“You can live with a scar.” Civic resilience in Eastern Europe amid war and repression

Shamil Ibragimov, civic leader from Kyrgyzstan, now researcher on innovation ecosystem in Central Asia at MIT. Photo: Tomás Princ

Facing unprecedented challenges – intensified by Russia’s war against Ukraine – civic activists and independent media across Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia are not just surviving; they are fighting back, often making impressive strides in their battle for fundamental rights and better governance.

“These are tough times,” Rostislav Valvoda, director of the Prague Civil Society Centre, told more than 200 regional activists at Unlock, an annual civic summit organised by the Centre. “But it is also a moment to mobilise, learn, and support each other.”

After the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, vibrant civil societies emerged across many of the former Soviet republics. Civic groups, social platforms and independent media reached large audiences, promoting activism, diversity and development. Yet, for several years, democratic setbacks, rising authoritarianism and military conflicts have confronted the region’s changemakers with growing challenges. Apart from legal pressures, activists face physical threats, digital surveillance and hybrid attacks.

The situation across the region is grim. Only Ukraine, Moldova and Armenia remain on a democratic trajectory, according to Freedom House reports. The rest – many long branded “consolidated authoritarian regimes” – continue sliding towards dictatorship, kleptocracy and political persecution. Creeping authoritarianism in Georgia and Kyrgyzstan, once beacons of hope, has cast a further shadow over a region struggling to find its way.

In Russia, repression has reached near-totalitarian levels. Belarus tops the charts with a record 1,420 political prisoners, with several dead and others “disappeared” since 2023. Azerbaijan, emboldened by its recent war with Armenia, has unleashed another fierce crackdown on activism and dissent. Across Central Asia, hopes for reforms have proven deceptive, as protesters, lawyers, journalists, and cultural figures continue to be jailed and persecuted, now also in once-hopeful Kyrgyzstan where president Sadyr Japarov stifles media and civic freedoms.

Under these harsh conditions, civil society has had to adapt. In many places, interactive platforms, online campaigns and public mobilisation are no longer feasible. Many activists have been forced to go underground or into exile. For most organisations, priorities have shifted to physical safety, digital security and building small trustful communities. In exile, many teams find themselves geographically stretched and fragmented. Activists see their safety compromised even abroad, as despotic regimes have stepped up cross-border physical and hybrid attacks. Notably Georgia, with a government following Moscow’s playbook, has ceased to be a safe haven for political refugees.

Russia’s war in Ukraine has proven to be a severe blow to the fight for freedom across the region. Moldovans, in particular, fear their country could be next if Ukraine falls. “It’s a constant shadow hovering over us,” says Andrei Bolocan, a well-known satirical blogger. “It feels like a knife circling over our heads.”

Andrei Bolocan, a satirical blogger based in Moldova. Photo: Tomás Princ

Yet, despite the continuing onslaught, many activists remain defiant. For Shamil Ibragimov, the former Soros Foundation director in Kyrgyzstan, the secret of surviving lies in developing “existential flexibility” to navigate uncertain times. “Resilience is not about avoiding the storm but about dancing in the rain,” he underlines.

Indeed, civil society and journalists in the region are showing courage and resolve, adapting and withstanding amid war and repression. Though groups have been forced to disband, many re-emerge with new formats, ideas and alliances. In repressive countries, many now operate in “partisan” mode, working undercover, meeting in safe places and connecting over secure channels.

To this day, Ukraine’s brave and tireless civil society remains an inspiration. Crucial in Ukraine’s resistance against Russian aggression, civic actors are also key drivers for the country’s reconstruction efforts to “build back better” after the war. Countless civic initiatives have sprung up across the country under daunting conditions. From the Siverskyi Donets Crisis Media Centre, working with displaced people from occupied Luhansk, to the Rivne Ecoclub assisting local climate projects and the Urban Culture Institute promoting contemporary theatre, exhibitions and youth projects in Ternopil, all are impressive examples.

No one embodies Ukrainian resilience more than Olga Rudneva, chief executive of the Superhumans rehabilitation centre. Sharing stories of injured Ukrainians receiving prosthetics, facial reconstruction and psychological assistance at her centre, she has become a voice of resilience herself. “Ukrainians fight for the whole world,” she told the Prague audience, pointing to one of her “superhumans” who won a marathon using a prosthetic. “We live, we inspire, and we get inspired.”

Olga Rudneva, Superhumans Rehabilitation Centre. Photo: Tomás Princ

Solidarity and cooperation are the new rallying cries for changemakers. “Today, we civics have to join forces,” stresses Nikolai Kvantaliani, co-founder of the Digital Skills Coalition Belarus. “Despots have been doing it for years,” he adds, pointing to rising cases of extradition, proving well-functioning ties among authoritarian regimes and their secret services.

Activists like Larisa Hovannisian, founder and head of Teach for Armenia, exemplify these new trends. Her project, which already has reached over 30,000 rural students, now aims to build a coalition of teachers, experts, and local officials to reshape the educational landscape. “We have to reach a critical mass to build a truly post-Soviet, post-colonial system,” she asserts.

Vision for Armenia: Larisa Hovannisian, founder and CEO of Teach for Armenia. Photo: Barbara von Ow-Freytag

The fight for a post-imperial agenda is another theme uniting the region’s activists. As old traumas of Russian subjugation and colonisation linger, the presence of recent Russian refugees feels like a “re-colonisation” to many, not only in Central Asia. “We all share a history of abuse by Russia,” Kyrgyz podcaster Chinara Sultanalieva told audiences in Prague. “We all suffer the same pain”.

Throughout Central Asia, initiatives fostering national identity and local traditions are flourishing. “We have to revive our own history and define our terminology,” says Sultanalieva, proud that her Kyrgyz-language podcasts now often surpass those in Russian. In Kazakhstan, similar efforts are underway with audio shows in the local language. “Our aim is the Kazakhisation of Kazakhstan,” says Aisulu Toishibek, producer of the Bulbul project.

The fight against Russian domination is also at the core of Belarusian activism. “Our struggle is to defend our language and symbols against russification,” says Alexey Kartynnik, who runs a YouTube channel and Belarusian-language podcast from Vilnius. “The challenge is to build a healthy nationalism.”

But activism in this region goes beyond mere survival. “We don’t only fight to live,” asserts Patrucic of the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. “We want to change the rules of the game for a better world.” Across the region, human rights have re-emerged as a central issue, with many groups working under the radar, others forming networks like the Kyrgyz Association against Torture.

In Ukraine, the young STAN group, defining itself as a post-colonial movement, supports grassroots initiatives to integrate vulnerable and marginalized groups in post-war Ukraine. Other projects focus on innovative ideas like urbanism, schools, eco-villages, youth comics for political education, and using data for citizen empowerment.

Women’s rights remain a crucial focus in a region traditionally dominated by men. In Azerbaijan, a women’s group seeks to empower female candidates for municipal elections due in December 2024. Even in repressive Turkmenistan, the Jora (Girlfriend) project provides safe spaces for young women to learn about reproductive and women’s rights.

Amid dark times, small, well-managed teams are seen as starting points for broader community organising. Even in repressive Belarus, some groups still work underground, connecting horizontally to tackle local problems. Others, like the Peshcom group in Bishkek, use non-contentious activism, like street interventions and cycling schools, to reclaim urban spaces for sustainable uses.

Everywhere, digital security has emerged as a top priority. The Media Risk Map monitors rising physical, cyber, economic and other threats against journalists and media workers in the region. After years of a tight cat-and-mouse game between state and civil society, many now fear that authoritarians may be winning the race.

Disinformation and digital surveillance are the biggest risk factors, activists agree. “The multitude of hacking attacks, even against non-state actors, is unprecedented,” says Armenian journalist Artur Papyan, co-founder of CyberHUB-AM, an IT emergency team serving NGOs, human rights defenders, activists, and independent media.

Efforts to push back against digital assaults are multiplying. Civil society and independent media are developing programmes for fact-checking, media literacy, and self-regulation, bolstering transparency in media ownership. Initiatives like Georgia’s History Keepers work on joint campaigns with Ukrainian and Moldovan activists to counter Russian disinformation.

Global NGOs like Access Now and Tech Soup offer critical support, from technical assistance to grassroots grants and strategic advocacy. They also advocate to hold global Big Tech accountable for defending civic and digital rights. “It always feels like David versus Goliath,” says Anastasiya Zhyrmont from Access Now. “But we fight for Big Tech to acknowledge its human rights responsibility.”

For many, pushing forward amid war and repression has come at a high price. With many activists and teams facing exhaustion, burnout and trauma, western partners have extended support to psychological rehabilitation, mental health support and recovery.  The deeper impact of setbacks, disempowerment and spiralling violence, the longer it will take to overcome, experts say. “The biggest risk is to ‘internalise’ oppression”, says an Azeri researcher of collective colonial trauma. “It’s a sure path to perpetuate the cycles of violence.” Individual and collective healing will be key in the region, according to the therapist, who wants to remain anonymous. “It is the only way to get out of our helplessness”.

For many, however, the belief in the “power of the powerless”, famously described by Czech dissident Vaclav Havel in the dark 1970s, continues to resonate. Pointing to Havel, who became president of Czechoslovakia in 1989, leading activists remind colleagues to prepare for sudden moments of change, when autocratic regimes show cracks or weaknesses.

One such moment came this year in Kazakhstan when an ex-government minister, Kuandyk Bishimbayev, tortured and murdered his wife, bringing the widespread issue of domestic violence in the region to the international spotlight. For long-time activists like Assem Zhapisheva it was a unique opportunity to rally public support. “Crisis is the time to act,” she says.
With a petition campaign drawing 150,000 signatures, followed by 5,000 letters sent to parliament deputies, civic groups paved the way for a new law criminalising domestic violence. “It is still a fight,” says Zhapisheva. “But we know we can achieve positive change.”

In Ukraine, meanwhile, the fight continues in the middle of relentless war and destruction. In 2022 no one gave Ukrainians two weeks to survive, says indefatigable Olga Rudneva. “But we are still there.” The superhumans at her centre, she notes, had an important lesson for all freedom fighters in the world: “You cannot live with an open wound, but can live with a scar.”

Barbara von Ow-Freytag is a journalist, expert on civil society in Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus and Central Asia and a board member at the Prague Civil Society Centre.

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activism, civil society, Eastern Europe