Write to Russia

8 July 2026

Project update: 500 Letters!

A Russian political prisoner, sentenced by one of Putin’s courts to 12 years’ imprisonment, wrote to his friends in England:

‘I am a technical specialist by profession. But, having been cut off from my work, I rediscovered my skills in the humanities and began to write poetry. I see language as a gift. As a person of faith, I consider language a gift from God. A nation must cherish its language, understanding and revealing its full depth. And today we might ask: has this generation of people accepted their great gift from God – their language?’

Just over two years ago, RiR launched the Write to Russia project. We invited people from all over the world to send letters of support to political prisoners in Russia. We offered to translate those letters into Russian and send them to all those imprisoned on politically motivated grounds, including those imprisoned for their anti-war views and protests. Although Russia’s prison system does not accept letters in foreign languages, we were ready to help. And we did help – and continue to help. We are determined that language should not be a barrier to reaching out to those unjustly imprisoned by Russia.

These words of a Russian prisoner quoted above may speak loudest to persons of faith. But as a secular project we also feel that they give powerful expression to the vital importance of language for people of faith or of none. And perhaps especially for those whom authorities have sought to cut off from the rest of society by imprisoning them for the peaceful expression of their views.

In that context, writing letters has a special significance, both in terms of communicating with those unjustly imprisoned and expressing support for them, and as a statement of the importance of language at a time when language itself and the right to free expression is penalised by unjust laws and arbitrary actions by the authorities.

Over the past two years and a bit, a small group of RiR volunteers has translated over five hundred letters, written by people from many countries of the world, and sent them to their addressees in prisons, penal colonies, and pre-trial detention centres across Russia.

And we have received replies from the prisoners! We have translated these replies into English and sent them to those who wrote the letters to support the prisoners. In this way, correspondence began, with our volunteers helping people bridge the language barrier.

We have helped — and will continue to help — those who wish to support people unjustly deprived of their liberty.

You too can join out project by sending a letter to us in English that you would like to send to a prisoner of conscience/ political prisoner in Russia.

Each week we publish information about a prisoner in Russia. The full list can be found here. You can also find information about prisoners of conscience / political prisoners in Russia on a number of other websites, including Political Prisoners. Memorial, OVD-Info, Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Federation for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch and Reporters without Borders

Our project email address is: le******************@********il.com

We look forward to hearing from you!

Rights in Russia