This week Simon Cosgrove and Sergei Nikitin talk with Karinna Moskalenko (pictured), one of Russia's leading human rights lawyers. Karinna Moskalenko is founder and head of programmes at the Centre for International Protection, a network of groups that is based in Moscow and Strasbourg, and also has offices in Bishkek, Erevan and Kiev. The Centre specialises in bringing cases to the European Court of Human Rights. Karinna Moskalenko is a member of the Moscow Helsinki Group, the Moscow Bar Association and the Moscow Lawyers' Committee for the Protection of Human Rights. She is also a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists. She won the first ever case against the Russian Federation heard before the European Court of Human Rights and has acted as defence counsel in such high profile cases as those of Mikhail Khodorovsky. This podcast is in the Russian language.

This week Simon Cosgrove and Sergei Nikitin talk with Sergei Davidis (pictured), member of the board of Memorial Human Rights Centre and director of the Centre's programme on political prisoners. Memorial Human Rights Centre is one of the most authoritative human rights organisations in Russia. The programme headed by Sergei Davidis, among a range of activities in support of political prisoners, maintains a list of political prisoners in the Russian Federation. As of today, there are 314 names on that list. Sergei Davidis talks about how the term 'political prisoner' is defined, what can be done to secure the release of political prisoners, and what can be done to reduce the number of such prisoners in the future. This podcast is in the Russian language.  You can also hear these podcasts on SoundCloud, Spotify and iTunes. The music is from Stravinsky's Elegy for Solo Viola, played here by Karolina Errera.

This week Simon Cosgrove and Sergei Nikitin talk with

You can also hear these podcasts SoundCloud, Spotify and iTunes.

This week Simon Cosgrove and Sergei Nikitin talk with Nadezhda

You can also hear these podcasts SoundCloud, Spotify and iTunes.

If this podcast does not play immediately on the

A summary of some of the week's events in Russia relevant to human rights can be found on our website here. 

This week Simon Cosgrove and Sergei Nikitin talk with Lev Ponomarev (pictured left), long-time head of For Human Rights, one of Russia's leading NGOs. In this podcast, Lev Ponomarev talks about the current state of his organisation, his recent arrest and injury as he took part in a peaceful picket outside the FSB headquarters on Lubyanka Square in Moscow, the proposed changes to the Constitution, the impact of the Coronavirus in Russia, and more generally about the main tasks facing human rights defenders in Russia today, the repressive measures against civil society groups and the right of association, the distinction between civil society activists and human rights defenders, between human rights activism and politics, and between different generations of activists. The recent interview with Sotavision to which Lev refers a couple of times during the podcast can be found here. A summary of some of the week's events in Russia relevant to human rights can be found on our website here. This podcast is in the Russian language. 

If this podcast does not play immediately on the podcast.com website, please download by clicking on the three dots to the right. You can also hear these podcasts on Spotify and iTunes.

This week Simon Cosgrove and Sergei Nikitin talk with Dmitry Makarov (pictured left), co-chair of the Moscow Helsinki Group and co-chair of the coordinating committee of the International Youth Human Rights Movement. The Moscow Helsinki Group is one of Russia's oldest and leading human rights organisations. It was originally set up in 1976 to monitor Soviet compliance with the Helsinki Accords and Soviet human rights abuses. Forced out of existence in the early 1980s, the Moscow Helsinki Group was revived in 1989 and continues to operate in Russia today. A summary of some of the week's events in Russia relevant to human rights can be found on our website here. This podcast is in the Russian language. 

If this podcast does not play immediately on the podcast.com website, please

This week Simon Cosgrove and Sergei Nikitin talk with Galina Arapova (pictured left), director of the Mass Media Defence Centre, based in the city of Voronezh. The Mass Media Defence Centre is one of the leading NGOs and think tanks working on media law and the rights of journalists, bloggers and media outlets in Russia. For more information about the Mass Media Defence Centre, visit its website here. A summary of some of the week's events in Russia relevant to human rights can be found on our website here. This podcast is in the Russian language.

If this podcast does not play immediately on the podcast.com website, please download by clicking on the three dots to the right. You can also hear these podcasts on Spotify and iTunes.

This week Simon Cosgrove and Sergei Nikitin talk with Natalia Taubina, director of the Moscow-based Public Verdict Foundation (pictured left). Public Verdict is one of the leading human rights organisations in Russia. Its work focuses on abuses by public officials, not least torture and other violations by the police and prison authorities, including those at public events and demonstrations. For more information about Public Verdict, visit its website here. A summary of some of the week's events in Russia relevant to human rights can be found on our website here. This podcast is in the Russian language.

If this podcast does not play immediately on the podcast.com website, please download by clicking on the three dots to the right. You can also hear these podcasts on Spotify and iTunes.

This week Simon Cosgrove and Sergei Nikitin talk with Tatyana and Nikolai Shchur. Tatyana and Nikolai are human rights activists from the city of Snezhinsk in Chelyabinsk region. Tatyana and Nikolai began their careers as human rights defenders working on environmental issues but since the mid-1990s have focused largely on conditions of detention. For many years they have been leading members of the region's Public Oversight Commission. They also work to improve conditions of life for children without parents. A summary of the week's events in the sphere of human rights can be found on our website here. This podcast is in the Russian language.

This week Simon Cosgrove and Sergei Nikitin are joined by Nadia Kutepova, a human rights activist from the closed city of Ozersk in Chelyabinsk region. Nadia was director of the human rights organisation Planet of Hopes in Ozersk, specialising in the protection of the rights of those who suffered from the radiation pollution from the Mayak atomic plant based in the city. Planet of Hopes was one of the first NGOs in Russia to be branded as a 'foreign agent' organisation. In 2015 Nadia was forced to leave Russia and now lives in France where she has received political asylum. A summary of the week's events in the sphere of human rights can be found on our website here. This podcast is in the Russian language.