Julia, an activist who asked that her real name not be used, was incarcerated for several years as political prisoner in Russia. Because she had no family, she received nothing from the outside world at all for the first few months.

“Think of all the things you need each day to brush your teeth, get dressed, eat,” Julia said. “In prison, life goes on, but you don’t get any money.”

“In the beginning, I even had to cut my fingernails with a piece of old razor blade,”Julia said. “After a while, people outside somehow became aware of my situation and I started to receive packages.”

Julia still lives in Russia. These days, she collects basics and food for currently incarcerated dissidents. “There are prisoners everyone has heard of, and they receive aid,” she said. “But I write to the ones people haven’t heard of.”

Families of political prisoners in Russia are often left in difficult financial straitsImage: DW

In her letters, Julia offers a list of items and asks what people need. “Soap, toilet paper, towels, underwear,” she said. “Sometimes they reply and say everything’s fine and I should help people who really need it.” But other letters say things like: “It’s a disaster. I have nothing at all. Please send me something.”

Though the number of political prisoners has grown in Russia, Julia said the donations had decreased. “It’s because everything in Russia is getting more expensive,” she said.

Covering legal costs

Relatives of political prisoners often organize fundraisers on social media. Legal costs make up the biggest expense. Activists say a good lawyer can make the difference.

The case of Yevgeny Bestuzhev, a political scientist from St. Petersburg, is an example. He criticized Russia’s war in Ukraine online and was accused of “disseminating false information” about the army. But he was ultimately given a suspended sentence instead of being sent to prison; Bestuzhev said this was because of his lawyer’s tactics.

Repression in Russia doesn’t just hurt political prisoners. Children grow up without parents; old people have no one to support them.

These families receive assistance from initiatives such as the You Are Not Alone project, an annual fundraiser for political prisoners in Russia led by former political prisoner Ksenia Fadeyeva, who had been a coordinator for the campaign office of Alexei Navalny in central Siberia before his death while incarcerated.

One of Russia’s best-known political prisoners, Navalny died in prison in February 2024Image: Kay Nietfeld/dpa/picture alliance

You Are Not Alone, which is often denounced by the authorities as an “undesirable organization,” only accepts donations from within Russia.

“Families of political prisoners sometimes have to choose between sending a package to the prison, paying for their children’s sport or buying medicine for their elderly parents,” Fadeyeva said.

In 2024, the project managed to raise 45 million Russian rubles. “Around 80% of all the requests we receive are for packages, or for money transfers to the prison authority,” Fadeyeva said. “Then, prisoners can use those funds to buy important daily essentials and food.”

The project was able to provide 14.5 million rubles to send packages to prisoners, 7.7 million rubles to support their families and 5.5 million rubles for other purposes, such as evacuation from Russia, support for people under house arrest or who have been released, and paying off prisoners’ debts.

In 2025, the amount donated per prisoner on average has gone down, from 30,000 rubles (€325/$375) to just 10,000 rubles each. “There just isn’t any more available,” the project organizers