IofC UK Insight; Russia Past and Present: Tyranny and Truth

Wednesday, 26th February 2025

The chilling image of the Kremlin, framed in barbed wire, was taken from the Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge where dissident politician Boris Nemtsov was assassinated on 27th February 2015.

Boris Nemtsov was a fearless critic of Vladimir Putin, relentlessly denouncing Russian aggression in Chechnya in the 1990s. With Alexei Navalny, he led the March of Peace in 2014, which drew tens of thousands of Russians in anti-war protests. Nemtsov and Navalny exposed the truth of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, putting their lives on the line to inform the Russian people about the Kremlin’s real actions and intentions. The devastating full-scale war in Ukraine marks its third year on 22nd February.

Ten years on from Nemtsov’s murder, three years on from the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and one year after Navalny’s death in an Arctic prison, we invite you to join us in a conversation about how the power of truth can nourish the flame of freedom. Can the sacrifices of Russian dissidents and the courageous struggle of Ukrainians help to reverse the tide of propaganda and tyranny?

‘One word of truth shall outweigh the whole world.’ With this bold claim, Alexander Solzhenitsyn urged the world to confront the lies that feed oppression and violence. Join us on 26th February to reflect on what we have learned about the cost of lies, the cost of truth-telling, and the struggle for a peaceful, fear-free Russia.

Russia Past and Present:  Tyranny and Truth, is a special edition of IofC UK Insight, to hear Sophia Kayes in conversation with author and leading investigative journalist, Anastasia Kirilenko, a public speaker and a renowned campaigner for justice, Marina Litvinenko, and author and expert on soviet dissidents, Dr Philip Boobbyer. A special address to the audience recorded by Vladimir Kara-Murza, former political prisoner, will be screened at the event.

Sophia Kayes (nee Nagovitsyna)

Sophia Kayes has worked for over two decades in the media and NGO sectors. She began her career in January 2005 at the Moscow bureau of the U.S.-based newspaper The Baltimore Sun, where she covered a series of non-violent protests known as the colour revolutions, including the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the Rose Revolution in Georgia, and the Denim Revolution in Belarus – precursors to the current political and military conflicts.

Following the assassination of her family friend, leading Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Sophie relocated to the UK in 2007. Here, she shifted her focus to working with cause-driven charitable organisations that promote democratic values and human rights.

Sophia has a longstanding relationship with Initiatives of Change, dating back to her childhood when she met key figures from Moral Re-Armament who visited Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Anastasia Kirilenko

Anastasia Kirilenko is a Russian independent investigative journalist and radio reporter specialising in human rights, corruption, and Russian disinformation.

During her career in Russia, Anastasia reported on human rights violations in the North Caucasus for Caucasian Knot, a media outlet founded by Human Rights Centre Memorial and worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. She co-authored the 2015 documentary Who is Mister Putin, investigating Putin’s alleged illicit activities and personal enrichment.

In 2014, she relocated to France, where she currently lives and works. From 2016 to 2021, she was part of the Fighting Transborder Corruption Group under the Berlin-based NGO EU-Russia Civil Society Forum, where she launched the Transborder Corruption Archive.

In 2017, she was shortlisted for Russia’s Sakharov Prize for Journalism as a Deed for her publications in The Insider on Putin’s links to organised crime. In 2018, she co-released the TV documentary Putin and the Mafia which was broadcast in a dozen EU countries and Switzerland.

Anastasia’s work has been published in French, German, and Swiss media, and she has contributed to research on corruption and money laundering. Anastasia is also a member of the Council of the Free Russia Forum in Vilnius.

Marina Litvinenko

Marina Litvinenko is a public speaker and justice campaigner, best known for her fight to uncover the truth behind the 2006 assassination of her husband, Alexander Litvinenko, a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin. Following Alexander’s death by poisoning in London, she led a decade-long campaign, resulting in a 2016 public inquiry which concluded that there was a ‘strong probability’ that two Russian agents were ordered by FSB to poison Alexander Litvinenko on personal orders of Vladimir Putin. In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights confirmed Russia’s culpability.

Beyond seeking justice for her husband, Marina continues to advocate for Russian dissidents, human rights, and press freedom. She co-authored Death of a Dissident and its Russian-language update, Sasha, Volodya, Boris: The Story of a Murder. Frequently speaking at international conferences and media platforms, she uses her voice to warn the world about the dangers of Russian state repression.

Dr Philip Boobbyer

Philip Boobbyer read Modern Languages at Trinity College Cambridge, before doing an MA in Russian Areas Studies at Georgetown University, Washington DC (1986-88), and a PhD in the Department of Government at the London School of Economics (1989-1992).

Philip was Reader Emeritus in History, University of Kent. He taught History at the University of Kent (UK) from 1995-2023, with Russian history his main focus. In 2005, he published Conscience, Dissent and Reform in Soviet Russia. He has also researched the history of the Oxford Group and Moral Re-Armament, and is author of The Spiritual Vision of Frank Buchman (2013). He was Chair of the Board of Trustees of IofC UK from 2012-2020. He lives in Canterbury and is married to Laura, and they have a teenage son.