Russian State Crackdown of Anarchists and Antifascists

Starting November, 2017, Russian FSB (the successor to the KGB) initiated a violent crackdown on anti-fascist and anarchist activists. Starting in Penza, the repression has spread to St. Petersburg, Moscow, and most recently Crimea. Activists are accused of participation in non-existent “terrorist cells” for activities as innocuous as hiking in the woods and practicing woodland survival skills and playing with airlsoft guns, plastic toys purchasable from any toy store.

Many activists are facing extremely steep prison sentences and have been repeatedly tortured. Those who have been spared arrest now sleep with the specter of increasingly common dawn police raids on their homes. Even journalists are bearing the brunt of this crackdown.

Activists in Russia have called for an international week of solidarity from February 5-12.

There is also a dire need for financial assistance, and anyone capable of helping can do so here: https://insurrectionnewsworldwide.com/2018/02/04/russia-legal-support-fundraiser-for-anarchist-and-antifascist-prisoners-in-st-petersburg-and-penza/