The Congress of Free Russia
August 31 – September 2, 2022. Lithuania, Vilnius
BE BRAVE LIKE UKRAINE
The Congress of Free Russia will bring together Russian citizens who openly oppose Russia’s criminal war against Ukraine with representatives of European countries and international organisations that support the people of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s assault. The organiser of this event is the Russian Action Committee, a group of Russian civil society representatives who have individually all spent years combatting dictatorial forces in Russia and believe that we can achieve a free Russia by uniting in a single movement committed to the fight for freedom.
Attendees will include Russian opposition politicians, human rights activists, experts, journalists, and activists from anti-war movements and initiatives across Europe. The goal of the Congress is to unite the efforts of the most active anti-war elements of Russian society with those of their Western counterparts as we seek to build a global coalition in defence of Ukraine and against Putin’s regime.
Anyone who shares the provisions of the Statement of the Russian Action Committee can participate in the Congress.
The event’s guest list and thematic details as well as all logistical information will be continually updated.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Speakers and guests of the Congress (the list is being updated):
Mantas Adomėnas
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania
Sergey Aleksashenko
economist
Oleksiy Arestovich
advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine on Strategic Communications in the Field of National Security and Defense
Bill Browder
founder of Hermitage Capital Management
Dmitry Bykov
writer
Evgeny Chichvarkin
entrepreneur
Evgenia Chirikova
coordinator of activatica.org
Refat Chubarov
Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People
Thomas Erndl
MP, Vice-Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in the German Bundestag
Dmitry Gudkov
politician
Konstantin von Eggert
journalist
Gennady Gudkov
politician
Sergey Guriev
economist
Toomas Hendrik Ilves
politician, President of Estonia 2006-2016
Vladislav Inozemtsev
economist
Paweł Jabłoński
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland
Mikhail Khodorkovsky
philanthropist, former political prisoner
Garry Kasparov
political activist, 13th World Chess Champion
Evgeny Kiselev
journalist
Alfred Koch
entrepreneur
Andrius Kubilius
Member of the European parliament
Jonathan Littell
writer
Michael McFaul
former US Ambassador to Russia
Vano Merabishvili
9th Prime Minister of Georgia
Alexander Morozov
journalist
Artis Pabriks
Minister of Defense of Latvia
Natalia Shavshukova
co-founder of the School of local government
Viktor Shenderovich
writer
Anastasia Shevchenko
public figure
Maria Snegovaya
political scientist
Konstantin Sonin
economist, professor at the Chicago University
Andrius Tapinas
lithuanian journalist, Laisvės TV
Tom Tugendhat
Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Affairs (Great Britain)
Program
AUGUST 31, WEDNESDAY
12:00
Beginning of check-in
13:00 - 14:30
Hall 1: Round table: “The image of the future and an intellectual alternative to the Putin regime”
Moderator: Pavel Ivlev — lawyer, executive director of KRES Poliskola (USA).
Participants:
- Sergei Aleksashenko — economist and political scientist;
- Sergei Guriev — Ph.D in Economics, Sciences Po;
- Sergei Lukashevsky — Director of the Sakharov Center;
- Boris Grozovsky — columnist, organizer of public discussions;
- Elena Lukyanova — lawyer, lecturer at the Free University;
- Viktor Denisenko — journalist, lecturer at Vilnius University (Lithuania);
- Yuri Terekhov — coordinator of the Free Russia Institute;
- Alexander Morozov — iSANS expert, employee of the Charles University in Prague;
- Viktoras Bachmetjievas — professor at Vytautas the Great University (Lithuania)
15:00
Official opening of the Congress of Free Russia
15:00 - 16:30
Main hall. Discussion: “What will the Russian mobilization economy look like”
Moderator: Dmitry Semenov — journalist, DELFI (Lithuania)
Speakers:
- Sergei Aleksashenko — economist and political scientist;
- Alfred Koch — publicist, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation (1997);
- Evgeny Chichvarkin — entrepreneur;
- Mikhail Krutikhin — economy analyst, specialist on oil and gas markets;
- Konstantin Sonin — economist, professor at the Chicago University
16:30 - 17:45
Main hall. Presentation of projects: “The experience of grassroots anti-war initiatives in Russia and Europe”
Participants:
- Feminist Anti-War Resistance;
- Vesna Youth Democratic Movement;
- Movement of conscientious objectors from military service;
- Project “Black February”;
- NITKA;
- Media Partisans
18:00 - 19:30
Main hall. Discussion: “The policy of sanctions. Goals and results”
Moderator: Konstantin Eggert — journalist, political commentator
Speakers:
- Vladislav Inozemtsev — economist, director of the Center research of post-industrial society;
- William Browder (USA) — founder of Hermitage Capital Management;
- Andrius Kubilius (Lithuania) — Member of the European Parliament, Prime Minister of Lithuania in 1999-2000 and in 2008-2012;
- Michael McFaul — Former US Ambassador to Russia;
- Mark Wolf — Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts;
- Thomas Erndl — Deputy Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Bundestag (Germany)
19:30 - 21:00
Chess Evening: The 13th world chess champion Garry Kasparov gives a simultaneous game session for the participants of the Congress with the participation of grandmaster Gennady Sosonko
21:00
Gala Dinner (by invitation only)
SEPTEMBER 1, THURSDAY
8:30 - 10:00
Hall 1. Round table: “Russian civil communities in Europe: what to do in a war?”
Moderator: Evgenia Chirikova — coordinator of the activatica.org portal
Participants:
- Ilya Fomin — Svoboda Alliance NSW Inc (Australia);
- Nikolay Koblyakov — Russie-Libertés movement (France);
- Elena Gaeva — Demokrati-JA movement (Germany);
- Stanislav Rudkovsky — Libertarian Party of Russia (Czech Republic);
- Galina Petrenko — Free Russia NL movement (Netherlands);
- Elena Nikiforova — Russian-Speaking Integrity Alliance (New Zealand)
10:00 - 11:30
Main hall. Discussion: “Ukrainian war is a key factor in global restructuring”
Moderator: Andrius Tapinas – journalist, Laisvės TV (Lithuania)
Speakers:
- Oleksiy Arestovych — Advisor to the Head of the Office President of Ukraine;
- Garry Kasparov — politician, co-founder of the Free Russia Forum;
- Mikhail Khodorkovsky — a public figure;
- Jonathan Littell – writer (US/France)
11:30 - 13:00
Main hall. Discussion: “War coverage – the confrontation of narratives”
Moderator: Vytautas Bruveris – journalist, editor-in-chief, news agency ELTA (Lithuania)
Speakers:
- Leonid Nevzlin — entrepreneur and public figure;
- Reiner Saks — ex-head of the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Department;
- Uriel Epstein — Head of the Renew Democracy Initiative (USA);
- Gennadiy Nadolenko — Ambassador of Ukraine, Rector of the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine;
- Dmitry Gudkov — politician, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the VI convocation
14:00 - 15:30
Hall 1. Training for activists: “Digital tools for anti-war activism”
Speaker: Pavel Gurov, digital marketing specialist
Hall 2. Round table: “Cancellation of the Russians: Collective Responsibility or Individual Approach?” (Continuation)
Moderator: Evgenia Chirikova — coordinator of the activatica.org portal
Participants:
- Julia Taran — Russia Tomorrow movement (Spain);
- Petar Tanev — Movement “For a Free Russia” (Bulgaria);
- Ramon Rincon — Russia Tomorrow Movement (Spain);
- Marina Okhrimovskaya — online magazine Switzerland for All;
- Alexander Shumsky — movement Allianz für ein freiheitlich-demokratisches Russland — Nürnberg (Germany);
- Janina Sartison — Movement Free Russians (Munich, Germany);
- Elizabeth Shlosberg — movement Allianz für ein freiheitlich-demokratisches Russland — Nurnberg (Germany)
15:00 - 16:15
Main hall. Discussion “Putin’s regime: total war against human rights”
Moderator: Sergey Davidis — human rights advocate
Speakers:
- Refat Chubarov — Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People;
- Anastasia Shevchenko — public and political figure;
- Vera Mironova — Security Specialist, Davis Center Harvard University;
- Alexander Cherkasov — human rights activist
16:30 - 18:00
Main hall. Discussion: “War in Ukraine: the last war of the Russian Empire?”
Moderator: Garry Kasparov — politician, co-founder of the Free Russia Forum
Speakers:
- Artis Pabriks — Minister of Defense of Latvia;
- Mantas Adomenas — Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania;
- Toomas Ilves — politician, President of Estonia 2006-2016;
- Thomas Tugendhat — Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Affairs (Great Britain);
- Paweł Jabłonski — Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland
18:00 - 19:30
Main hall. Discussion: “Consequences of the catastrophe of Russian society. Resistance and Responsibility”
Moderator: Evgeny Kiselyov — journalist
Speakers:
- Viktor Shenderovich — writer, publicist;
- Maria Snegovaya — political scientist, postdoctoral fellow at Virginia Tech;
- Dmitry Bykov — writer, publicist;
- Vladislav Inozemtsev — economist, head of the Centre for Research on Post-Industrial Societies;
- Gennady Gudkov — politician, deputy of the State Duma in 2001–2012;
- Natalia Shavshukova — co-founder of the School of Local Self-Government
21:00
Main hall. Concert Noize MC
SEPTEMBER 2, FRIDAY
8:30 - 10:00
Hall 1. Round table: “War: lessons and conclusions from a human rights point of view. How can we help victims of human rights violations today?”
Hall 2. Round table: “Russian civil communities in Europe: what to do in a war?” (Continuation)
10:00 - 11:30
Main hall. Discussion: Stopping Russia’s Expansion: Threats and Scenarios
Presenter: Aleksandr Kushnar — journalist, editor-in-chief of the Newsader portal
Speakers:
- Vano Merabishvili — Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia (2004 – 2012) Prime Minister of Georgia in 2012;
- Ivan Tyutrin — politician, co-founder of the Free Russia Forum;
- Natalia Radina — Editor-in-Chief of the independent portal Charter’97 (Belarus);
- Ravshan Jeenbekov — Kyrgyz opposition politician;
- Raimundas Lopata — Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania;
- Oleg Dunda — People’s Deputy of Ukraine
11:30 - 12:30
Press conference of the founders of the Russian Action Committee
Due to logistical complexities, some speakers will take part in the Congress online
Statement of the Russian Action Committee 22.08.2022
In connection with the death of Darya Dugina and the statement on behalf of the “National Republican Army” about the permissibility and desirability of terrorist acts against persons who are not participants in the armed aggression against Ukraine, the Russian Action Committee declares its categorical disagreement with such a position and the refuses to invite politician Ilya Ponomarev, who publicly joined the call to carry out terrorist attacks on Russian territory, to the Congress of Free Russia.
The attack of the Putin regime on Ukraine has led to the need for armed confrontation with the aggressor. The armed forces, paramilitaries, military, industrial, and transport infrastructure of the aggressor’s country are legitimate targets. At the same time, we cannot support the call for terror against civilians who do not take part in the armed confrontation, and a demonstrative rejection of normal human empathy for the families of the victims. We categorically condemn war crimes and the killing of civilians by the Russian military. However, while fully supporting the fight against Putin and his fascist regime, we consider it extremely important to preserve humanity. It’s not enough to kill a dragon. You don’t have to become one yet.
