Throughout this year, we, as a global community, have faced a particularly steep descent into political turmoil: the spread of political violence and misinformation in the U.S., the murder of human rights advocate Alexei Navalny in Russia, and the sacrifice of thousands of lives in wars waged by dictators. These events and others have occurred in different countries, but they embolden people everywhere to treat others as pawns for their personal gain, leaving many to fight for their basic fundamental rights on a daily basis.
Amid this darkness, I find light in exiled Russian opposition leaders Yulia Navalnaya, Ilya Yashin, and Vladimir Kara-Murza, as well as all those who prioritize truth and address corruption. Last spring, Navalnaya stepped up to lead the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) shortly after losing her husband, Alexei Navalny. She now serves as chair of the Human Rights Foundation, as well.
Yashin, a longtime ally of Navalny, publicly opposed the invasion of Ukraine and acknowledged the atrocity of the massacre in Bucha in 2022. That December, the Kremlin convicted Yashin on false charges of spreading misinformation about the Russian army – a hypocritical punishment Putin often uses in attempt to silence those who speak out against his behavior.
Kara-Murza had already been imprisoned since April 2022, punished for being a pro-democracy journalist. Based partly in the U.S., Kara-Murza had worked closely with Senator John McCain, advocating for the Magnitsky Act, a bipartisan bill introduced by Bill Browder that passed in 2012. This legislation established a means of accountability by withholding U.S. visas and freezing U.S. assets of officials responsible for detaining a political prisoner or committing extrajudicial killing or torture. The original law shepherded by Senator McCain and Kara-Murza focused on Russia, but a 2016 Global Magnitsky Act broadened the measure to include officials from any country. In a demonstration of solidarity against human rights abuses, Senator McCain chose Kara-Murza as a pallbearer for his funeral. Kara-Murza and Browder now serve on the advisory council for the John McCain Freedom for Political Prisoners Initiative.
Kara-Murza and Yashin were released in August 2024 in a prisoner swap along with 14 other political prisoners who had been held by the Russian government.
On November 17, 2024, the three opposition leaders held a march in Berlin, Germany, where they gathered for their first event since Kara-Murza and Yashin’s release. While many have attended pro-democracy rallies within Russia, the Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent has caused most public protests to move outside the country. Multiple cities have emerged as a haven for human rights advocates targeted by their own governments, including Berlin, which offered Navalnaya a safe place to live after the murder of her husband.
With around 6,000 people in attendance and many more voicing solidarity online, the march embodied public support for three goals: releasing all political prisoners, withdrawing Russian soldiers from Ukraine, and prosecuting Putin as a war criminal. Protesters marched from Potsdamer Platz to the Russian Embassy with signs reading “Russia without Putin” and “Ukraine’s victory is also ours.” Prior to the rally, Yashin described their message, stating, “We are using the freedom we have here in Berlin to show the world: a peaceful, free, and civilized Russia exists.” While the march focused on specific events relating to Russia, it embodied opposition to an abuse of power not limited to the Russian government.
The trio announced their next rally will take place at the same location on March 1, 2025, with solidarity marches held in other cities, including New York City. Historically, Putin has relied on censorship and lies to gain political support, but one year after he murdered Alexei Navalny and three years into his war in Ukraine, the Russian people are experiencing economic and personal losses that Putin can’t hide from them. Navalnaya described the demonstrations in Berlin as a symbol of support for people around the world whose political leaders have tried to silence them. She explained, “Here, we can feel free, but people in Russia are hostages of the regime… We must come out for those people who can’t. Let’s be their voice.”
These rallies are not an example of winning an election, winning a war, or passing legislation, but the significance of this type of event cannot be lost on us. The rallies in Berlin represent three individuals bringing together voices of support for human rights and freedom after enduring years of abuse from their own government. That unity is the greatest antidote we have against authoritarian aggressors.