Aggressor Russland: Was macht die russische Zivilgesellschaft? CORRECTIV mit Memorial und Radio Sakharov

In Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine, Putin and the leadership in the Kremlin can rely on a large part of Russian society. In order to understand this phenomenon, we need to take a closer look at what is happening in the society of the perpetrator country: We need to understand how the state and society function in Russia in order to be armed against false slogans.

This is why CORRECTIV, together with representatives of Memorial and Radio Sakharov, is talking to specialists in Russian history and representatives of civil society who had to flee Russia ten years after the start of the war and two years after the start of the major invasion about the conditions in Putin's empire and whether and how resistance is still possible in Russia.

The aim is not to lose sight of the past and present: The participants will talk about the causes of the Chechen wars and their consequences for Russian society, Putin's authoritarian rule and possible prospects for change.

They will be joined by Aleksandr Cherkasov from the human rights organization Memorial, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, Sergey Lukashevskiy, editor-in-chief of Radio Sakharov, who has just been awarded the Tonhalle Düsseldorf Human Rights Prize, Marieluise Beck from the Zentrum Liberale Moderne, Prof. Anke Hilbrenner from the University of Düsseldorf, who works on Russian violence and recent colonial history, Prof. Nikolai Plotnikov, who researches Russian resistance, and Gesine Dornblüth, Eastern European journalist, former Moscow correspondent for Deutschlandfunk, book author ("Jenseits von Putin. Russlands toxische Gesellschaft" with Thomas Franke).

Panel with: Aleksandr Tscherkasow (Memorial), Prof. Anke Hilbrenner (University of Düsseldorf), Gesine Dornblüth (journalist, author), Marieluise Beck (LibMod), Nikolai Plotnikov (Ruhr University), Sergey Lukashevskiy (Radio Sakharov)

Moderation: David Schraven (CORRECTIV)

In German-Russian dubbed translation

An event by Memorial, Radio Skharov and CORRECTIV with the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz.

The human rights organization Memorial was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022. For decades, Memorial employees have been documenting the Putin regime's war crimes, human rights violations and abuse of power at the risk of their lives. The organization was banned after the invasion of Ukraine. Many of Memorial's employees had to flee abroad. Some are still in Russia and are involved in civil resistance against oppression.

Radio Sakharov was founded in Berlin as a Russian-language exile medium together with CORRECTIV after the renowned director of the Sakharov Center, Sergey Lukashevsky, fled Moscow. Its program reaches hundreds of thousands of people in Russia. The Sakharov Center was banned in Russia. It is committed to the memory of the well-known dissident Andrei Sakharov and dedicates its work to the fight for human rights and against repression in Russia. It is dedicated to the memory of the many millions of victims of political oppression under the Soviet regime. Sergey Lukashevsky received the Tonhalle Düsseldorf Human Rights Award at the end of January 2024.

CORRECTIV - Recherchen für die Gesellschaft stands for investigative journalism and describes itself as a media house oriented towards the common good that strengthens democracy. They trigger public debates, work with citizens on their research and promote society with their educational programs. Together with the Sakharov Center, which was expelled from Moscow, they operate the Russian exile radio station "Radio Sakharov".