Life abroad is full of challenges. Along with learning unfamiliar laws and customs, studying a language, and building a network from scratch, Russians abroad need to be ready to defend their rights — for example, if a bank unfairly freezes their account or authorities deny them documents. (Problems with documents are becoming more common as countries around the world tighten immigration rules.) Many emigrants feel they’re entirely on their own. That’s not quite true. Meduza has selected several initiatives and organizations that help Russians who have left the country or want to leave.
An important note: This article includes the discriminatory designations Russian authorities have imposed on independent organizations, since many of the people who turn to them are still in Russia or travel there periodically. Good luck, and take care!
All countries
Kovcheg (The Ark)
Kovcheg launched shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. It started with a legal aid bot on Telegram, but soon began offering psychological counseling and then opened shelters in Yerevan and Istanbul.
Today, Kovcheg is the largest organization helping Russians abroad. It offers language courses and helps people train for new careers. It also publishes guides for Russians in various countries on obtaining legal residency and citizenship, starting a business, finding work, applying to universities, and more.
Kovcheg also runs more than 50 chat groups focused on different countries and professional fields, along with Kovcheg.Business, a community that holds in-person meetups.
Equal PostOst
This organization helps LGBTQ people. It provides emergency housing in the EU, legal aid, and psychological counseling. It also helps people evacuate and supports political prisoners.
Reforum Space
In 2022, the Free Russia Foundation (designated an “undesirable” and “extremist” organization in Russia) launched Reforum Space. It has three locations — in Berlin, Vilnius, and Paris — open to anti-war activists, independent journalists, human rights defenders, cultural professionals, and scholars.
Reforum Space offers free coworking spaces and video studios, along with lectures and consultations on settling into a new country, dealing with bureaucracy, and completing paperwork.
Other groups helping emigrants in various countries: The Mir Vsem (Peace Unto All) movement supports clergy in Russia and abroad who have faced persecution for their anti-war stance.
South Caucasus countries
inTransit
The inTransit project evacuates people from Russia to Georgia and Armenia, as well as Montenegro and Kazakhstan. It also helps them obtain documents so they can later emigrate to EU countries.
Other groups helping people evacuate from Russia: NC SOS Crisis Group (designated “extremist” in Russia), Marem (which serves residents of the North Caucasus), and Rapid Unit (which evacuates activists, journalists, and human rights defenders).
Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor
Founded in 1998, this is one of Armenia’s leading independent human rights organizations. It provides legal aid to Russians detained by Armenian authorities at Moscow’s request.
Idite Lesom (Get Lost)
Grigory Sverdlin, the former director of the homeless assistance organization Nochlezhka, launched the project in September 2022 to help Russians avoid mobilization or desert the military. The organization, Idite Lesom (“Get Lost”), works with volunteer lawyers, psychologists, and others to help people live at addresses other than those where they are officially registered, leave Russia illegally, flee military training units, and surrender on the battlefield. More than 85,000 people have turned to the organization for assistance over the past four years. Russian authorities labeled it a “foreign agent” in 2025.
Other groups helping Russians flee military service: Prizyv k Sovesti and the Conscientious Objectors Movement
Read more
- Four years after Russia’s wartime exodus began, another wave may be starting. Political scientist Margarita Zavadskaya on what we’ve learned about Russian emigration since 2022.
- Russians are leaving the country again amid fears of another mobilization. In Georgia, Serbia, and Armenia, the housing rush has already begun.
- Armenia has long been one of the easiest places for Russians to relocate. New residency rules are about to make staying there more complicated.
Europe
Yashin’s public assistance office
In April 2025, politician and former political prisoner Ilya Yashin said he was launching a public assistance office to help Russians in Europe. He said the team works much as his office did when he was a municipal council member in Moscow’s Krasnoselsky district.
The office promises to help Russians understand the law, draft requests to officials, and prepare affidavits for court.
Other projects providing legal aid to emigrants in Europe: Iskra, which specializes in defending people’s rights in dealings with European banks.
Consuls of the Russian Anti-War Committee
The Russian Anti-War Committee (designated an “undesirable” and “terrorist” organization in Russia) was formed in late February 2022, bringing together opposition politicians, activists, and journalists. According to its website, the organization opposes the war, collects humanitarian aid for Ukraine, and helps Russians resolve problems they face abroad.
One of its initiatives, Consuls of the Russian Anti-War Committee, is intended to help Russians in emergencies — for example, when they face deportation to Russia or are denied temporary or permanent residency or refugee status.
The Consuls work in the United Kingdom, Germany, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, France, Montenegro, Switzerland, Sweden, Estonia, and the United States.
Gorizonty Exilhilfe (Horizonte Exilhilfe)
This human rights organization was established with support from Sergey Lagodinsky, a Russian-speaking German politician and member of the European Parliament. Gorizonty helps Russians obtain humanitarian visas to Germany, France, and other EU countries. By mid-2024, more than 600 people had received visas to Europe with its help.
Other groups helping in emergencies: Reporters Without Borders (for journalists; designated an “undesirable” organization in Russia) and Artists at Risk (for cultural professionals).
Russian Democratic Society in the United Kingdom
This volunteer organization (designated “undesirable” in Russia) was founded by Ksenia Maximova, a local council member in London. It helps Ukraine and political prisoners in Russia, as well as Russians in the United Kingdom.
In 2025, the organization secured the creation of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Russia and Democracy, whose work includes addressing problems faced by Russians in exile.
That same year, the Russian Democratic Society launched an emotional support group to help people adjust to life in a new country.
United States
Russian America for Democracy in Russia
This nonprofit brings together Russian emigrants in the United States “who strive for freedom and democracy in Russia, as well as for the victory of Ukraine in the war.” It has been designated an “undesirable” organization in Russia, and two of its leaders have been added to Russia’s list of “terrorists and extremists.”
The organization runs chat groups in nine cities: Miami, Sacramento, New York, Denver, Seattle, Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. It regularly offers advice on immigration rules and obtaining political asylum in the United States.
After U.S. immigration authorities made it harder to obtain asylum, Russian America for Democracy in Russia also began helping Russians held in immigration detention centers. It looks for lawyers, raises money for legal aid, and helps people stay in touch with their families.
Ours in the USA
The charity Ours in the USA grew out of a chat group for Russian-speaking LGBTQ people in the United States. It defends the rights of Russian queer refugees seeking asylum in the country.
The Ours in the USA team promises to help Russians prepare the documents needed to apply for asylum. The organization also provides emergency housing and submits reports to the U.N. on violations of queer people’s rights.
Russian Seattle for Freedom
The nonprofit Russian Seattle for Freedom was founded in Seattle in 2023. It describes itself as “a group of concerned Russians” who collectively oppose repression by the Russian state. Its members run a chat group where they answer emigrants’ questions about everyday life and bureaucracy.
Russian Seattle for Freedom also works with lawyers who help people obtain asylum.
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