Our Work

Voices of Freedom (prev. Voices of Russia)

Voices of  Freedom  (previously "Voices of Russia") is the Open Estonia Foundation's discussion series running since 2010, analyzing the political and human rights situation in Russia with Russian civil society activists, human rights advocates, analysts and journalists. During these years, we have had the honor to welcome several well-known intellectuals and activists in Estonia:

  • Human rights defender Lyudmila Alexeyeva in 2010 and 2012
  • Former Soviet dissident and historian Valeria Novodvorskaya in 2010
  • Human rights defender Lev Ponomaryov in 2010
  • Writer, journalist and satirist Viktor Shenderovitsh in 2011
  • TV journalist Leonid Parfyonov in 2012
  • Opposition activist Ilya Yashin in 2013
  • Civil society activists Artemy Troitsky and Konstantin Baranov in 2013
  • Writer Lev Rubinstein, music critic Artemy Troitsky and environmental activist Evgeniya Chirikova in 2014
  • Journalist Masha Gessen and political scientist Dmitry Oreshkin in 2015
  • Writer Vladimir Voynovich, political scientist Ekaterina Schulman and journalist Zhanna Nemtsova in 2016
  • Sociologist Alexei Levinson and journalist Anna Arutunyan in 2016
  • Activists from Open Russia movement in 2016
  • Journalist Evgeniya Albats, journalist and Crimean Tatar activist Ayder Muzhdabayev; film director Askold Kurov and producer Max Tuula in 2016
  • Writer Vladimir Voynovich in 2016
  • Opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza in 2016
  • Journalists Sergei Smirnov, Maria Eismont and Andrey Loshak in 2017
  • Former politician and entrepreneur Ilya Ponomarev and policy analyst Anna Arutunyan in 2018
  • Writer Alisa Ganieva and film-maker Vitali Manski in 2018
  • Journalist Masha Gessen, political scientist Ekaterina Schulman, activist and entrepreneur Leonid Volkov in 2019
  • Writer and journalist Dmitry Glukhovsky and activist Peter Verzilov in 2019
  • Editor-in- chief of independent online news portal Meduza.io Galina Timchenko, Berlin-based sociologist Igor Eidman and Evgenia Chirikova, Estonian-based environmental activist in 2020.
  • Actress Julia Aug, film director and founder of festival of documentary film festival ArtDocFest Vitaly Mansky, Estonian-based journalist and music critic Artemy Troitsky and film director Andrey Gryazev in 2021.
  • Belarusian journalist and editor-in-chief of independent news site Charter 97 Natallia Radina, advisor to the Vice Prime Minister - Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine Jaanika Merilo and Estonian-based journalist Arkady Babchenko in 2022.
  • Civic Activist from Free Russia Foundation Nikolay Artemenko in 2022.
  • Writer Mikhail Shishkin in 2022.
  • Journalist Anna Zueva from the Free Buryatia Foundation, activist Raisa Zubareva from the Free Yakutia Foundation, film director Sergey Gindilis and film producer Julia Shaginurova in 2023.
  • President of the Free Buryatia Foundation Aleksandra Garmazhapova, Research Fellow at Charles University Dmitry Dubrovskiy, Director of the Centre for Democratic Integrity Anton Shekhovtsov and former member of the Ukrainian parliament Boryslav Bereza in 2024.
  • Artist, writer, professor, and public intellectual Katia Margolis and Director of the Centre for Democratic Integrity Anton Shekhovtsov in 2024