The organization “Russland hinter Gittern e.V.” was founded in Berlin in 2022 as a sister organization of the non-profit foundation “Rus Sidjaschschaja” (Russia Behind Bars) in Europe and is officially registered as a non-profit organization in Germany. The “Rus Sidjaschschaja” foundation was established in Moscow in 2008 by the journalist Olga Romanova to help prisoners and their families. In Russia, the foundation is classified as a “foreign agent”. In Germany, however, “Rus Sidjaschschaja” was awarded the medal of the Theodor Heuss Foundation (Stuttgart) for its contribution to the development of democracy. On 14 August 2024, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation entered “Russland hinter Gittern e.V.” on the list of undesirable organizations.
“Russland hinter Gittern e.V.” uses the coat of arms of the Moscow Foundation, which was created in 1998 by the artist Alexey Merinov. This coat of arms is banned in Russia because the Ministry of Justice considered it to be a misleading representation of the coat of arms of the Russian Federation.
Yury Borovskikh, a sociologist and graduate of the “Public Defender School”, an educational project of “Rus Sidjaschschaja”, is the chairman of the board of “Russland hinter Gittern e.V.”. Olga Romanova is an honorary member and co-founder of the Berlin-based organization.
The main purpose of “ Russland hinter Gittern e.V.” is to research the penitentiary system of European countries and to design a project for prison reform in Russia. In this context, the experience of Germany is particularly important and interesting, which successfully reformed its penitentiary system after the reunification of the country and turned away from the repressive penitentiary system of the GDR, whose characteristics are similar to the Russian system.
The association also opposes political repression and carries out cultural and educational projects dealing with the problems of Russian prisons. We help to write and send letters to political prisoners, collect books in Russian for prison libraries in Germany, hold webinars and lectures, take part in human rights and scientific conferences, organize rallies and appear as experts in the European and Russian independent media.
“Russland hinter Gittern e.V.” is a member of the Platform of Anti-War Initiatives and condemns the military aggression of Putin’s Russia against Ukraine. Together with other representatives of the Platform’s member organizations from 25 countries, we take part in meetings with German and European politicians as well as with the foreign ministries of European countries.
