The Faces of the Russian Resistance exhibition presents Russians who have been convicted of opposing the current regime or who are awaiting their sentence.
Several dozen people gathered at Helsinki’s Kansalaistor on Saturday The Faces of the Russian Resistance exhibition to the opening ceremony.
The exhibition, which will continue until Thursday next week, deals with Russians who have been convicted of opposing the country’s current administration or who are awaiting their sentence. In connection with the opening, a Russian opposition politician was also remembered Alexei Navalnywho died in a Siberian penal colony on Friday.
– This is terrible. Aleksei Navalnyi was the leader of the Russian opposition and a symbol of hope for us all. Hope for a new, peaceful, prosperous and normal Russia. Now this hope has been taken away from us, says a local politician from St. Petersburg Ksenija Thorström. He is also one of the organizers of the exhibition.
Thorström belongs to the group that has actively opposed the Russian president Vladimir Putin unlimited power and the war he started in Ukraine. Thorström currently lives in Finland. Thorstöm said in 2022 that he came to Finland for family reasons, but because of the war he does not plan to return to Russia. Returning is scary, he said.
Even though Putin’s regime ultimately became Navalny’s fate, Thorstöm’s speech shows that the opposition’s hope is not completely lost.
– All we know is that we won’t stop [vastarintaa]. Aleksei told us that if he is killed, it means that we have power. He urged us to go ahead and use this power. And that’s what we’ll do too.
Thorström hopes that Navalny’s death will give the Russians the impetus to continue opposing the current administration. He is aware that Russia is trying to suppress the demonstrations against Putin even by force. This can lead to the fact that those who oppose Putin do not dare to show their opinion in Russia, Thorstöm says.
– Unfortunately, we already saw violent arrests of people in Russia yesterday. Police beat peaceful protesters. This really looks like the actions of a fascist regime.
It is feared that hundreds of people have already been violently detained at the demonstrations organized in memory of Navalny, says the Russian human rights organization OVD-Info.
Thorström sees that even though the anti-Putin sentiments are being suppressed, it is important that people living in Russia are urged to oppose the administration’s actions.
Opposition to the war in Ukraine is also an important part of the actions against the Russian regime, says Thorstöm. That’s why he and many other parties want to send a message to European countries: support Ukraine.
Thorstöm believes that Russia’s democratic development is dependent on its loss in Ukraine.
– Russia’s chance to democratize depends on it. We believe that only a democratic Russia is a peaceful country for all its neighbors. That’s why we call on the international community to help Ukraine.