, acquaintances and friends in human rights organizations, you stayed in Russia after the Special Military Operation was launched on February 24th 2022? Was leaving Russia not an issue for you at that time? What changed in the FSIN system that prompted you to decide to leave Russia almost a year later? What was your reaction when you learned about the recruitment of lifers in the penal system to the Wagner private military company? What did it say about the attitude of the authorities both to the war and to society as a whole? What changes did you observe in the FSIN and in the regime to prisons and penal colonies after the start of the war? And in the treatment of prisoners? Were there problems, for example, with supplies? Or other issues? xould they still correspond with relatives and have visits from them? Would you say the numbers of political prisoners has increased since the start of the war? With your experience and knowledge of the penal system in Russia, what can you comment about the treatment of Aleksei Navalny in the penal colony? To what extent does his treatment differ from the treatment of other prisoners? And how? And Vladimir Kara-Murza? Could you comment on his recent transfer to the correctional colony No. 7 Omsk.  You currently live in France. Why France? How do you see your future?  And the future of Russia?

My guests today are Mamuka Kuparadze, the founder of Studio Re in Tbilisi, which works to advance ‘people’s diplomacy’ through documentary film, and Aleksandr Pichugin, a Russian journalist, originally from Nizhny Novgorod, who left Russia with his family immediately after the announcement of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and started a new life in Tbilisi. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the flow of Russian citizens fleeing the war to Georgia has reached an unprecedented 100,000. That’s the size of two small Georgian cities such as Gori, for example. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, relations between Georgia and Russia have not been easy. There have been wars of secession, first in South Ossetia, then in Abkhazia, and their de facto removal from Georgian government control. And the culmination of these wars, we can say, took place 15 years later, in 2008, when Russia invaded Georgia and won a five-day war after which Russia “officially” recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (both are still considered by the international community as legitimate parts of Georgia. Georgia itself calls them Russian-occupied territories). In this edition of ‘Then and Now’, we take a look at how Georgian society and government perceives these immigrants from Russia and how Russian immigrants live there. The recording was made on 4 January 2024. My questions include: Aleksandr, what pushed you to such an important decision for yourself and your family? After all, it is not easy to start from scratch in a foreign country? Why Georgia? Did the visa system play a role in your decision? Did you find a place to live? A job? Tell us a little about how you solved such domestic problems and how you were received by Georgian society. Is there a sense of a separate ‘Russian world’ in Tbilisi? Mamuka, Studio Re recently released a short movie about how the local population feels about the flow of Russian immigrants into their country. What were the main findings of your research? How does the flow of Russians into Georgia affect the country’s economy? Against the background of extremely uneasy and tense relations with Putin’s Russia, how do the Georgian government and civil society feel about the presence of so many Russians on Georgian territory, Mamuka? Refugees from Ukraine have also come to Georgia. Aleksandr, is the presence of Ukrainians felt in your circles? The Georgian border service has denied entry to the country to several Russian citizens who are critical of Putin’s regime, such as Mikhail Fishman, journalist, presenter and analyst of TV Dozhd, and others. What is the explanation for this, Mamuka? What is the position of the country’s ruling party, the ‘Georgian Dream’, towards today’s Russia? How does it differ from the position of activists in civil society? Aleksandr, how did you in Georgia perceive the new flow of Russian immigrants, which began immediately after the announcement of mobilization on 22 October? Do you feel a difference in the motivation and goals of the first wave compared to the second? Has the war with Ukraine given rise to new anxieties on the part of Russia in Georgia, Mamuka? How do Russians in Georgia see their future? Have some already returned to Russia? How do you personally see your future, Aleksandr?

Welcome to the thirteenth edition of our Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas.  My guest today is Lev Aleksandrovich Ponomarev. Lev Ponomarev trained and worked as a physicist in the USSR before devoting more time and energy to issues of human rights in the Soviet Union and subsequently in the Russian Federation. He was one of the founders of  « Memorial » in 1988, and soon became one of the foremost figures  in human rights in Russia. In the dying days of perestroika, Lev Ponomarev went into politics and in 1990 co-founded the opposition movement « Democratic Russia ». He was a People’s Deputy at the end of the Soviet era and a deputy of the first convocation of the State Duma in the new Russia after the collapse of the USSR in 1991. In 1997 he founded the not-for-profit « For Human Rights » and in 2007 he set up the « Foundation in Defence of Prisoners’ Rights ». He was a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group from 1996 until its closure last year. In 2019 his organisation « For Human Rights » was shut down by the authorities. On December 28, 2020, Lev Ponomarev’s name was in the first list of individuals designated as ‘media foreign agents’ by the Russian Justice Ministry. The recording was made on 22 December 2023. You can also listen to the podcast on our website, or on SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Anchor and YouTube.  My questions include: Lev Aleksandrovich, where were you when you learned that Russia had launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine? Do you remember how you felt at that moment? If I’m not mistaken, you now live in Paris. Could you tell me how this came about? Your NGO « For Human Rights » was closed down in 2019 and a year later you yourself became a “Media – Foreign Agent”. How did you feel when all this was happening and why did the authorities do this? You have always been someone who warned about the dangerous developments of the Putin regime. Do you think you had insights that others did not? Does everyone agree with you now? What do you think was Boris Yeltsin’s biggest mistake? Presidential elections are scheduled for next March – although we already know that they will not be “free and fair”. What do you think civil society should do in the run-up to the election – and during the election itself? To what extent do people in emigration perceive things differently from those who stayed in Russia? Is this difference noticeable to you? How do you think it affects relations between those who have left Russia and those who remained? It is hard not to be pessimistic about human rights in the near future, not least because Russia’s war against Ukraine is still ongoing.  But in the longer term, are there grounds for optimism?

My guest today is Natalya Zyagina, head of the Moscow branch of Amnesty International shut down by the Russian authorities in 2022. Natalya Zvyagina has a long record as a Russian human rights activist. She is originally from the city of Voronezh, where she worked for many years in the Interregional Human Rights Group. Natalya has also worked at the Institute for Law and Public Policy, a non-profit organization based in Moscow, and at the Russian branch of Transparency International. This recording was made on 30 November 2023. In addition to our website, you can also listen to the podcast on SoundCloud, Podcasts.com, Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Anchor and YouTube.  My questions include: First of all, please tell us about your work in Voronezh. What prompted you to become involved in human rights work? In the 1990s Voronezh became one of the main centres of human rights activity in Russia, and many of Russia’s leading human rights defenders come from there. What do you attribute this to? In 2018, you took up the post of head of Amnesty International’s Moscow office. What were your expectations at that time? What was Amnesty’s role in Russia at that time? How did the Russian human rights community feel about the organisation? Looking back, how do you assess the change in the status of Aleksei Navalny, whose recognition as a prisoner of conscience was removed for a while, although now he is again recognised as such? And how important is Amnesty’s classification of people as “prisoners of conscience” for the Russian public and human rights community in general? In March 2022, the Russian media regulator blocked access to Amnesty International’s Russian-language website. What impact did this decision have on your work? In April of the same year Russian authorities removed the Amnesty’s registration as a representative office in Moscow. In addition to Amnesty’s office, the Russian Ministry of Justice closed the offices of 15 representative offices of foreign NGOs and foundations, including Human Rights Watch, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Heinrich Böll, Friedrich Naumann, Friedrich Ebert, and other organizations. The Justice Ministry said at the time that this was done “in connection with revealed violations of Russian law.” What was all this in fact about? At the time, Agnès Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, said that Amnesty would continue its work to document and expose human rights abuses in Russia despite the office closure. How easy was it for Amnesty to continue its work without a Moscow office? What has been your personal situation and that of other staff members since then? Where were you when Russia invaded Ukraine? Did the invasion of Ukraine come as a shock to you? Are the current extreme measures against human rights in Russia a result of the war? Or have the policies of the Putin regime been moving in this repressive direction anyway? After all these events, a new conflict has erupted in the Middle East. Has this had any impact on your work at Amnesty? How do you assess the events in Dagestan in relation to the war in the Middle East? Many human rights defenders have left Russia. What is life like for those who have remained in the country? Can they do any meaningful work at all? Recently, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs drafted a bill that would require foreigners visiting Russia to declare their “loyalty” to the Russian authorities. What does this mean? How do you see the future of human rights work in Russia?

My guests today are two Parisians, Aleksandra Ilkhovskaya and Svetlana Dokudovskaya: Aleksandra [known to everyone as “Sanya]” has lived in Paris since she was six years old – her mother emigrated from Russia in 1991. She is married with two daughters. She is a primary school teacher with 10 years’ experience. Svetlana has lived with her French husband and their 13-year-old daughter in Paris for the past 17 years. She works as a cell biologist at the Gustave Roussy Institute, Europe’s largest cancer research centre. Both their lives changed after February 24th 2022. This recording was made on 22 September 2023. My questions include: What were your thoughts and feelings when you woke up last February 24th? Why did you decide you needed to take action? And how? When did you first arrive at the train station and what did you find there? You obviously helped the people there a great deal, but what did you get out of the experience, what did you learn or discover about yourselves? Sveta, with Sanya’s help, you published a book called “Operation Montparnasse”. It contains the stories of refugees and also the stories of your fellow Russian volunteers/translators. What would you say is the particular importance of the book for you?  And for your readers?

My guest today is the author Maxim Osipov.  Following in the great Russian tradition of Chekhov and Bulgakov, he has pursued a career in medicine in parallel with that of a writer.  For his works of fiction – for the most part short stories that are sharp and witty commentaries on modern-day life in the Russian provinces – Maxim Osipov has won a number of literary prizes, and his plays have been staged as well as broadcast on the radio in Russia. Osipov’s works have been translated into 18 languages. His books published in English include the collections of short stories Rock, Paper, Scissors and Other Stories and Kilometer 101 (see my review in Rights in Russia from earlier this year). Shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Maxim Osipov signed several letters condemning Putin’s military operation.. He left Russia on 4 March 2023 and now lives in the Netherlands where he has launched a new quarterly literary journal,  The Fifth Wave.  This recording was made on 11 August 2023. My questions: You left Russia almost immediately after the Russian army invaded Ukraine. How did you come to take such a decision? How difficult was it for you? Before you left Russia you successfully combined the professions of cardiologist in Tarusa with that of a writer of short stories and other works of literature. How did these two roles complement one another? Do the current policies of Putin’s Russia allow you to be a writer? What is the duty or role of a Russian writer in today’s situation? What’s your reaction when accusations of imperialism and ‘colonial thinking’ are made against some of the classics of Russian literature? To what extent are they justified? Do you see attempts outside Russia to cancel Russian culture, as is claimed by Russian propaganda? In justifying the invasion of Ukraine, Putin set out his interpretation of history, claiming that Ukraine belongs to the ‘Russian world.’ To what extent does such use of history as justification have a place in the contemporary world? You have recently begun publication of a new journal. Tell us about it and your aims and aspirations for it. You have named your magazine The Fifth Wave. You wrote earlier that this wave of emigration is most similar to the first wave after 1917. What did you have in mind? Do you continue to write fiction in emigration? You no longer practice as a doctor, so where do you get your material from? How do you find life in emigration? Are there circumstances under which you would return to Russia?

Welcome to the ninth edition of our Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas.  My guest today is Tetyana Sokolova, a professional midwife of 40 years at Mariupol Maternity Hospital No. 2, on the left bank of Mariupol near Azovstal, the industrial plant that became a centre of resistance against the Russian invaders.  On 9 March, the city’s Maternity Hospital No. 3 was bombed by Russian aircraft and the whole world watched with horror pictures of the destroyed building and Ukrainian soldiers’ desperate attempts to save the life of a pregnant woman, as she lay on a stretcher among the ruins. Three pregnant women from the rubble of Maternity Hospital No. 3 were brought to Tetyana and her team of midwives,  For her work, her resilience and her bravery under the most difficult of conditions, Tetyana was awarded the international Anna Politkovskaya prize, named in honour of the murdered journalist. My questions 1.  Where were you when you realised that Russia had invaded Ukraine? What was your reaction and what were your first thoughts? 2.  You went to work on 2 March.  Did you waver at all in your decision?  After all, it was less than a week since the war had started.  What made you to go to work that day? 3.  Tell us about the events of 9 March and how they impacted you personally. 4.  You have worked in Mariupol all your professional life - what made you become a midwife? 5. Could you ever have imagined that you would be an eyewitness to alleged war crimes? 6. How did you escape from Mariupol? 7. Where do you live now? 8. Do you cherish hopes of returning to Mariupol one day?  10.  Were you surprised to be awarded the Anna Politkovskaya prize? Did you know about her before?

Welcome to the eighth edition of our Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas.   As a rule,  guests on our podcast are individuals for whom 24th February 2022 was a turning-point in their life; today we are talking about an organisation that came into being as a result of that fateful date. The Reckoning Project was created in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with the aim of gathering evidence of war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine. To this end, The Reckoning Project has brought together a team of international advisers – human rights experts, historians, lawyers and politicians. And on the front line, so to speak, is a team of journalists led by our guest today, Nataliya Gumenyuk. They are the foot soldiers on the ground who gather testimony about Russia’s war crimes from Ukrainian eyewitnesses. This recording was made on 22 June 2023 My questions include: Could you ever have imagined doing what you do  today? What was the journey that led to your present occupation? What exactly was the impetus behind the creation of The Reckoning Project? What role do the lawyers play in your work? Have they had an impact on your team’s journalistic practice?  What kind of interaction is there between lawyers and journalists on the team? Tell us about your work with Ukrainian children – after all, their deportation to Russia is classified as a war crime under international law. How did your team gather testimonials from people who were victims of the recent catastrophe at the Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam? Are you confident that your work will be of use to in the future? In what way? See also this story on the deportation of children from Mariuopol: Iryna Lopatina [via thereckoningproject.com], ‘“Dad, You Have to Come—Or We Will Be Adopted!”: One Ukrainian Family’s Harrowing Wartime Saga,’ Vanity Fair, 6 October 2022

Welcome to the seventh episode of our new Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas. In recent weeks, politically motivated trials and lengthy prison terms in Putin’s Russia reached a new peak. Vladimir Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years’ imprisonment for treason and Evgenia Berkovich and Svetlana Petriichuk have been remanded in custody awaiting trial for “justifying terrorism” in connection with the staging of a play. Some say these developments signify a return to the USSR of the 1970s, others that it is reminiscent of Stalinist purges. Our guest today, Boris Kuznetsov, is a lawyer who played a key role in the first high profile trial of Putin’s presidency – he defended the interests of relatives of the sailors who died on the Kursk nuclear submarine, which sank in 2000. We invited him to share with us his experiences of the Kursk case in particular, and more widely his observations and reflections on the legal system and practice of jurisprudence in Putin’s Russia. The recording was made on 1 June 2023.

Welcome to the sixth episode of our new Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas. Whilst our podcast is mostly about people for whom February 24th 2022 was a turning-point in their lives, the subject of today’s conversation is the country, whose leadership caused that date to be so significant in all our lives. We are talking, of course, about Russia. To lead us to an understanding of just how fateful a date 24th February 2022 may be for Russia itself, we talked to Dmitry Oreshkin, someone who has devoted many years to  detailed observation of the political, economic, and social life of the country. Let him be our guide as we discuss present-day Russia and the likely future of the Russian Federation. This recording took place on May 11th 2023 You can also listen to the podcast on our website, SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Anchor and YouTube.  My questions include: How long have you known that Putin had imperial ambitions in relation to Ukraine? Where did these ambitions come from? After Russia invaded Ukraine, you decided to leave the country. What was your main argument for your decision? How do you assess the current wave of Russian emigration? How does it compare to previous Russian emigrations? How might this influence the country’s future development? What do you think prompted the general mobilization that took place last autumn? What consequences has it had? Immediately after its was announced, a large number of men of conscription age left Russia. Do you see this as a demographic crisis?  Can you comment on the annual Victory Day celebrations in Moscow and other Russian cities? What can does it tell us about the state of the Russian army – about its losses, about the criticism we hear about the Defence Ministry from numerous private military groups and so on? Under what circumstances could the war against Ukraine be brought to an end? What will happen after Putin? Do you think he will be overthrown? Will he die peacefully in his bed?

Welcome to the fifth episode of our new Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas.  With me today is Marina Ovsyannikova, the Russian journalist who shocked the world with her anti-war protest on 14 March 2022, which went live on Russian State TV’s prime time news programme “Vremya”. Since that moment, she has been through such a rollercoaster of adventures –  fleeing Russia with her daughter, work as a journalist in Germany, and now her recent relocation to Paris. Her book Between Good and Evil recently came out in three languages and will soon be published in four more.  No doubt other languages will follow.  This recording took place on 19 April 2023. Marina Ovsyannikova’s autobiographical Between Good and Evil describing her life in Moscow as a journalist and the media ‘propaganda factory’ that works on behalf of the Kremlin is published by Post Hill Press, March 2023, pp190, ISBN: 979-8888450505. You can also listen to the podcast on SoundCloud, Podcasts.com, Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Anchor and YouTube.  My questions include: Marina, how do you remember 24 February 2022? Could you have imagined that such a thing could happen? Or did the invasion by Russian troops of Ukraine come as a complete surprise to you? What was your job at Channel One then? When did you start working for the state TV channel? What does it mean to you to be a conscientious and professional journalist? Were there instances in the past when you and your colleagues might have acted differently? What thoughts were going through your head that prompted you to act on 14 March? Tell us how it happened. I’ve heard that an English journalist unwittingly played a key role in your decision to act. Weren’t you afraid of the consequences? You are a mother, you have children … Did Channel One introduce new procedures after your protest to make sure it couldn’t happen again? What happened to you immediately afterwards? You were placed under house arrest. Did you have an electronic bracelet? How long did that period last and were there people watching you? When did the offer of help to flee Russia come? What did you decide to do? In the end, it was a very big adventure! Tell us in as much detail as you can about your escape. How did you manage to get the bracelet off? Are you in touch with your husband? And with your mother? What about your son? A new law on digital conscription was recently introduced. What does this tell you about the path Putin is taking Russia down in the years to come? Are you afraid for your son? Vladimir Kara-Murza was recently convicted of treason and given a sentence of 25 years’ imprisonment. What are your thoughts about this? Are you afraid for yourself? How has your daughter coped through all these dramatic events and changes to her life? Do you think your former colleagues at Channel One are still genuinely and sincerely committed to their jobs?  What is life like for you in Paris? How do you see your future?

Our latest guest is the Ukrainian writer Andrei Kurkov. Andrei Kurkov became widely known to readers around the world in 2001 when his novel Smert’ postoronnego [Смерть Постороннего] was published in English translation as Death and the Penguin. Other novels followed and, in their wake, worldwide recognition and success at prominent international literary awards. His latest novel, Grey Bees, tells the story of an elderly beekeeper in the occupied territory of Donbas. The novel touches on the war in Donbas and on the violation of Crimean Tatar rights in Russian annexed Crimea. In 2015 his Ukraine Diaries was published in English and, recently, his Diary of an Invasion.   This recording took place on 14 April 2023.  Diary of an Invasion is published by Mountain Leopard  Press, ISBN: 9781914495847, pp 304, London, 2022. It is a collection of Andrei Kurkov’s writings and broadcasts from Ukraine in the lead up to and during the war. You can also listen to the podcast on our website, SoundCloud, Podcasts.com, Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Anchor and YouTube.  My questions include: 1.      You started your Diary of an Invasion just before New Year at the very end of 2021. Do you always keep a diary? 2.      What emotions did you feel when you learnt what had happened on February 24th? 3.      How do you see the role of the writer during the war? 4.      Before the invasion, your remarks in the Diary about Ukraine and your Ukrainian compatriots are quite multifaceted. But after you tend to write about them as if they were figures from Ukrainian historical myths (‘bylinas’) – how brave, freedom-loving they are, and how different they are from the Russians. It is as if those human traits that make your novels so memorable and touching aren’t relevant here. What explains that change? 5.      You write about the traditions of the Ukrainian people and the creation of myths in times of crisis. What is the role of traditions and myths in the identity of a people? 6.      Your native language, in which you became a famous writer, is Russian. Have you ever had any problems in your relations with Ukrainian writers or the public because of it? 7.      What is your attitude to the Russian language in Ukraine now? 8.      How do Russians around the world react to your advocacy for Ukraine – do you get hate mail from Russians? 9.      Do you see the possibility for Russian-speaking Ukrainians to write in Russian again in the future? 10.  You write in your Diary that you have an unfinished novel… will you be able to finish it or is it doomed to remain in the unfinished after the Russian invasion? 11.  Do you believe in the concept of ‘good Russians’? Who is a ‘good Russian’ for you? 12.  Has Russian culture played a major role in your own development as a writer? 13.  Are there any commonalities between Russian and Ukrainian culture and traditions? (You write in the Diary about the feat of Russian PR in promoting Russian culture around the world, as if Russian culture would not be so highly regarded without it.) 14.  How do you see the future of Ukraine? And of Russia? 

Welcome to the third episode of our new Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas.   After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 everything, everywhere, suddenly looked different. That day was a watershed. Guests on the Then & Now podcast are people for whom February 24 became a defining moment, dividing their lives into before and after the war. Today’s guest is Lev Gudkov, a sociologist and director of the analytical Levada Centre, Russia’s leading independent polling organisation. He is also editor-in-chief of the journal The Russian Public Opinion Herald. Lev Dmitrievich has worked at the Levada Centre since its founding, initiated by Yury Levada in 2003. After the death of Yury Levada in 2006, Lev Dmitrievich becamse the director of the Centre. In September 2016 the Levada Centre was designated as a ‘foreign agent’ organisation, a move which at the time Lev Gudkov said amounted to ‘political censorship.’ This recording took place on 16 March 2023

Welcome to the second episode of our new Russian-language podcast Then & Now with me, Teresa Cherfas.   After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 everything, everywhere, suddenly looked different. That day was a watershed. Guests on the Then & Now podcast are people for whom February 24 became a defining moment, dividing their lives into before and after the war. Today’s guest is Svetlana Alekseevna Gannushkina: human rights activist, social activist and chair of the Committee for Civic Assistance – the first human rights organisation in Russia helping refugees and displaced persons. In 1991, she was one of the founding members of the Memorial Centre for Human Rights and in 2010  – together with Memorial – she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. On December 23, 2022, her name was added to the register of ‘foreign agents.’  Her organisation, the Committee for Civic Assistance, was registered as a 'foreign agent' in April 2015.   The recording took place on 16 February 2023 My questions include: What did you recall of your feelings and thoughts on 24 February 2022? What were the key events that led you to become a human rights activist? Why did you decide to focus your work on refugees?  How does being on the register of 'foreign agents' affect you? And the work of your organisation? You often talk about feelings of shame and responsibility for your country. How do you understand Russia’s lack of sympathy for Ukrainians? What is left of civil society in Russia today after the closures of Memorial, the Moscow Helsinki Group and the Sakharov Centre? How do you see the future of Russia?

Welcome to our new Russian-language podcast, Then & Now, with me, Teresa Cherfas.   After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 everything, everywhere, suddenly looked different. That day was a watershed. Guests on the Then & Now podcast are people for whom February 24 became a defining moment, dividing their lives into before and after the war. My first guest is Marina Litvinenko, widow of Aleksandr Litvinenko, who perished in London in November 2006. Aleksandr Litvinenko was poisoned with a lethal dose of Polonium-210. This was to all intents and purposes a nuclear crime perpetrated by Putin’s Russia on British soil. But immediately after Litvinenko's murder, the British government kept its silence. Not wanting to spoil relations with Russia, it went no further than accusing two ‘suspects’ back in Moscow of the crime. When the British authorities asked for their extradition, they got the usual response – ‘nyet.’ After her husband’s tragic death, Marina Litvinenko fought long and hard to have her husband’s case treated as an act of State terror. In January 2016, the High Court in London judged that the two 'suspects' in Litvinenko’s murder had ‘probably’ acted under the direction of the FSB and with the approval of President Vladimir Putin and Nikolai Patrushev, Director of the FSB. It was only in 2021 that the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia was responsible for the death of Aleksandr Litvinenko. This is largely down to the efforts of today's guest.  The recording took place on 12 January 2023. Questions include: You performed a fantastic feat in defence of Sasha.  Where did you draw your strength from?   How would you describe the behaviour and attitude of the British authorities toward Sasha’s murder? Was it a surprise to Sasha (and to you) that Putin sent assassins to attack him in London?  Especially after the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights, which explicitly accused Putin of killing Sasha, were you afraid that they could come after you, too?  Were you worried for your son? Tell us about some of the projects that have been developed relating to your husband’s case?  Where were you and what do you remember of the moment you found out that Russia had attacked Ukraine? Did your perception of  Putin change as a result?  Did it change your feelings about Russia? How would you have described the Putin regime before February 24? Did that change afterwards? How do you see the future of Russia?  And of Putin?   What would it take for Russia to become a ‘normal’ country?  Does the West’s attitude towards what is happening in Ukraine give you hope? What else do you think the West needs to do?   Will Putin and his associates be put on trial and punished for war crimes in The Hague? How do you see the future of Ukraine?  

Our guest on the podcast this week is Varvara Pakhomenko. Varvara Pakhomenko has been a human rights activist for a very long time. Back in her native Tomsk she was actively involved in human rights activities. Having moved to Moscow, Varvara began working with many human rights activists in the capital, but the geography of her travels remained very wide. Since 2006, Varvara Pakhomenko has worked in conflict zones in the North and South Caucasus: in 2006-2009 at the human rights organization Demos, in 2009-2011 at the Dutch organization Russian Justice Initiative, and since 2011 she has worked as a programme analyst for Europe and Central Asia at the International Crisis Group. When the Russian authorities effectively closed the ICG’s Moscow office, Varvara left to work in Ukraine. There she worked first for the UN Development Programme and after that for Geneva Call. A move to Canada seemed to put some distance between her and Europe, but now Varvara Pakhomenko is back again on the old continent. The recording took place on 24 June 2022. This podcast is in Russian. You can also listen to the podcast on ourwebsite, SoundCloud, Podcasts.com, Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Anchor and YouTube.  You can also listen to the podcast in full here (see also below): The questions we ask Varvara Pakhomenko include: ·        How did human rights activism come into your life? ·        One of Tomsk’s leading human rights activists was Boris Maksovich Kreindel. He was involved in many projects, including defending the rights of Roma in Tomsk region. How did it happen that he had to leave his native land? ·        Tell us about your work in the conflict zones in the Caucasus – where did you work? To what extent was it dangerous? ·        Which Moscow human rights activists and which organizations have you worked with in Russia? ·        When and why did you decide to move to Ukraine? ·        How does the human rights movement in Ukraine differ from that in Russia? ·        At least since 2012 the Russian authorities have pursued policies of increasing restrictions on human rights work in the country, attacks on freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and a general moved towards isolationism. Do you think they have been preparing for the war against Ukraine for a long time? ·        What has been your role at the UNDP and Geneva Call? ·        How has the Ukrainian army changed since 2014. How do you assess the Ukrainian military’s compliance with international humanitarian law and with the rules and customs of warfare? ·        How do you see the future of human rights in Russia and the future of human rights organizations? Sergei Nikitin writes on Facebook: “I remember when I was working on South Ossetia in 2010,” Varya Pakhomenko told Simon Cosgrove and I. “I had to make a difficult decision at the time: I did not know what to do. I called Sasha Cherkasov and asked him what to do in this situation. Sasha replied: ‘You know, no one can make this decision better than you right now. Because you know all that’s going on there better than anyone.’ And at that moment I realized that these fine people had begun to see me as an equal colleague.” In this podcast, Varya Pakhomenko talks about her native Tomsk, about Tomsk human rights activist Boris Kreindel, and about how a student from Siberia became a human rights activist. Varya and I were in South Ossetia together two weeks after the end of the war in 2008, so I had a chance to work with her myself then. After Russia, Varvara Pakhomenko has worked in Ukraine: in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and, after that, with the Geneva Call organization. It was then that she participated in training the Ukrainian Armed Forces, teaching the Ukrainian military how to comply with international humanitarian norms and protect civilians in armed conflict.

Our guest on the podcast this week is Nikolai Kavkazsky. Nikolai Yurievich Kavkazsy is a Russian civil society activist, human rights defender and opposition politician. He is one of the leading Yabloko activists in Moscow. Nikolai Kavkazsky was a defendant in the Bolotnoe case. Politically, he defines himself as a left-wing social democrat, an internationalist, a supporter of LGBT rights and of feminism. He is an advocate of juvenile justice and a humane drug policy. This podcast is in Russian. You can also listen to the podcast on our website, SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Anchor and YouTube.  The recording was made on 18 June 2022. The questions we ask Nikolai Kavkazsky include: ·        Which word best describes you – civil society activist, human rights activist or politician? ·        You studied law at the Institute of World Economy and Informatization. At what point did you realize you wanted to be a civil society activist and a politician? ·        You became a member of the Yabloko party in 2007 and are one of the party’s leading activists in Moscow. Why did you choose Yabloko as your party? ·        Why are political parties weak in Russia? ·        You took part in the Bolotnaya Square protest in 2012, after which you were charged with ‘participation in mass riots’ (under Article 212(2) of the Russian Criminal Code) and held on remand for almost a year and a half. Amnesty International recognized you as a prisoner of conscience, along with several other individuals involved in the Bolotnaya case. In December 2013, you were amnestied and the criminal case was dropped. How did all this happen? ·        What were the conditions in pre-trial detention centre? ·        You were an associate of the late Andrei Babushkin, who headed the Committee for Civil Rights. What is the work of this organization? And what kind of person was Andrei Babushkin? ·        You support LGBT rights in Russia. Why is the country so intolerant of LGBT people? ·        On 24 February 2022 you were detained for taking part in an anti-war protest. The next day you were jaled for six days. What is the situation regarding anti-war protests in Russia? ·        How do you see the future of the country and, in particular, the future of human rights? Sergei Nikitin writes on Facebook: “Everything, absolutely everything, must be politicized. Including the question of installing benches at the entrance to an apartment building and protesting against plans to build in housing courtyards.” That’s what Simon Cosgrove and I were told by Nikolai Kavkazsky in a conversation we had with him last week. I’ve known Nikolai since the infamous Bolotnaya trial in Moscow. He is first and foremost a politician, a political activist. We also remember his active participation in human rights organizations, including Andrei Babushkin’s Committee for Civil Rights. It was an interesting conversation in which Nikolay Kavkazsky bravely states that he wants to change politics as they now are in Russia; he wants to change society so that it is more just, more free, and integrates all oppressed social groups.

Our guest on the podcast this week is the historian Nikita Vasilievich Petrov. Nikita Petrov is deputy chair of the board of the Memorial Research and Information Centre (which is based in St. Petersburg). Born in Kiev, Nikita Petrov graduated from the Moscow Institute of Chemical Engineering and went on to study at the Kurchatov Institute of Atomic Energy. His association with the Memorial Society began in 1988. As a historian Nikita Petrov has specialized in the history of the Soviet security services. He is known as the author and compiler of many works describing the structure and functions of the Soviet security services from 1917 to 1991. This podcast is in Russian. You can also listen to the podcast on our website, SoundCloud, Spotify, iTunes, Google Podcasts, Anchor and YouTube.  The recording took place on 30 May 2022. ·        When and why did you first become interested in history, particularly the history of Soviet repression and the security services? ·        When did your collaboration with Memorial begin? ·        You wrote a number of works with Arseny Roginsky, who headed Memorial and died in 2017. Can you tell us about how you first met, what it was like to work with Roginsky, and what he was like as a person? ·        As a historian who worked in Russia’s archives for many years, can you tell us how historians’ access to these archives has changed over the years? ·        You have written about the history of the NKVD under Stalin, in particular about Nikolai Yezhov. To what extent can we talk about the personal influence of people like Yagoda or Yezhov on the NKVD, or were they just doing Stalin’s bidding? ·        You also wrote about the role of the NKVD and MGB in Central and Eastern Europe from 1939. To what extent were the repressions against people of Polish nationality similar to the Nazi repressions on the basis of race – an example against people of Jewish origin? ·        Another topic you wrote about is that of Ivan Serov and the post-Stalinist KGB. To what extent did the security services change in the post-Stalin period, first as the KGB and then as the FSB? ·        Is there an explanation for why the security services played such an important role in Soviet and Russian history? For example: in the book From the Red Terror to the Mafia State: Russia’s Secret Services in the Struggle for World Domination the authors [historian Felshtinsky, who is not considered a historian by many, and former KGB Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Popov (Canada)] write about the history of the state security takeover in Russia, presenting developments in terms of a confrontation between the Cheka-KGB and the Communist Party. In fact, did the Chekists confront the Communists or were they basically all the same kind of people? ·        Why are today’s authorities in Russia so interested in the study of history? ·        Are there any lessons in history? Including for the citizens of Russia? Sergei Nikitin writes on Facebook:Read old newspapers and magazines! That was exactly the advice Nikita Petrov got from his father. He taught him that reading the Soviet press would be interesting later, after many years had passed. So Nikita Petrov, who had studied to be a chemist, became a historian. In our latest podcast Nikit Petrov told Simon Cosgrove and me about his love for collecting old newspapers and magazines, how he stacked them in folders and read and re-read them. That's how chemistry came to lose one scientist from its ranks but history gained a remarkable specialist in the study of the Soviet security agencies. We all know Nikita Vasilievich as the author and compiler of many works describing the structure and functions of Soviet security services from 1917 to 1991. This knowledge is very important to all of us today as people from these very special services continue to occupy seats of power. And these people, having gained access to the levers of power, act even more subtly than the preceding genergation of Chekists. "Logic is turned inside out, black is repainted white, and the crimes of the Soviet regimeare not condemned but justified," Nikita Petrov told us. "Today's attempt to recycle history and use it to educate people in the spirit of patriotism is untenable. Such a policy will only bring up a generation of cynics. However, people who can think for themselves will figure things out, they will see for themselves it is all one big lie."