In late September, as Washington spun with debates about Ukraine funding and Russia sanctions, U.S. officials requested a new economic report published by Free Russia Foundation. It wasn’t the first time. In recent months, FRF has produced analyses on Russia’s economy, on how the Russian Orthodox Church legitimizes Putin’s regime and its war against Ukraine, and on repression in Russia and across occupied Ukrainian territories. Each one landed with surprising force — sparking discussion not just among Russia watchers, but on Capitol Hill itself.
That moment captures something essential. A fierce nonprofit headquartered in D.C., led by Russians forced out of their own country, is shaping how America understands Putin’s regime. While Western governments grind through bureaucratic intelligence cycles, Free Russia Foundation (FRF) often delivers analysis in real time. In an information war where speed and credibility matter, that makes all the difference.
In late September, as Washington spun with debates about Ukraine funding and Russia sanctions, U.S. officials requested a new economic report published by Free Russia Foundation. It wasn’t the first time. In recent months, FRF has produced analyses on Russia’s economy, on how the Russian Orthodox Church legitimizes Putin’s regime and its war against Ukraine, and on repression in Russia and across occupied Ukrainian territories. Each one landed with surprising force — sparking discussion not just among Russia watchers, but on Capitol Hill itself.
That moment captures something essential. A fierce nonprofit headquartered in D.C., led by Russians forced out of their own country, is shaping how America understands Putin’s regime. While Western governments grind through bureaucratic intelligence cycles, Free Russia Foundation (FRF) often delivers analysis in real time. In an information war where speed and credibility matter, that makes all the difference.
When Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he believed the world would be swayed by spectacle — parades, speeches, propaganda beamed across state television. What he underestimated was the counterweight of truth.
FRF doesn’t have battalions or tanks. What we have is intelligence: dozens of reports by leading exiled voices — from Vladimir Milov’s dissections of Russia’s faltering economy, to investigations into the ousting of priests who opposed the war, to legal documentation of abuses in occupied Ukraine. These are not abstract policy papers; they are live, detailed accounts that policymakers cannot ignore.
That reach is amplified by figures like FRF Vice President Vladimir Kara-Murza, who speaks regularly before the PACE, the UN, the European Commission, and parliaments across the globe, pressing the case for a democratic Russia and for accountability. When he talks, governments listen — not because he is an exile, but because he survived two poisoning attempts and has spent 2,5 years inside Russia’s prisons. His credibility is hard-earned.
Putin thrives on disinformation, but FRF thrives on exposure. It has become the bridge between what ordinary Russians whisper in kitchens, what dissidents uncover at great risk, and what the world urgently needs to know.
When Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he believed the world would be swayed by spectacle — parades, speeches, propaganda beamed across state television. What he underestimated was the counterweight of truth.
FRF doesn’t have battalions or tanks. What we have is intelligence: dozens of reports by leading exiled voices — from Vladimir Milov’s dissections of Russia’s faltering economy, to investigations into the ousting of priests who opposed the war, to legal documentation of abuses in occupied Ukraine. These are not abstract policy papers; they are live, detailed accounts that policymakers cannot ignore.
That reach is amplified by figures like FRF Vice President Vladimir Kara-Murza, who speaks regularly before the PACE, the UN, the European Commission, and parliaments across the globe, pressing the case for a democratic Russia and for accountability. When he talks, governments listen — not because he is an exile, but because he survived two poisoning attempts and has spent 2,5 years inside Russia’s prisons. His credibility is hard-earned.
Putin thrives on disinformation, but FRF thrives on exposure. It has become the bridge between what ordinary Russians whisper in kitchens, what dissidents uncover at great risk, and what the world urgently needs to know.
There’s another layer to this work. The experts who produce these reports, journalists and activists who counter the Kremlin’s propaganda, human rights defenders and lawyers helping political prisoners or documenting war crimes, aren’t operating from the safety of think tanks or government desks. They are people whose lives were upended by the very regime they expose. Many of them were forced out overnight with nothing but a suitcase and a cell phone.
Big part of FRF’s works is to provide this people with essential help, from evacuation to legal assistance and everything needed so they can keep doing their work. FRF provides physical spaces in Berlin, Vilnius, Warsaw, and Paris where displaced Russians can gather, research, and publish. It connects them to networks of support so their voices don’t go silent in exile.
This assistance isn’t just humanitarian. It’s strategic. Every activist given a desk, every journalist provided with resources, every analyst able to continue writing means the flow of expertise continues. Putin counts on exile to scatter and silence his critics. FRF ensures they regroup and keep speaking.
There’s another layer to this work. The experts who produce these reports, journalists and activists who counter the Kremlin’s propaganda, human rights defenders and lawyers helping political prisoners or documenting war crimes, aren’t operating from the safety of think tanks or government desks. They are people whose lives were upended by the very regime they expose. Many of them were forced out overnight with nothing but a suitcase and a cell phone.
Big part of FRF’s works is to provide this people with essential help, from evacuation to legal assistance and everything needed so they can keep doing their work. FRF provides physical spaces in Berlin, Vilnius, Warsaw, and Paris where displaced Russians can gather, research, and publish. It connects them to networks of support so their voices don’t go silent in exile.
This assistance isn’t just humanitarian. It’s strategic. Every activist given a desk, every journalist provided with resources, every analyst able to continue writing means the flow of expertise continues. Putin counts on exile to scatter and silence his critics. FRF ensures they regroup and keep speaking.
Legal Aid and Humanitarian Work
Perhaps the most striking example of how expertise translates into action is FRF’s work with Ukrainians.
When Russian forces made their brutal invasion of Ukraine, it detained civilians, captured soldiers, or kidnapped children from occupied territories, where families are left in desperate limbo. FRF helps document cases, connect families with lawyers, and push international institutions to act. It monitors Russian courts, gathers evidence of abuses, and supports other NGOs who fight for the release of prisoners.
Here is the remarkable part: the knowledge of Russia is needed to help Ukraine. FRF is not just raises deep censers about the war, but it does unique work that is severely needed by our Ukrainian partners.
Perhaps the most striking example of how expertise translates into action is FRF’s work with Ukrainians.
When Russian forces made their brutal invasion of Ukraine, it detained civilians, captured soldiers, or kidnapped children from occupied territories, where families are left in desperate limbo. FRF helps document cases, connect families with lawyers, and push international institutions to act. It monitors Russian courts, gathers evidence of abuses, and supports other NGOs who fight for the release of prisoners.
Here is the remarkable part: the knowledge of Russia is needed to help Ukraine. FRF is not just raises deep censers about the war, but it does unique work that is severely needed by our Ukrainian partners.
This distinction is something me and my colleagues insist on every time we speak. Putin and his loyalists are the problem — not ordinary Russians.
We know the difference firsthand. Forced into exile myself, I have endured threats, harassment, and even poisoning. Yet I refuse to see Russians as a monolith. Most of them simply want what everyone wants: safety, dignity, a decent life for their children. It is Putin, and the system he built, that stands in the way.
By drawing this line clearly, FRF avoids the trap of fatalism and determinism. It refuses the idea that Russia is doomed to dictatorship or that all Russians are complicit. And it shows, through daily cooperation with Ukrainians, that a different kind of Russia is not only possible but already taking shape.
This distinction is something me and my colleagues insist on every time we speak. Putin and his loyalists are the problem — not ordinary Russians.
We know the difference firsthand. Forced into exile myself, I have endured threats, harassment, and even poisoning. Yet I refuse to see Russians as a monolith. Most of them simply want what everyone wants: safety, dignity, a decent life for their children. It is Putin, and the system he built, that stands in the way.
By drawing this line clearly, FRF avoids the trap of fatalism and determinism. It refuses the idea that Russia is doomed to dictatorship or that all Russians are complicit. And it shows, through daily cooperation with Ukrainians, that a different kind of Russia is not only possible but already taking shape.
In geopolitics, information is often treated as background noise, the prelude to “real” action. But ask anyone who has ever been at a real battlefield and they’ll tell you: knowing in real time is what makes decisive action possible.
That’s why FRF’s value is so outsized. It is a an exiled nonprofit competing against the Kremlin’s vast propaganda machine, and yet it manages to get the truth into the right hands, fast. It stabilizes those forced out of Russia so they can keep producing knowledge. It provides legal aid to Ukrainians whose loved ones are in captivity. And it models the cooperation that will be essential for rebuilding after the war.
Supporting FRF, then, isn’t an act of charity. It’s an investment in victory: the victory of fact over fiction, of dignity over repression, of Russians supporting Ukrainians as it defends itself against Russia’s war of aggression.
In geopolitics, information is often treated as background noise, the prelude to “real” action. But ask anyone who has ever been at a real battlefield and they’ll tell you: knowing in real time is what makes decisive action possible.
That’s why FRF’s value is so outsized. It is a an exiled nonprofit competing against the Kremlin’s vast propaganda machine, and yet it manages to get the truth into the right hands, fast. It stabilizes those forced out of Russia so they can keep producing knowledge. It provides legal aid to Ukrainians whose loved ones are in captivity. And it models the cooperation that will be essential for rebuilding after the war.
Supporting FRF, then, isn’t an act of charity. It’s an investment in victory: the victory of fact over fiction, of dignity over repression, of Russians supporting Ukrainians as it defends itself against Russia’s war of aggression.
Dozens of FRF reports have already made waves — from a pool of experts, many working with FRF under modest stipends. But they work tirelessly because they know how high the stakes are and how the time to offer this analysis is urgent.
That should remind us of the power of expertise that is unfiltered, unafraid, and delivered in real time. And it should remind us that even in exile, Russians are not powerless. Through FRF, they are proving that knowledge can be as decisive as any weapon.
The value of knowing in real time is not abstract. It is the difference between acting and hesitating, between solidarity and division, between a war without end and the possibility of a sustainable peace.
Dozens of FRF reports have already made waves — from a pool of experts, many working with FRF under modest stipends. But they work tirelessly because they know how high the stakes are and how the time to offer this analysis is urgent.
That should remind us of the power of expertise that is unfiltered, unafraid, and delivered in real time. And it should remind us that even in exile, Russians are not powerless. Through FRF, they are proving that knowledge can be as decisive as any weapon.
The value of knowing in real time is not abstract. It is the difference between acting and hesitating, between solidarity and division, between a war without end and the possibility of a sustainable peace.