On Monday, March 24, the Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia (WCEE) at the University of Michigan hosted the Pulitzer Prize-winning Russian dissident, historian, and former political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza for the WCEE Distinguished Lecture entitled “Russia Beyond Putin” (WATCH RECORDING). The event took place in the Rackham Graduate School’s Amphitheatre, and was attended by over 400 members of the U-M and wider communities.
Kara-Murza—a former candidate for Russian parliament, a key player in the adoption of Magnitsky sanctions against top Russian officials, and the current Vice President at the Free Russia Foundation—remarked that it has been 25 years since Vladimir Putin was first elected President of the Russian Federation in what would be the country’s last free and fair election. Kara-Murza detailed how Putin then consolidated his authoritarian control through state takeovers of independent media, imprisoning his opponents, and ousting major opposition parties from Russian parliament.
Strikingly, Kara-Murza cited that there are officially 1,563 political prisoners currently held in Russia, which is more than the total number imprisoned across the entire former Soviet Union for political reasons during the 1980s. The fastest growing members of this group are those protesting Russia’s war in Ukraine. Kara-Murza is often asked about what Russians “really think” about the war, to which he would respond,
“It is impossible to objectively assess the state of public opinion in a country that imprisons you for expressing your opinion, but what is certain is that a regime that really did have public support for its actions would not need to keep its own society in a constant state of fear.”
On the prospects of a democratic Russia post-Putin, Kara-Murza alluded to an outpour of public support for an anti-war candidate attempting to get on the 2024 presidential ballot. Thousands of Russian citizens lined up at his campaign offices around the country to sign the ballot petition, which was ultimately denied, but Kara-Murza described it as a rare glimpse into how Russians feel about the regime.
“This is my Russia, the Russia I love, the Russia I call home, the Russia that Vladimir Putin does not want any of you to see,” he reflected. “Not the repressive, belligerent, archaic Russia of today, but a hopeful, peaceful, democratic Russia of tomorrow.”
He added, however, that this change will only be long-lasting if there is a public reckoning of past crimes and oppression, something that mistakenly was avoided during the post-communist transition in the 1990s.
Geneviève Zubrzycki, WCEE Director and Weiser Family Professor in European and Eurasian Studies, joined Kara-Murza on stage for audience Q&A.
“It was an honor to host Mr. Kara-Murza at the University of Michigan and was truly moving to hear about his fight for a democratic Russia, something for which he has been poisoned and imprisoned,” she commented. “We are inspired by his fortitude and optimism for real change in Russia, which, based on the country’s history, could happen swiftly and when we least expect it.”
Additional coverage of the event from The Michigan Daily (March 26, 2025) : Former political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza discusses Russian fight for democracy
Kara-Murza also spoke with Chuck Stokes of 7 News Detroit in a wide-ranging interview for the Spotlight on the News segment. (Watch the interview.)
Photos by Leisa Thompson, Michigan Photography.
