Julia, an activist who requested that her real name not be used, was imprisoned for several years as a political prisoner in Russia. Since he had no family, he received nothing from the outside world for the first few months.
“Think about all the things you need every day to brush your teeth, get dressed, eat,” Julia said. “Life goes on in jail, but you don’t get money.”
“In the beginning I even had to cut my nails with a piece of an old razor blade,” Julia said. “After a while, people outside somehow became aware of my situation and I started receiving packages.”
Julia still lives in Russia. These days, she collects basic items and food for dissidents currently jailed. “There are prisoners that everyone has heard of and they get help,” he said. “But I write the ones people haven’t heard of.”
In her letters, Julia offers a list of items and asks what people need. “Soap, toilet paper, towels, underwear,” she said. “Sometimes they respond and say everything is fine and that I should help people who really need it.” But other letters say things like: “This is a disaster. I have nothing. Please send me something.”
Although the number of political prisoners in Russia has increased, Julia said donations have decreased. “This is because everything is becoming more expensive in Russia,” he said.
covering legal costs
Relatives of political prisoners often organize fundraisers on social media. Legal costs are the biggest expense. Activists say a good lawyer can make a difference.
The case of St. Petersburg political scientist Yevgeny Bestuzhev is an example. He criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine online and was accused of “spreading misinformation” about the military. But ultimately he was given a suspended sentence instead of being sent to jail; Bestuzhev said this was due to his lawyer’s tactics.
Repression in Russia doesn’t just harm political prisoners. Children grow up without parents; There is no one to support the old people.
These families are supported by initiatives such as the You Are Not Alone Project, an annual fundraiser for political prisoners in Russia, led by former political prisoner Ksenia Fadeyeva, who was the coordinator of Alexei Navalny’s campaign office in central Siberia before her death while in prison.
You Are Not Alone, often condemned by authorities as an “undesirable organization”, only accepts donations from within Russia.
“Families of political prisoners sometimes have to choose between sending packages to prison, paying for their children’s sports, or buying medicine for their elderly parents,” Fadeyeva said.
In 2024, the project managed to raise 45 million Russian rubles. “About 80% of all requests we receive are for packages or money transfers to the prison authority,” Fadeyeva said. “Then, prisoners can use that money to buy important daily essentials and food.”
The project was able to provide 14.5 million rubles to send packages to prisoners, 7.7 million rubles to support their families, and 5.5 million rubles for other purposes, such as evacuation from Russia, assistance for those under house arrest or released, and paying off prisoners’ debts.
In 2025, the average amount donated per prisoner has dropped from 30,000 rubles (€325/$375) to just 10,000 rubles. “There is nothing else available,” project organizers said. He believes the decline in donations is likely because the public is tired of hearing about political prisoners.
‘Closed Nature’
Elena Skvortsova, who works with an organization called First Department, told DW that most fundraisers last for several months. A community of lawyers and journalists who say they are “fighting against the closed nature of the state”, the First Department also collects donations. Skvortsova said the success of fundraising often depends on the prisoner’s story.
He cited the example of Polina Yevtushenko, who faces 22 1/2 years in prison because she condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine online and in conversations with an acquaintance. That person informed the authorities. The fundraiser managed to raise enough money for Yevtushenko in just a few hours.
“She is a young mother and her 6-year-old daughter can only see her through a glass door when she visits her in prison,” Skvortsova said. “The possibility of a long prison sentence, being arrested because someone slandered you – these are the stories that motivate people to donate.”
Male political prisoners are allowed to receive only six packages a year, but such rules do not apply to women. “For example, yesterday I placed a package in the online shop of the prison authority for a young woman incarcerated in the prison of the Vologda region. When she was brought there, she did not even have basic hygiene products,” reports Skvortsova. “The first package cost about 5,000 rubles.”
Donations should only be made from within Russia, say people working at the Zodno project, which was created specifically to raise money for political prisoners. Money received from abroad may cause banks to freeze recipients’ accounts for surveillance and prevent the accounts from receiving further donations.
Founded in 2011 and now one of the largest rights organizations in Russia, OVD-Info also collects donations in cryptocurrency. Only a few aid organizations do this, including OVD-Info and another organization called Golden Key.
OVD-Info sets these donations aside for emergencies. “Should something happen to the project – this has happened before – and we suddenly can no longer accept donations or lose all of our regular donors, crypto donations will support us and those we are helping,” the project said.
The matter is being publicized
The public generally becomes aware of political prisoners through their family, friends, human rights activists, and journalists.
Denis Shedov, who worked with OVD-Info, said that it was not easy to get the word out. “The problem is that people often don’t know who to contact,” Shedov said. “Word of mouth, Internet research, our own observations and our network of contacts are often more helpful.” He said that some prisoners prefer to solve their problems on their own and do not want the public to know about them.
Skvortsova said fundraising for political prisoners is made even more difficult by the fact that many relatives and lawyers wish to remain anonymous, even when contacting activists.
“Many prisoners are afraid of publicity and don’t want any attention,” she says. “But they still need help. Of course, we try to support them, but it is a slow process. It took us more than six months to collect 100,000 rubles in such cases.”
Fadeyeva, of You Are Not Alone, said there are currently about 1,500 political prisoners in Russia – and they urgently need help.
“Their prison conditions are getting worse,” Fadeyeva said. “People are constantly being held in punishment cells and not receiving medical care.”
This article was originally written in Russian.