To the letter: Sergei Nikitin on the ‘Write to Russia’ project

‘Today we have pens instead of keys.’

Earlier this year, when the Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was still alive, one correspondent wrote to him: ‘I work as a firefighter here, in Canada. We are said to be heroes… I find that funny when I think of people like you. I will never suffer close to what you and your family have been through. I do not want to sound corny; I am being real here. I do not know if I would do what you do but I do know that whatever I do in my political actions in life, I want it to resemble what you do. I will talk about you and what you have done for the world. I will make sure my son knows about you.’ We hope Alexei read it before he was killed.

Dozens of letters like this have flooded the Rights in Russia platform since the ‘Write to Russia’ project was launched last autumn. In the days of the USSR, Soviet authorities did pass at least some letters in English to its prisoners. But Putin’s Russia has put a barrier on messages in any languages other than Russian. To counter this, Rights in Russia offers a translation service. The translated text can then be returned to the author, so that s/he could post it. Alternatively, Rights in Russia can post the letter on behalf of the well-wisher. A small fee of just £2.50 covering postage costs is welcomed – as are any additional donations to Rights in Russia, which is a registered charity.

Some people don’t know what to write. They can express their solidarity and concerns of course, but what else? We know some talented letter writers who have chosen some personal ways around this: they write about themselves! One retired nurse from an EU country has written several letters to Sasha Skochilenko, a peaceful anti-war activist sentenced to seven years for her nonviolent action (she replaced five price tags in a local supermarket with pieces of paper urging shoppers to end the war and resist television propaganda). This pensioner, in her attempt to raise Sasha’s spirits, wrote about many things, including how she played Scrabble with her friends and how one of them caught a mouse by setting a trap with peanut butter – a trap that keeps the mouse alive.

Someone from the USA wrote to us saying that the US postal system suspended mail services to Russia in March 2022, so he had to find new and creative ways to get his postcards and letters into Russia. Along with lobbying the USPS system he was exploring other ways to send his letters of support to Russian prisoners – Write to Russia is one of them.

Many Friends have already joined the project. We remember that Elizabeth Fry was given a key to a prison, in recognition of her work with prisoners in the nineteenth century. Today we have pens instead of keys. Do consider writing to a prisoner; our letters will help to lessen their sense of isolation.

See www.rightsinrussia.org/write-to-russia for more information.

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