A message for you from former political prisoner Svetlana Marina! It gives hope

A message for you from former political prisoner Svetlana Marina! It gives hope

Every week we tell the stories of political prisoners and invite you to write them a letter. And today we want to remind you why this matters.

“My dear friends, please do not forget that your letters matter enormously to those who remain there, in Putin’s captivity. Even if letters take a long time to arrive and replies go missing, you still need to write. Simple kind words can sometimes work miracles and change people’s lives. Without kind words, without involvement, it would have been much harder for me to cope with the deprivation of freedom.”

says activist Svetlana Marina, who was released in November after a year and a half in custody in a case about “discrediting” the army.

▶️ Who is Svetlana Marina

Svetlana is a software engineer and activist from Kirov. She was convicted over a video in which she called the killed war correspondent Vladlen Tatarsky a “criminal and murderer.” At first she was sentenced to a year and a half of forced labor, but later the administration of the correctional center succeeded in having the punishment toughened, and Svetlana was sent to a penal settlement colony. The reason was that she had allegedly baked belyashi with yeast dough (convicted prisoners are forbidden from keeping yeast).

In November 2025, Svetlana was released.

“It feels like I never went anywhere. I look out the window and see in the distance the chimneys of the chemical plant next to which the colony is located,” Svetlana wrote to us in a letter after her release. “But I still cannot return to my previous life and to my profession. I am no longer drawn there. For now, I am learning to bake bread at home and working as a hired cleaner.”

Another important part of Svetlana’s life is evenings spent writing letters to political prisoners. “What once helped me must keep working,” she says.

You can support political prisoners too. The easiest way to do this is through our service “Vestochka” — there you can find an addressee and learn about their hobbies, so it is easier to start a conversation. It is also free and safe.

💌 Send a letter of support at this link!

🛟 We write about people who have ended up imprisoned because of their civic stance. Subscribe to OVD-Info to stay close to those who need help.