Sad week for the media and critics of the government in Russia. While American journalist Evan Gershkovich is still imprisoned, two of the last major opposition figures still present in the country, Illia Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza, were sentenced Wednesday and Monday to eight and a half and 25 years in prison.

The two men join behind bars Alexei Navalny and the 527 people imprisoned since February 2022, according to the NGO OVD-Info, for opposing the war.

In another loss of importance, the Sakharov Centre, a centre of Moscow's intellectual life, is due to close its doors by the end of April and repack its famous exhibition on the crimes of the Soviet Union. Classified as a "foreign agent" by the Russian authorities, this place of debates and exhibitions will thus leave the historic mansion, in the heart of Moscow, which it occupied for 27 years.

To complete this sad picture, the lower house of the Russian parliament, the Duma, adopted on Tuesday a series of amendments further toughening the penalties incurred by anyone who dares to criticize the government, including the introduction of life for "high treason".

A new offence, aimed at those who "help implement the decisions of international organisations" not recognised by Russia, and punishable by five years in prison, has also been created.

Already crushed, the Russian opposition has thus practically disappeared, whether it has been imprisoned or forced into exile. But if there is "almost no possibility to express oneself critically" in Russia, where the repression has reached a scale "unequaled since the end of the Second World War", observes University professor Cécile Vaissié, some voices remain, whose mere presence in Russia has a "strong symbolic weight".

Opponents imprisoned but with strong media rhetoric

LikeAlexei Navalny, who speaks from prison on social networks in messages sent by his lawyers, Illia Yashin and Vladimir Kara-Murza will no doubt speak from their cells. A limited but "ethical" word, a "way to set an example", according to Cécile Vaissié, like the statements they made during their trials.

Sentenced on appeal to eight and a half years in prison on appeal for spreading "false information" about the Russian army on Wednesday (April 19th), Illia Yashinsaid during his trial, according to the independent website in exile Meduza: "Putin is a war criminal, and it is not impossible that I leave him my place in prison." Imprisoned since June 2022, this 39-year-old activist, active since the 2000s, speaks regularly on his Telegram channel despite his incarceration. He was elected in a district in the north of Moscow in 2017.

Vladimir Kara-Murza, 41, said after his 25-year prison sentence on Monday: "I also know that a day will come when the darkness that covers our country will dissipate (...) when those who instigated and started this war (in Ukraine) will be called criminals, not those who tried to stop it."

Oleg Orlov and Yan Ratchinsky, civil society figures and former leaders of Memorial

Oleg Orlov and Yan Ratchinsky, from the NGO Memorial, photographed on October 7, 2022 in Moscow, Russia. © Alexander Zemlianichenko, AP

The sentence of Vladimir Kara-Murza, the heaviest against a political prisoner in decades, was denounced by his lawyer, Maria Eismont, a historical defender of Russian political opponents. She was joined by Ian Ratchinski, one of the leaders of the NGO Memorial, dissolved by the government at the end of 2021 and co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

The prominent civil society figure called the sentence "monstrous" and added that it "marks the difference between today's Russia and civilized countries." Along with his colleague Oleg Orlov, Yan Ratchinsky is one of the few activists still present in the country. True "Russian heroes", according to Cécile Vaissé, the two men affirm "by their mere presence in power that they are not afraid, although they can be arrested at any time".

The NGO OVD-Info

Founded in 2011 by journalist Grigory Okhotin and programmer Daniil Beilinson, OVD-Info fights against arbitrary arrests and police violence by counting the number of political prisoners arrested since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. It is one of the few independent organizations to continue its work in Russia, despite its status as a foreign agent. Some of her team fled the country, but they continue to rely on knowledgeable local sources.

Yevgeny Roizman, free but monitored opponent

Yevgeny Roizman, detained for 14 days on 30 March. © Vladimir Podoksyonov, AP

Released after spending 14 days in prison last March for relaying a video of Alexei Navalny's anti-corruption organization, Yevgeny Roïzman is a political opponent still at large.

Mayor of the city of Yekaterinburg (Urals) between 2013 and 2018, until the annulment of his election by the Kremlin, this very popular man was nevertheless placed under surveillance. However, he remains active on social networks and continues to act through his controversial foundation "Drug-Free City".

Artists and personalities from the world of culture forced to silence but always present

Finally, several figures from the world of culture, notoriously opposed to the war in Ukraine, have chosen to stay in their country, in order to testify to a "silent resistance, which does not provoke, but does not bend," explains Cécile Vaissié.

This is for example the case of the rock star Yuri Shevchuk, leader of the group DDT. Often compared to the group "U2", the man has been banned from concert since he publicly condemned the war in Ukraine (link in Russian) in May 2022. He told the audience who came to listen to him: "Our motherland, my friends, is not licking the president's ass all the time. The motherland is a poor grandmother who sells potatoes at the station."

For Cécile Vaissié, "his presence in the country is a signal sent to Russians opposed to the war, which reminds us that it is possible to love one's country by dissociating oneself from power."

The poet Elena Sannikova, a former Soviet dissident, recited a very political poem at the party organized by the Sakharov Centre before its closure. "Tyrants fight the truth, but their power is nothing against it. David wins against Goliath, the night always ends with the peak of day," she said, while opponent Yulia Galiamina, also present, said "We cannot kill human communication."

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