Letters vs. the Hydra

From 2014 through 2023, the number of political prisoners in Russia grew by a factor of 15, from 40 to 600.

Letters are often prisoners' only way to stay in contact with the outside world. And, since corresponding with prisoners is, at least for now, both legal and safe, the independent media outlet Takie Dela spoke with people who are doing just that, and found out how to begin an exchange of letters with a political prisoner.

A political prisoner is anyone whose political beliefs or actions have led to incarceration in a detention center or prison camp, where they have been imprisoned for asserting their civil rights. “An enormous number of them are Jehovah’s Witnesses and members of other denominations being persecuted for their faith,” said Eva Levenberg, OVD-Info’s Head of the Department of Legal Assistance in Criminal Cases.