Welcome to "Russian Dissent"

Using Substack to provide a forum for Russian writers who can't be critical at home, and to help Americans see the range of attitudes inside Russia

Weeks ago, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I tried to get in touch with Russian writers and reporters who were likely against the war and probably being shut down at home. My idea was to create a Substack for them and have their articles translated into English, so the world could see any opinions that are perhaps being suppressed in Moscow.

“Russian Dissidents” is an attempt to create a home for these writers. Some of the contributors here will be writing under pseudonyms, and some, like longtime Marxist theoretician, Samizdat writer, and eventual political editor of Novaya Gazeta Boris Kagarlitsky, will be writing under their own names. Kagarlitsky will be bringing a number of contributors from the site RABKOR.ru, a “left-wing daily Internet publication” that was created in 2008. RABKOR has seen a number of its articles made invisible in Russia of late. Here’s an example of a censored passage, from a piece explaining Western sanctions to Russian readers:

For the past 20 years, the Russian Federation, instead of investing and developing the country, has been investing in currency capsules controlled by Western countries. That is, we sacrificed the development of the country, so that in the end, we could merge everything with one adventurous decision! Having a stash in someone else’s pocket, how could you think to spit in the face of the owner of this pocket?

This site is designed as a way around such censorship. However, not all the people writing here will be RABKOR contributors necessarily. There may be essays by or interviews of others who are looking to reach Western audiences with criticisms that would be difficult to air at home. Essentially, the idea is to recreate a version of Samizdat, only in Substack form.

The issue of subscriptions is one we haven’t fully worked out yet. All proceeds would go to these writers, but at the moment there doesn’t appear to be a simple way to send money to Russian writers electronically. We’re working with Substack and the contributors to come up with a solution. The material here will be free for the foreseeable future anyway, so it’s not really an issue, but if anyone wants to support these critical voices financially, we’ll let you know as soon as we’ve figured out a way to make that happen. Still, it would mean a lot to these writers just to know that there’s interest in their work, so I encourage people to sign up as free subscribers in the meantime.

About Boris Kagarlitsky: I knew him mostly in passing in Moscow in the nineties as someone who spoke fluent English and contributed to the local Moscow Times. He is a well-known figure both in expat circles and among Russian journalists. He has tangled with the state many times previously, including in 2012 when his apartment was searched by the state Investigative Committee, and written articles with titles like, “Putin’s Closed Government” and “Artists Sold Out on Putin.” He has acquaintances across the Russian media landscape and it’s my hope that he and others will be able to make this space a home for orphaned Russian voices.

Lastly, after today, you won’t be hearing from me. This site belongs to its Russian contributors. If you choose to support these writers in any way, thank you, and I hope they make it worth your while.