Support the Memorial
Because Russian authorities have designated Memorial an “extremist organisation”, donating to Memorial may carry a risk of criminal prosecution in Russia. If you live in or travel to Russia, we therefore recommend that you do not donate.
If you have any problems with the donation form, you can donate directly through DonorBox.
What your support makes possible
Our work in 2025 — in facts and figures
Unfortunately, we cannot share details about many of the cases and activities we work on, as doing so could put people in Russia at risk. But here is what we can tell you.
Legal Team
We help people who are prosecuted for political reasons — for speaking out against the war and on false charges of extremism and terrorism.
In 2025, our lawyers worked on 201 cases, including 43 criminal cases. In four cases, we helped prevent our clients from being placed in pre-trial detention. In two cases, our clients received non-custodial sentences. In one case, we secured compensation for degrading treatment.
Over the year, we submitted 24 reports, inputs and submissions to international bodies: 19 to the UN and five to the Council of Europe.
Mission to Ukraine
Members of Memorial were the first Russian human rights defenders to officially visit Ukraine on a monitoring mission since 24 February 2022.
To document human rights violations and interview survivors, our colleagues visited towns and villages across the Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, Kherson and Chernihiv regions, as well as Poltava and Odesa.
They witnessed the aftermath of attacks on civilian infrastructure and met people who had survived occupation, filtration operations, abductions, torture and secret detention centres. They also interviewed former Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Following the mission, Memorial published a report, “Ukraine: War Crimes by Russian Aggressors.”
“100 Days After Putin”
“100 Days After Putin” is a major project launched in 2025 under the auspices of Memorial. Lawyers specialising in different areas of law developed draft laws, presidential decrees and international treaties that could be put into effect during the first days of a transfer of power in Russia — to help restore peace, constitutional government and democracy.
Media Team
Our social media posts received 12.7 million views over the past year — thank you!
By sharing our content, you helped us draw attention to several cases of injustice and influence their outcomes.
For example, after widespread public attention, the investigator who fabricated charges against Kazbek Yemkuzhev was dismissed, and the young mother Leila Gatagazheva was no longer placed in pre-trial detention.