What We Achieved Thanks to Your SupportKey Highlights“Emergency Assistance” and Public Discussion of the Ministry of Health InitiativeIn February 2025, the Ministry of Health proposed removing mandatory deadlines for providing medical care to prisoners — doctors would no longer be required to arrive within a set timeframe for either urgent or scheduled cases. Previously, urgent cases were reviewed by doctors on the day of the request, while scheduled cases were addressed within three days. Prisons and pre-trial detention centers already lack doctors and medical equipment, and diseases, including tuberculosis and HIV, are spreading widely. If clear deadlines are removed, prisoners will receive medical assistance even less frequently.To prevent this, together with the “Emergency Assistance” team, we launched a campaign urging people to participate in the public discussion. By law, the Ministry of Health is required to consider all comments submitted on the bill. The comment collection ended on March 2. In just a few days, you submitted more than 500 comments on this draft resolution, and thanks to your activity, it became one of the top three most discussed topics on the platform.Good News About Our and Your DefendantsDarya Kozyreva has been released from pre-trial detention — this is our shared victory! Thank you for supporting the fundraising for Darya’s lawyer — your solidarity helped ensure that she was not left alone against the system and had the protection of an experienced human rights defender.Igor Baryshnikov successfully underwent surgery for glaucoma removal. He was diagnosed with the disease in January. At that time, his right eye’s visual acuity was only 4%, with vision loss caused by optic nerve damage due to high intraocular pressure. Several times, we urged you to sign petitions for Igor through the “Dyatel” service.Detentions at Memorial ActionsFebruary marks the anniversary of two of the most high-profile politically motivated murders of opposition figures in Russia. February 16, 2025, is the anniversary of Alexei Navalny’s murder in the “Polar Wolf” penal colony in the settlement of Kharp. A year ago, thousands of people laid flowers at spontaneous memorials and his grave. A year later, the memory of the politician remains alive, and people continue to bring flowers to memorials — but unfortunately, they continue to be detained. This year, 42 people were detained at memorial events for the politician in February.Ten years ago, on February 27, 2015, Boris Nemtsov was shot in the back on the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge. Within an hour of the murder, people began bringing flowers to the site of the tragedy, and by February 28, the memorial stretched over 120 meters along the parapet toward Vasilyevsky Descent.Since then, volunteers have maintained the memorial despite regular acts of vandalism and crackdowns by the authorities. People continue to be detained after protest actions, and this February was no exception. In February 2025, 13 people were detained at the politician’s memorial.Russia Owes Its Citizens a Billion for Human Rights ViolationsRussia owes OVD-Info’s clients 1 billion rubles — the amount the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has awarded to detainees for unlawful arrests and rights violations. Since 2017, OVD-Info, together with the Memorial Human Rights Center, has filed more than 3,000 complaints about violations during detentions, transportation, and incarceration. Nearly 2,400 applicants have already won their cases.However, in 2022, Russia withdrew from the Council of Europe and refused to recognize ECHR rulings or pay compensation. Of the nearly 2,200 applicants, only two have received their money — through complaints reviewed by the ECHR before Russia’s withdrawal. Nevertheless, the obligation to pay remains, and penalties have already begun accruing on some amounts.We will continue to fight for justice and ensure that these compensations are paid. Meanwhile, although Russian authorities ignore ECHR rulings, they still respond to other international demands — for example, regarding medical assistance for political prisoners. Thanks to the intervention of the UN Human Rights Committee, human rights defenders were able to secure the long-awaited surgery for Igor Baryshnikov after months of waiting.How You HelpedFinancial SupportIn February, OVD-Info received 15,919 donations totaling 139,687 EUR.The median one-time donation was 9,28 EUR, and the median monthly donation was 500 rubles;The average one-time donation was 20,33 EUR, and the average monthly donation was 7,73 EUR.Attached is the list of donations. As always, we have removed any personal information.The list includes:Direct donations to OVD-Info’s clients via the “Zaodno” platform: 652 donations totaling 7065,67 EUR;Donations for care packages and medical assistance for politically persecuted individuals: 269 donations totaling 3275,76 EUR.Writing Letters and Sending Appeals“Lifeline”You wrote 152 letters in February;Since the project launched, a total of 12,531 letters have been written for 894 people;We received 3,232 replies and have already forwarded them to you.“Dyatel”In February, you sent 553 appeals to government agencies;Since “Dyatel” was launched, more than 134,000 appeals have been sent.“Emergency Assistance”You submitted over 500 comments on the draft law concerning medical care for prisoners;Thanks to your efforts, the status of the proposed amendments — which could worsen conditions for prisoners with chronic illnesses in penal colonies and detention centers — was changed to “partially considered.”What is “Emergency Assistance”?This is a new OVD-Info project launched in August 2024 in a test mode, which we have now decided to continue;Since January 2024, we have:Helped politically persecuted individuals who are denied medical care or suffer from serious conditions that should prevent their imprisonment;Assisted lawyers in filing complaints at national and international levels, submitting petitions for the release of critically ill political prisoners, and requesting medical transfers for diagnosis and treatment;Raised funds for medication and covered costs for surgeries and treatment.Any politically persecuted person can receive help if their lawyer or a close relative submits a request on their behalf. Applications for “Emergency Assistance” can be submitted on [this page] or via email at med@ovdinfo.org.What We DidProvided ProtectionExpress help
