1 November 2025
by Sergei Davidis
Source: Facebook
The Venetian lady [1], known for the unnatural whiteness of her coat and her tireless struggle against certain ‘good Russians’ (presumably she considers herself to be one of the bad ones), condemned Oleg Orlov with her usual empty rhetoric for his comments on the criteria for defining political prisoners, referring in particular to a recent decision by a Polish court, which quite rightly justified its refusal to extradite a suspect in the case of the Nord Stream explosion to Germany.
In Oleg Orlov’s words, the lady saw symptoms of a ‘failure to distinguish white from black, and good from evil at all levels.’
Hers was the empty and illogical rhetoric of a dilettante.
There is a specific term, ‘political prisoner,’ used by Memorial in the context of our project, the meaning and application of which are determined primarily by the norms of international law, which, alas, does not grant non-combatants the right to use violence and does not deny the state (even an aggressive dictatorship) the right to prosecute such non-combatants.
There is also the question of justice and the real fates of individuals, attitudes towards their actions and the provision of support for them, taking into account the context of war, the motives for their actions, and the availability of alternative ways to counter aggression and dictatorship.
These are different issues. In fact, this is precisely what the Polish court pointed out.
There is no conflict between the notions of ‘political prisoner’ and ‘criminal’ here.
Of course, participants in the underground struggle deserve every support and attention and should be released. None of this requires the label ‘political prisoner.’ Our project, memopzk.org, which maintains lists of political prisoners, does not distinguish between those recognised as political prisoners and other prisoners whose prosecution has a clear political motive when organising assistance and disseminating information about prisoners. The People First campaign, initiated by the Ukrainian Centre for Civil Liberties and Memorial, demands the release of all those deprived of liberty as a result of the war: not only Ukrainian prisoners in Russia and abducted Ukrainian children, but also all those deprived of their liberty by the Russian authorities for their statements and actions against the war or in support of Ukraine, and not just political prisoners.
I am confident Oleg Orlov can distinguish black from white and good from evil far better than such critics.
[1] The reference is to Ekaterina Margolis. On 31 October 2025, Ekaterina Margolis made a post on her page on Facebook which reads in English translation as follows:
No, it really is a widespread disease.
Not an epidemic, but rather a deep-rooted chronic disease of failing to distinguish between black and white, between good and evil, at all levels.
Yesterday, on the day of remembrance for victims of political repression, the head of Memorial, the much respected Oleg Orlov, confirmed in an interview that Russian human rights activists do not consider prisoners who participated in armed resistance against Putinism to be political prisoners.
“You see, a person who fought or is even fighting in Ukraine, on Ukrainian territory, with weapons in their hands and repelling aggression, is one thing, but a person who participates in guerrilla warfare or sabotage, and in the process people are dying on Russian territory, such a person, according to our criteria, is no longer considered a political prisoner. I understand the line here is not so clear.”
In my opinion, dear Oleg, the line is very clear. Both groups are fighting in a war that they did not start, against Putin’s evil. Because of which people are dying. They are fighting, risking their lives for these people.
Are they not political prisoners? Then who are they? Criminals? Terrorists? Saboteurs?
Or who?
Perhaps prisoners of war?
A Polish court recently decided not to extradite a suspect in the Nord Stream bombing to Germany. Judge Dariusz Łubowski (Warsaw) formulated his decision to refuse the extradition of a Ukrainian citizen to Germany for his alleged involvement in the Nord Stream bombing as follows:
‘… an attack on critical infrastructure in the context of a just defensive war is not sabotage, but military action, which under no circumstances can be a crime.’
And even an Italian Court of Cassation overturned the extradition of another suspect in the Nord Stream bombing, pointing to the incorrect legal classification of the case and the need to assess possible ‘functional immunity’ for actions in the context of military operations.
Oleg Orlov, you are a person of impeccable reputation, a dissident who, during the Russian Federation’s invasion of Chechnya, offered himself as a voluntary hostage. You yourself have been a political prisoner, someone who has served time in prison, and been released in a prisoner exchange, for the truth about the war, a human rights activist who undoubtedly supports Ukraine and justice, who works with Ukrainian human rights organisations and is currently involved in collecting evidence of Russian crimes. With your conscience and human rights experience, can you not see the direct consequences of your statement?
We are not talking about terminology here, but about justice and real lives. We are talking about the possibility of international protection and exchange. About the life and death of those who are not sitting at home, who are not going to take part in ‘elections’ (see today’s anachronistic nonsense from Navalny about United Russia), who are not taking to the streets with balloons and lanterns, and who are not afraid to fight evil on enemy territory at the cost of their lives and freedom. Those who fight alone for justice, not only for Ukraine, but for all our freedoms, for the freedom of the world from this evil, taking enormous risks, being given tremendously long prison sentences, in order to deprive the regime of the ability to continue this war. This directly affects all of us and our common future.
If they are not political prisoners, then I don’t know who is.
Slava geroyam!
PS Oleksandra Matviichuk, I would be very grateful for your professional commentary.
Translated by Simon Cosgrove
