Facing unprecedented challenges – intensified by Russia’s war against Ukraine – civic activists and independent media across east Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia are not just surviving; they are fighting back, frequently making awesome strides in their conflict for fundamental rights and better governance.
“These are tough times,” Rostislav Valvoda, manager of the Prague civilian Society Centre, told more than 200 regional activists at Unlock, an yearly civic summit organised by the Centre. “But it is besides a minute to mobilise, learn, and support each other.”
After the russian Union’s collapse in 1991, vibrant civilian societies emerged across many of the erstwhile russian republics. Civic groups, social platforms and independent media reached large audiences, promoting activism, diversity and development. Yet, for respective years, democratic setbacks, rising authoritarianism and military conflicts have confronted the region’s changemakers with increasing challenges. Apart from legal pressures, activists face physical threats, digital surveillance and hybrid attacks.
The situation across the region is grim. Only Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia stay on a democratic trajectory, according to Freedom House reports. The remainder – many long branded “consolidated authoritarian regimes” – proceed sliding towards dictatorship, kleptocracy and political persecution. Creeping authoritarianism in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, erstwhile beacons of hope, has cast a further shadow over a region struggling to find its way.
In Russia, repression has reached near-totalitarian levels. Belarus tops the charts with a evidence 1,420 political prisoners, with respective dead and others “disappeared” since 2023. Azerbaijan, emboldened by its fresh war with Armenia, has unleashed another fierce crackdown on activism and dissent. Across Central Asia, hopes for reforms have proven deceptive, as protesters, lawyers, journalists, and cultural figures proceed to be jailed and persecuted, now besides in once-hopeful Kyrgyzstan where president Sadyr Japarov stifles media and civic freedoms.
Under these harsh conditions, civilian society has had to adapt. In many places, interactive platforms, online campaigns and public mobilisation are no longer feasible. Many activists have been forced to go underground or into exile. For most organisations, priorities have shifted to physical safety, digital safety and building tiny trustful communities. In exile, many teams find themselves geographically stretched and fragmented. Activists see their safety compromised even abroad, as despotic regimes have stepped up cross-border physical and hybrid attacks. Notably Georgia, with a government following Moscow’s playbook, has ceased to be a safe haven for political refugees.
Russia’s war in Ukraine has proven to be a severe blow to the fight for freedom across the region. Moldovans, in particular, fear their country could be next if Ukraine falls. “It’s a constant shadow hovering over us,” says Andrei Bolocan, a well-known satirical blogger. “It feels like a knife circling over our heads.”
Andrei Bolocan, a satirical blogger based in Moldova. Photo: Tomás Princ
Yet, despite the continuing onslaught, many activists stay defiant. For Shamil Ibragimov, the erstwhile Soros Foundation manager in Kyrgyzstan, the secret of surviving lies in developing “existential flexibility” to navigate uncertain times. “Resilience is not about avoiding the storm but about dancing in the rain,” he underlines.
Indeed, civilian society and journalists in the region are showing courage and resolve, adapting and withstanding amid war and repression. Though groups have been forced to disband, many re-emerge with fresh formats, ideas and alliances. In repressive countries, many now operate in “partisan” mode, working undercover, gathering in safe places and connecting over safe channels.
To this day, Ukraine’s brave and tireless civilian society remains an inspiration. Crucial in Ukraine’s opposition against Russian aggression, civic actors are besides key drivers for the country’s reconstruction efforts to “build back better” after the war. Countless civic initiatives have sprung up across the country under daunting conditions. From the Siverskyi Donets Crisis Media Centre, working with displaced people from occupied Luhansk, to the Rivne Ecoclub assisting local climate projects and the Urban Culture Institute promoting contemporary theatre, exhibitions and youth projects in Ternopil, all are awesome examples.
No 1 embodies Ukrainian resilience more than Olga Rudneva, chief executive of the Superhumans rehabilitation centre. Sharing stories of injured Ukrainians receiving prosthetics, facial reconstruction and intellectual assistance at her centre, she has become a voice of resilience herself. “Ukrainians fight for the full world,” she told the Prague audience, pointing to 1 of her “superhumans” who won a marathon utilizing a prosthetic. “We live, we inspire, and we get inspired.”
Olga Rudneva, Superhumans Rehabilitation Centre. Photo: Tomás Princ
Solidarity and cooperation are the fresh rallying cries for changemakers. “Today, we civics gotta join forces,” stresses Nikolai Kvantaliani, co-founder of the Digital Skills Coalition Belarus. “Despots have been doing it for years,” he adds, pointing to rising cases of extradition, proving well-functioning ties among authoritarian regimes and their secret services.
Activists like Larisa Hovannisian, founder and head of Teach for Armenia, exemplify these fresh trends. Her project, which already has reached over 30,000 agrarian students, now aims to build a coalition of teachers, experts, and local officials to reshape the educational landscape. “We gotta scope a critical mass to build a truly post-Soviet, post-colonial system,” she asserts.
Vision for Armenia: Larisa Hovannisian, founder and CEO of Teach for Armenia. Photo: Barbara von Ow-Freytag
The fight for a post-imperial agenda is another subject uniting the region’s activists. As old traumas of Russian subjugation and colonisation linger, the presence of fresh Russian refugees feels like a “re-colonisation” to many, not only in Central Asia. “We all share a past of abuse by Russia,” Kyrgyz podcaster Chinara Sultanalieva told audiences in Prague. “We all endure the same pain”.
Throughout Central Asia, initiatives fostering national identity and local traditions are flourishing. “We gotta revive our own past and specify our terminology,” says Sultanalieva, arrogant that her Kyrgyz-language podcasts now frequently surpass those in Russian. In Kazakhstan, akin efforts are underway with audio shows in the local language. “Our aim is the Kazakhisation of Kazakhstan,” says Aisulu Toishibek, maker of the Bulbul project.
The fight against Russian domination is besides at the core of Belarusian activism. “Our conflict is to defend our language and symbols against russification,” says Alexey Kartynnik, who runs a YouTube channel and Belarusian-language podcast from Vilnius. “The challenge is to build a healthy nationalism.”
But activism in this region goes beyond specified survival. “We don’t only fight to live,” asserts Patrucic of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. “We want to change the rules of the game for a better world.” Across the region, human rights have re-emerged as a central issue, with many groups working under the radar, others forming networks like the Kyrgyz Association against Torture.
In Ukraine, the young STAN group, defining itself as a post-colonial movement, supports grassroots initiatives to integrate susceptible and marginalized groups in post-war Ukraine. another projects focus on innovative ideas like urbanism, schools, eco-villages, youth comics for political education, and utilizing data for citizen empowerment.
Women’s rights stay a crucial focus in a region traditionally dominated by men. In Azerbaijan, a women’s group seeks to empower female candidates for municipal elections due in December 2024. Even in repressive Turkmenistan, the Jora (Girlfriend) task provides safe spaces for young women to learn about reproductive and women’s rights.
Amid dark times, small, well-managed teams are seen as starting points for broader community organising. Even in repressive Belarus, any groups inactive work underground, connecting horizontally to tackle local problems. Others, like the Peshcom group in Bishkek, usage non-contentious activism, like street interventions and cycling schools, to reclaim urban spaces for sustainable uses.
Everywhere, digital safety has emerged as a top priority. The Media hazard Map monitors rising physical, cyber, economical and another threats against journalists and media workers in the region. After years of a tight cat-and-mouse game between state and civilian society, many now fear that authoritarians may be winning the race.
Disinformation and digital surveillance are the biggest hazard factors, activists agree. “The multitude of hacking attacks, even against non-state actors, is unprecedented,” says Armenian writer Artur Papyan, co-founder of CyberHUB-AM, an IT emergency squad serving NGOs, human rights defenders, activists, and independent media.
Efforts to push back against digital assaults are multiplying. civilian society and independent media are developing programmes for fact-checking, media literacy, and self-regulation, bolstering transparency in media ownership. Initiatives like Georgia’s past Keepers work on joint campaigns with Ukrainian and Moldovan activists to counter Russian disinformation.
Global NGOs like Access Now and Tech Soup offer critical support, from method assistance to grassroots grants and strategical advocacy. They besides advocate to hold global large Tech accountable for defending civic and digital rights. “It always feels like David versus Goliath,” says Anastasiya Zhyrmont from Access Now. “But we fight for large Tech to admit its human rights responsibility.”
For many, pushing forward amid war and repression has come at a advanced price. With many activists and teams facing exhaustion, burnout and trauma, western partners have extended support to intellectual rehabilitation, intellectual wellness support and recovery. The deeper impact of setbacks, disempowerment and spiralling violence, the longer it will take to overcome, experts say. “The biggest hazard is to ‘internalise’ oppression”, says an Azeri investigator of collective colonial trauma. “It’s a certain way to perpetuate the cycles of violence.” Individual and collective healing will be key in the region, according to the therapist, who wants to stay anonymous. “It is the only way to get out of our helplessness”.
For many, however, the belief in the “power of the powerless”, famously described by Czech dissident Vaclav Havel in the dark 1970s, continues to resonate. Pointing to Havel, who became president of Czechoslovakia in 1989, leading activists remind colleagues to prepare for abrupt moments of change, erstwhile autocratic regimes show cracks or weaknesses.
One specified minute came this year in Kazakhstan erstwhile an ex-government minister, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, tortured and murdered his wife, bringing the widespread issue of home force in the region to the global spotlight. For long-time activists like Assem Zhapisheva it was a unique chance to rally public support. “Crisis is the time to act,” she says.
With a petition run drawing 150,000 signatures, followed by 5,000 letters sent to parliament deputies, civic groups paved the way for a fresh law criminalising home violence. “It is inactive a fight,” says Zhapisheva. “But we know we can accomplish affirmative change.”
In Ukraine, meanwhile, the fight continues in the mediate of relentless war and destruction. In 2022 no 1 gave Ukrainians 2 weeks to survive, says indefatigable Olga Rudneva. “But we are inactive there.” The superhumans at her centre, she notes, had an crucial lesson for all freedom fighters in the world: “You cannot live with an open wound, but can live with a scar.”
Barbara von Ow-Freytag is simply a journalist, expert on civilian society in east Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia and a board associate at the Prague civilian Society Centre.
