Speaking on the role of Russian-language independent journalism, Barbara von Ow-Freytag said that media outlets have to find a way to get through to people in Russia itself, with their audiences often having to resort VPNs or piggybacking through an available service in Russian territory.

Independent outlets provide a window of objectivity in a media landscape which is dominated by Kremlin-backed propaganda. Funding independent media such as Meduza and Dozhd’ [«Дождь»] https://tvrain.tv/ “re-empowers independent thinking [and] gives hope,” says von Freytag.

Apart from larger media organizations, there are a number of grassroots projects also taking hold. Not everyone in Russia supports the Putin regime, not least representatives of the country’s numerous ethnic minorities such as the Buryats and Kalmyks in Siberia and the Caucasus respectively. 

A new podcast project called “Govorit Respublika_” [«говоритреспублика _»] https://www.instagram.com/re.public_speaking/ hopes to help “redefine and rediscover identity because there has been a systemic Russification of all the places where ethnic minorities are” in the words of Barbara von Ow-Freytag, who adds that these young journalists “want a future Russia that respects their cultural rights, their language rights and their minority rights.”

The podcast was produced as a part of the 5th German-Polish Round Table on the Eastern Europe.
Project partners: Kolegium Europy Wschodniej, Zentrum Liberale Moderne and Austausch e.V., co-funded by Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Warszawa and Fundacja Współpracy Polsko-Niemieckiej/Stiftung Für Deutsch-Polnische Zusammenarbeit.