50-year-old lawyer by profession Yuri Alekseyev fled Putin’s regime just after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Installed in Armenia, he continues his activism.
Deep in Armenia, about two hundred kilometers from the capital Yerevan, Russian blogger and political activist Yuri Alekseyev built a hobbit-style cabin on a hill in the mountains on the border with Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Mr Alekseyev previously lived in a similar underground cabin in a forest in Russia and is known as “The Hobbit”, due to the circular entrance to his house in the forest. A lawyer and programmer by profession, the 50-year-old activist moved to Armenia in May 2022, shortly after Russia launched what it called a “military operation” in Ukraine.
Yuri Alekseyev had to leave Russia because of his activism.
“As soon as the war started, I hung a ‘No to War’ banner near my house. I was imprisoned for 15 days, I served my sentence and it became clear to me that if I had stayed in Russia, I would have been sent to prison for a long time.”
From time to time, Yuri Alekseyev leaves his house nestled in the mountains to go to the Russian embassy in YEREVAN where he unfurls a poster inscribed
“ I am Russian, Putin is a murderer”
He calls on Russian citizens to vote against the current president, and to mobilize for democracy.
“Since my move two years ago, I have continued to promote the idea among Armenians and Russians, encouraging them to vote against Putin, to be socially active and to fight for democracy. For democracy . I explain that what happened in Russia happened because people stopped fighting for democracy.”
Strong repression
Vladimir Putin’s Russia has gone from a country that tolerated some dissent to one that firmly represses it. Arrests, trials and long prison sentences – once rare – have become commonplace, especially since Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
A new repressive law approved days after the start of Russia’s campaign in Ukraine criminalizes any public criticism.
Protests became impossible, with police quickly dispersing unauthorized gatherings.
The number of arrests, criminal cases and trials skyrocketed, and long prison sentences became commonplace.
In addition to its political opponents, the Kremlin is now targeting rights groups, independent media and other members of civil society organizations, LGBT and other civil society groups.
civil society organizations, LGBTQ+ activists and certain religious affiliations.
