On the eve of the Day of Remembrance for Victims of Political Repression in Moscow, people have been laying flowers at the Solovetsky Stone since early morning in memory of the victims of political repression, bringing candles and posters with the words “Freedom to political prisoners,” reports RusNews. Police officers are habitually on duty near the memorial, and several police vans are parked nearby.
Provocateurs approach those wishing to honor the memory of the repression victims, trying to find out the gathered people's attitude towards the “SMO.”
Foreign diplomats, including the U.S. Ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, came to the Solovetsky Stone, laid flowers, and bowed their heads before the memorial.
Yan Rachinsky, a human rights activist and chairman of the board of the dissolved International “Memorial” by the Russian authorities, came to the Solovetsky Stone in Moscow on Lubyanka to lay flowers in memory of the victims of political repression. “This is our history, the real history, which is preserved in people's memory, in people's hearts. It is a memory that unites people as people, not as cogs in the state machine. People, regardless of any directives or calls, come here to remember those who became victims of state terror,” he told RusNews.
Coordinator of the “Last Address” project, Oksana Matievskaya, spoke about how today members of the NOD came to restore the “last address” plaque on Myasnitskaya Street, attempting to disrupt the event, and the arriving police took the project activists “for questioning” instead of the provocateurs. “Ignoring them, we installed the plaque. And since today is October 29, we went into the courtyard to read the names of the residents of nearby houses, we specially selected a list. But the reading of names took place to their accompaniment, they told us that we would be investigated, that the year 1937 had returned. There were also anti-Semitic slogans.”
The police also closely monitored the laying of flowers in cities across Russia — Novosibirsk, Kirov, Petrozavodsk, and others. In several cities, the event was banned, with excuses including COVID restrictions and the holding of “other events” at the monuments to victims of political repression.
Meanwhile, around the world, the “Return of Names” event gathered many participants. “Memorial” conducted a live broadcast from different cities where people read the names of the repressed.
Former political prisoner Lilia Chanysheva** announced a hunger strike in solidarity with political prisoners. The oppositionist intends to abstain from food for one day — October 30.
Chanysheva recounted how exactly a year ago, on October 29, she was waiting for a meeting with her husband Almaz Garin and anticipating the only political action available to her at the time — a one-day hunger strike. Almaz was not allowed to see Lilia then, but the hunger strike took place. Besides Chanysheva, Alexei Navalny**, Vladimir Kara-Murza*, Ilya Yashin*, Vadim Ostanin**, Daniil Kholodny**, and others participated.
“During the hunger strike, I felt immense inspiration. I established a mental connection with the participants of the event. I thought about them, worried, especially about Alexei and Vladimir. I was curious about how and who managed the food abstention and what the reaction of the administrations of the detention centers and colonies was,” Lilia admitted.
On August 1, Lilia Chanysheva, along with 15 other political prisoners, was exchanged for Russian criminals convicted abroad.
The independent human rights project “Support for Political Prisoners. Memorial” recognized 1,697 people as victims of Russian authorities (since 2009), 777 of whom are under persecution. The real numbers may be significantly higher, as not all people's stories become public.
* Declared “foreign agents” in Russia.
** Included in the registry of “terrorists and extremists.”
Photo: Memorial