Russian diaspora protest against the war in Ukraine, 2022. Photo by Silar/Wikimedia Commons.

“Most of you have my number,” yells Mariyana Kazarova in the packed hall. “Get in touch with me! I’ll do my best to help you—within and outside of my mandate!” Kazarova is the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Russia, a position that was created after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. On this sunny April day, she is in the basement of a convention centre in north Brussels, speaking to Russian opponents of the war.

Most of them know full well what consequences opposition to Vladimir Putin’s war can bring. Many have felt the repression of his security apparatus on their own bodies, having been pursued or imprisoned. At least with Kazarova they have a weighty spokesperson on their side. “The future will only come if we imagine it—and this is the place where we do that,” says the Bulgarian civil rights activist and journalist.

Kazarova’s speech kicks off the two-day congress of the Platforma network, under whose roof hundreds of anti-war initiatives and activists have come together. Some of them are still active in Russia, but most operate in exile. On stage hangs the theme of the gathering: “Standing Together for Ukraine and for Freedom.” Around 300 people have gathered under it, including Russian activists, Ukrainian human rights campaigners, and delegates from the European Union and beyond.

That this gathering carries risks is clear from the clandestine nature of the congress, with its detailed security protocol. Participants learn the event location only a few hours before the congress begins, it cannot appear in the newspaper and recording is forbidden. Those who would like to attend need two personal recommendations from Platforma members.

Outside the entrance, Katya Moroko tells about the origins of a particular project. The 29-year-old comes from Kazakhstan, moved to Moscow to study journalism, and later wrote for the student website Doxa. When four of her editorial colleagues were charged shortly after the war began, she fled to Georgia.

Today, Moroko lives in Berlin, where Platforma was founded in 2022. “Forums for the Russian opposition already existed back then, but most of them under the aegis of liberal politicians. We wanted to build an antipole—a left-wing, decolonial alternative that, as an independent actor in civil society, would unite movements and grassroots groups,” she explains.

The congress in Brussels is already the........

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