Against oblivion: “Memorial” and the struggle for human rights from the Soviet Union to today’s Russia

“Memorial,” a grassroots organization founded in the late 1980s, was the first—and for a long time the most important—human rights organization in Russia. Alongside its work to historically address state repression under the Stalinist regime of violence, a second pillar of its work soon emerged: advocacy for human rights in the new, post-Soviet Russia, especially during the Chechen wars of the 1990s. Increasingly severe repression by the Russian government against “Memorial” and its representatives ultimately culminated in the organization’s dissolution by the state in 2021. Succession and support organizations emerged in various countries. In 2026, the “international movement” Memorial was declared an “extremist organization by the Russian authorities.

Oleg Orlov, a long-standing key figure in “Memorial,” has served a jail sentence and now lives in exile. In a conversation with Cécile Druey and Eva Maurer, we aim to trace the development of “Memorial” against the backdrop of shifting Russian politics, examine key areas of its work, and explore the scope and possibilities for action available to human rights activists in the present situation.

The discussion will be translated live (Russian/English).