On 21 April, many Russian cities hosted rallies in support of opposition politician Alexey Navalny, currently on hunger strike in prison – where he is demanding independent medical attention. According to monitoring organisation and legal advice centre OVD-Info, very few people were detained at the protests in Moscow, but almost 2,000 people were detained throughout the country, most of all in St Petersburg.
Since returning to Russia after being poisoned, Navalny has set off a chain of protest events across the country – some of which have been violently dispersed, with people reportedly suffering brutal treatment at the hands of the police. Indeed, thousands have been detained at protests in support of Navalny, who is now serving a 2.5 year sentence for violating conditions of his parole.
In recent years, people have responded to the growing need to help those detained at peaceful protests by setting up mutual aid networks – food, water, informal advocacy with the police, legal advice and moral support. Volunteers often come together in chats on the Telegram social media service to organise packages of food, water and personal hygiene products for detainees, or to organise their journeys home or shelter for the night.
openDemocracy asked five volunteers in Moscow and St Petersburg why they do this work – and whether they believe that their solidarity actions are changing Russian society.
Olga, St Petersburg
39, social worker for children with disabilities
I was detained in connection with the protests three times, and once it went to trial – after a protest on 31 January. It was brutal: I spent the night in a police cell with bedbugs, the police did not take support packages [for detainees], and neither fed us nor gave us water. We then spent the next day in a police van waiting for court. It was my son’s birthday on 1 February, and I didn’t get home until the evening. I thought that I would be arrested for ten days, but in the end I was fined, and the case was dropped on appeal.
I still can’t move on from what happened on 31 January, so this time I didn’t go out to protest – I decided to help people who were detained instead. I was on duty, monitoring chats set up to help people, and delivering packages to detainees. I didn’t go to the rally, but I still made a contribution: helping is also participating. I have two children: I can leave the eldest alone, but the youngest is only four years old. I know that the police can search my home, and this has already happened: they came at 6:40 in the morning once. I go out into the streets for my children’s sake, for freedom and justice.
On the evening of 21 April, I finished work and started checking whether anybody had been detained. I found out that there were already people being held in one police station, so I went, and there were already volunteers present. The police said: “We don’t have anyone here,” even though we gave them specific names of detainees. We decided to hand bottles of water to the police van that was parked nearby. I also had a folder with pens, paper and ready-made petitions with me – it had come in handy when I was arrested, and I knew that it would be useful for these guys who were detained too. The police didn’t take it in the end, so I threw it into the van when the door was open, but the officer just kicked it back at me.