March 5 marks the day of Stalin’s death. On this anniversary, we selected eyewitness accounts from the 05/03/53 project — moments when people’s views of Stalin and the Soviet regime began to shift.
A friend’s remark, Khrushchev’s speech exposing Stalin, the deadly crush at the funeral of the “immortal leader.”
What makes someone suddenly see what they refused to see for years?
What becomes the point of no return — the moment when you can no longer “unsee” or “unhear” what you’ve learned?
Mosin stated that they met by chance, and that he lays flowers at Labor Square every February 27 in memory of Nemtsov.
The court nevertheless found him guilty and sentenced him to 9 days in jail.
In court, police claimed that Mosin and Borisov had effectively staged an “unauthorized rally” — because they allegedly met, spoke, and then “in an organized manner” went to lay flowers together.
Mosin was held overnight at the police station until his court hearing. Borisov was released — as a member of an election commission with voting rights, he cannot be detained without a prosecutor’s approval. His hearing will take place later.
Police detained him along with Mikhail Borisov, a former member of the Sverdlovsk regional council, and charged them under Article 20.2 of the Administrative Code (“violation of the rules for organizing a public event”).
Yesterday, he laid flowers in memory of murdered politician Boris Nemtsov in central Yekaterinburg.
Alexei Mosin, a historian from Yekaterinburg Memorial, has been sentenced to 9 days of administrative arrest.
Today, people once again bring flowers to the place where he was killed. The memorial is dismantled again and again by the authorities. And each time, it is restored. The flowers always return.
Eleven years ago, Boris Nemtsov was shot here, just steps from the Kremlin. He was one of the most prominent critics of Putin’s regime — a politician who chose opposition over silence, protest over comfort, and stayed in Russia when many others stepped aside.
Flowers on Nemtsov Bridge
He spent several years in a penal colony for organizing a memorial conference.
Today, he participates in the PACE Platform for Dialogue with Russian Democratic Forces within the Council of Europe.
Residents of the regions where Chechens and Ingush were resettled were intimidated and forbidden from helping them.
Seventy years later, in 2014, even discussing the deportation led to criminal prosecution. Chechen activist Ruslan Kutaev was arrested and convicted on fabricated charges.
In 1943–1944, Soviet authorities falsely accused entire peoples of collaborating with Nazi Germany and used this as a pretext for collective punishment through blanket deportations.
They were given almost no time to pack, loaded into cattle cars, and transported for weeks to what is now Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Families were torn apart. In brutal conditions, people fell ill and died on the way. Even more died in the first months after arrival.
On February 23, 1944, Soviet authorities began the blanket deportation of Chechens and Ingush from the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. Within days, hundreds of thousands of people were forcibly displaced.
How did remembering the deportation of Chechens become a crime in modern Russia?
Four years later, every word sounds even more urgent: hundreds of thousands killed, cities destroyed, millions displaced.
This war is a crime, and it must end.
“The war unleashed against Ukraine by Putin's regime is a crime against peace and humanity.
This war will remain a shameful chapter in Russian history.
We are against the war with Ukraine and demand an immediate end to military actions.”
On that day, International Memorial and the Human Rights Center Memorial released a statement:
24/02
Four years ago, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine — escalating the war it had started in 2014.
We’ll continue following developments related to Memorial and sharing updates here.
Follow us to stay informed.
The “undesirable” label does not only concern organizations themselves. Under Russian law, ‘cooperation’ can first lead to administrative fines. Repeated charges may result in criminal prosecution, with penalties of up to four years in prison. Organizing activities can carry higher sentences.
Both structures were established abroad by Memorial members after Russian court liquidated the legal entity of International Memorial in 2022. They are registered outside Russia and continue their work from exile.
On February 17, 2026, Russia’s Prosecutor General’s Office designated the International Memorial Association and Zukunft Memorial as “undesirable organizations.”
Photos and videos shared with us via Memorial’s Telegram bot.
It shows up in different cities, in different handwriting — but with the same meaning.
If you’re marking Navalny’s death, you can still send us your photos and videos. We will share them.
Among the flowers and handwritten messages, one phrase keeps appearing:
“Love is stronger than fear.”
