In Berlin, an anti-war meeting titled “Dialogues on War: War in Dialogues” took place on June 19th at the Church of St. Matthew. The event featured the participation of Olga Romanova, the director of the Russian foundation “Russia Behind Bars,” journalist Ilya Krasilshchik, founder of “Helpdesk Media,” and writer Felix Sandalov.
The participants discussed the current Russian young generation and its resistance to the Putin regime. This included the issue of neighboring countries and the problem of extraditing Russians at the request of Russian authorities.
Olga Romanova also shared her experience of living in Russia with the status of a foreign agent – “Russia Behind Bars” was one of the first Russian organizations to be recognized as a foreign agent in 2017. The organization is constantly fined for not having the “foreign agent” label. Furthermore, “Russia Behind Bars” cannot officially use that name, so it has to establish several legal entities in Russia.
Olga Romanova also mentioned that “Russia Behind Bars” is currently trying to prevent the recruitment of prisoners for the war in Ukraine. The organization is engaged in countering the recruitment of inmates for the war in Ukraine, as well as locating Ukrainian civilians who have been abducted. The daughter organization of “Russia Behind Bars,” the Czech foundation “For Our Freedom and Yours,” is currently dealing with the issue of 2,500 prisoners from Kherson who were evacuated from Ukraine during the occupation, as well as providing humanitarian assistance to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Additionally, over the past year, the organization has been helping to purchase ambulances and crossbows for Ukraine.