A Turbulent Country

On the morning of February 23, a group of political activists held a rally in solidarity with Ukrainian opposition figures who, after months of confrontation with the authorities, managed to secure the president's resignation. The activists set fire to car tires in the center of St. Petersburg and unfurled Ukrainian flags, after which they were detained by the police. The organizers of the protest explained that they had decided to mark the “Maidan holiday” in this way and to express their protest against “imperial chauvinism.” Among the participants in the event was the artist Petr Pavlensky.

February 15 marks the anniversary of the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan. The war, which lasted from 1979 to 1989, claimed the lives of more than 14,000 Soviet soldiers and became one of the most traumatic conflicts of the late USSR, influencing domestic policy and accelerating the crisis of the Soviet system.

On January 10, 2014, upon being released after more than two years in prison, teacher and former director of a community center Ilya Farber held a protest outside the Tver pre-trial detention center. His son scattered metal stars from epaulettes onto the ground, which Farber then crushed underfoot, declaring that it was these stars that represented the people "destroying lives and families." Farber had been convicted of bribery and sentenced to eight years in a maximum-security prison — a sentence later reduced. His case sparked public outcry due to questionable evidence, an unusually harsh sentence for corruption, and displays of xenophobia during the trial.

Anti-fascist march in St. Petersburg. Participants hold signs reading "Public Action. Protect the City from Fascism" and "Anarchism. Anti-Fascism. Autonomous Action."

In December 2013, Mikhail Khodorkovsky — former head of the Yukos oil company and one of the most prominent political prisoners in modern Russia — gave his first press conference in Berlin after nearly ten years in prison. His arrest and the Yukos affair have become a symbol of the persecution of political opposition in Putin's Russia.

A protest by RAS (Russian Academy of Sciences) academics demanding the repeal of the educational reform and the resignation of Education and Science Ministers Dmitry Livanov and Mikhail Kovalchuk. This was part of a protest against the government's initiative to eliminate the Academy's autonomy and transfer its institutes to the Federal Agency for Scientific Organizations. The protest generated a widespread public response, becoming a symbol of the academic community's resistance to increased bureaucratic control over science.

Global Anti-Fur Friday is an international campaign by animal rights activists against the use of fur. In 2013, the march took place on November 29th — traditionally timed to coincide with the start of the holiday shopping season and held the day after Thanksgiving.

The environmental party "Alliance of Greens - People's Party" is filming in the Khoroshevo-Mnevniki district of Moscow, in a nature conservation area where illegal waste burning is taking place.

"Returning the Names" is an annual civic event commemorating the victims of political repression, organized by Memorial. Participants read aloud the names of those executed during the Soviet era. In Moscow, the event takes place on the 29th October at the Solovetsky Stone, on the eve of the Day of Rememberance for Victims of Political Repression. Since 2020, authorities have regularly refused to allow the event, citing coronavirus restrictions.

On Sunday, October 13, in the West Biryulyovo district of Moscow, a crowd of local residents, nationalists, and football fans smashed up the Biryuza shopping mall and the region’s largest vegetable warehouse. The nationalist riot was sparked by the murder of 25-year-old Yegor Shcherbakov, which had occurred the previous week. Shcherbakov’s girlfriend told reporters that the attacker “looked like he came from the Caucasus.” The riot police (OMON), who dispersed the crowd, detained 380 people.

Drinking families, stairwells, local characters, and mysterious fires — a glimpse into life in Biryulyovo. On October 13, 2013, large-scale ethnic riots broke out in the Biryulyovo Zapadnoye district of Moscow. The unrest was triggered by the murder of 25-year-old local resident Yegor Shcherbakov, for which an Azerbaijani migrant, Orkhan Zeynalov, was accused. A crowd gathered near the Biryuza shopping center began rioting, looting a vegetable warehouse and several stores. The protests were accompanied by attacks on passersby of non-Slavic appearance. Police detained around 400 people. These events became the largest ethnic clashes in Russia in those years and sparked a nationwide debate about migration policy.

Political demostration in the Ramensky District of the Moscow Region against the actions of MP Nadezhda Shkutko. Residents express distrust, protest against a paid cemetery in the village of Malakhovo, and demand compensation for unissued land shares.