“Unacceptable and inhuman methods have been deployed: pressure on Dmitriev’s adopted daughter; manipulation of the child’s consciousness in order to get her to testify against a person close to her," say two hundred prominent Russians who have come out in defence of Yury DMITRIEV, writes Halya Coynash. The authors of the appeal, posted on 28 … Continue reading Child’s life destroyed, historians jailed, Soviet history rewritten
Halya Coynash
Barbaric excavations again under way at Sandarmokh
New excavations are underway at the Sandarmokh Clearing in Karelia which holds the last remains of thousands of victims of the Great Terror of 1937-1938, writes Halya Coynash. Any pretence that the excavations by a body linked to the Russian Minister of Culture are not aimed at rewriting history has been dispelled by a letter … Continue reading Barbaric excavations again under way at Sandarmokh
Historians behind bars
On 27 January 2019, Russia laid on a huge military parade to mark the 75th anniversary of the lifting of the Siege of Leningrad, writes Halya Coynash. In a hate campaign, worthy of their Soviet predecessors, Kremlin-loyal media and commentators turned on German journalist, Silke Bigalke, who criticized this “dancing on the bones” of the … Continue reading Historians behind bars
Second Time Round …
Yury DMITRIEV was first arrested on 13 December 2016, a date that marks the formal beginning of The Dmitriev Affair. Its roots go deeper and further back in time, naturally. Over two years earlier, at the annual Day of Remembrance at Sandarmokh on 5 August, Dmitriev made critical comments about the annexation of Crimea and … Continue reading Second Time Round …
Russia arrests second historian of Stalin’s Terror
It is becoming dangerous in Russia to investigate the crimes of Stalinism, writes Halya Coynash. A second Karelian historian, Sergei KOLTYRIN has been arrested and is facing charges almost identical to those now brought against political prisoner, Yury DMITRIEV. Sergei Koltyrin While the possibility cannot be excluded that there are real grounds for these new … Continue reading Russia arrests second historian of Stalin’s Terror
The Dmitriev Affair 