(Note -- all references are in Russian) Over half a century ago, on 12 June 1965, the KGB carried out 30 raids in Leningrad, targeting those involved in the production and circulation of The Bell (Kolokol), an underground magazine.[1] That day the following members of the group were arrested: Valery Ronkin, Sergei Khakhayev, Veniamin Joffe … Continue reading The Bell Affair, 1965 to the present
The persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses (1970-1986)
By the mid-1970s the Chronicle regularly published a section reporting on “The persecution of [religious] believers”. Often it was further subdivided between Adventists, Pentecostalists and Baptists, joined from time to time by Orthodox Christians and Catholics in Moldova. References to the harassment of Jehovah’s Witnesses are far less frequent, as the following examples show. (There … Continue reading The persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses (1970-1986)
Traditional Days of Protest in the USSR, December 1976 (43.2)
<< No. 43 : 31 December 1976 >> 30 OCTOBER 1976 POLITICAL PRISONERS' DAY In 1976 Political Prisoners’ Day was observed for the third time. [1a] In camps and prisons the traditional hunger-strikes took place on that day; over sixty people took part. Among them were: ● the women prisoners Irina Stasiv-Kalynets, Oksana Popovich, Irina … Continue reading Traditional Days of Protest in the USSR, December 1976 (43.2)
Political Trials around the Soviet Union, August 1970 (15.4)
<<No 15 : 31 August 1970>> [1] In Leningrad a military tribunal of the Baltic Military District has tried a number of military engineers (CCE 10.5 and CCE 11.5). The charges, under Article 70 of the Russian Criminal Code, concerned the formation of the "Union of Struggle for Political Rights". The court sentenced Gennady Gavrilov … Continue reading Political Trials around the Soviet Union, August 1970 (15.4)
The Death of Yury Galanskov, November 1972 (28.2)
«No 28 : 31 December 1972» On 2 November 1972 Yury GALANSKOV died at the age of 33 in the Mordovian camp complex (in institution ZhKh 385-3). *** Yury Timofeyevich Galanskov was born in 1939 in Moscow, into a family of workers. From 1959 onwards he took part in readings by young poets in Mayakovsky … Continue reading The Death of Yury Galanskov, November 1972 (28.2)
The deportation of Solzhenitsyn, 13 February 1974 (32.1)
<<No 32 : 17 July 1974>> On 13 February, after a prolonged and large-scale persecution campaign in the press, Alexander Isayevich SOLZHENITSYN was deported from the Soviet Union. The immediate cause was the publication of his GULag Archipelago by the YMCA Press (CCE 30.16).[1] The circumstances surrounding the publication of this book, as well as … Continue reading The deportation of Solzhenitsyn, 13 February 1974 (32.1)
The Death of Anatoly Marchenko (8 December 1986)
USSR News Brief, 15 December 1986 (Issue 22/23-1) On 8 December 1986 Anatoly MARCHENKO (b. 1938), a political prisoner for many years, died in the maximum-security Chistopol Prison (Tatarstan). For several months prior to his death, he had been on hunger strike, started on 8 August 1986 (1986: 17-7, 15 September). Official reports of his … Continue reading The Death of Anatoly Marchenko (8 December 1986)
About the Journal “Veche”, April-July 1974 (32.13)
<<No 32 : 17 July 1974>> On 19 April 1974, issue No. 10 of the journal Veche [Gathering or Moot] appeared. The chief editor is not V.N. Osipov, under whose signature the previous nine issues appeared, but I.V. Ovchinnikov. As far as can be judged from the series of statements made by the journal’s editor … Continue reading About the Journal “Veche”, April-July 1974 (32.13)
Moscow’s Unofficial Scientific Seminar, July 1974 (32.12)
«No 32 : 17 July 1974» A group of Jewish scientists who wish to emigrate to Israel and have for long been deprived of work and scholarly contacts with their colleagues in the USSR, have invited the international scientific community to attend an international seminar in Moscow devoted to the application of physics and mathematics … Continue reading Moscow’s Unofficial Scientific Seminar, July 1974 (32.12)
An Unpublished Decree, July 1974 (32.11)
«No 32 : 17 July 1974» An Unpublished Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet, No. 3707-VIII, 25 December 1972. As the Chronicle reported (CCE 30.13, December 1973) this decree had been applied to several citizens. From January to June 1974 a number of other citizens were issued with a caution on the … Continue reading An Unpublished Decree, July 1974 (32.11)
The Right to Leave, 1980 (57.18)
..., Germans, Pentecostalists, Those who have left (Moscow, Leningrad, Voronezh; Yarym-Agayev; Women and Russia). GERMANS For two years Alexander Bous, a resident of Chelyabinsk, has been trying to emigrate with his father, mother and brother. On 1 and 2 April an article entitled “Spiritual emigres” was published in the newspaper Chelyabinsk Worker. The main attack … Continue reading The Right to Leave, 1980 (57.18)
The Arrests of Lazareva and Maltseva, September 1980 (60.10)
<<No 60 : 31 December 1980>> On 26 September 1980 the feminist Natalya Lazareva (b. 1947) was arrested in Leningrad (on feminism, see CCE 55.9 "Miscellaneous Reports" and 57.18 "The Right to Leave"). She was charged under Article 190-1 of the RSFSR Criminal Code.[1] On 16 December searches were conducted in Leningrad in connection with … Continue reading The Arrests of Lazareva and Maltseva, September 1980 (60.10)
In Other Prisons and Camps (47.9)
«No 47 : 30 November 1977» The Perm Camps On 4 October, the day the Belgrade Conference opened, political prisoners in Camps 35 and 36 held a hunger-strike. It is known that the hunger-strike in Camp 36 lasted a week, about 15 people taking part in it. 30 October, “Political Prisoners’ Day”, was marked by … Continue reading In Other Prisons and Camps (47.9)
Samizdat update, 31 December 1979 (55.11)
<<No 55 : 31 December 1980>> Andrei Sakharov, “Reflections and Memories”, The Washington Post, 16 August 1979. Yury Shikhanovich, Six Documents, 15 August 1979. Emigration to Israel: Legal Theory and Practice, Nos 4 & 5, November and December 1979. Women and Russia, No. 1 , September 1979. Lithuanian samizdat. A new journal Pastoge (Shelter). * … Continue reading Samizdat update, 31 December 1979 (55.11)
Women Activists and Prisoners
in A Chronicle of Current Events (1968-1983). Looking at an earlier version of this website, the late Marjorie FARQUHARSON commented, "I don't see many women here, John." I looked and they were there, but not perhaps as visible as they could be. One response was a simple change to the "Guided Search" (Tags) in the … Continue reading Women Activists and Prisoners
Persecution of Believers-2, March 1978 (CCE 48.16)
[3] Pentecostalists and [4] Baptists. PENTECOSTALISTS In 1973 Pentecostalist A. V. Chertkova (b. 1927), was sent to a psychiatric hospital. During the course of several years Chertkova had been trying to obtain accommodation in Alma-Ata [Kazakh SSR]. She did not manage to get either a room or a place in a hostel. The town authorities … Continue reading Persecution of Believers-2, March 1978 (CCE 48.16)
Persecution of Believers-1, March 1978 (CCE 48.16)
[1] Catholics in Moldavia; [2] Adventists. CATHOLICS IN MOLDAVIA There are 15,000 Catholics in Moldavia. They are Germans, Poles and Ukrainians. Communities of Catholics exist in Beltsy, Bendery, Tiraspol, Rashkovo, Grigorovka, Andriyashevka and other towns and villages. In the only Catholic chapel open in Moldavia the priest, Vladislav Zavalnyuk, is forbidden to give sermons in … Continue reading Persecution of Believers-1, March 1978 (CCE 48.16)
Vladimir Bukovsky, 1942-2019
Belebei (USSR), 30 December 1942 — Cambridge (UK), 27 October 2019. Vladimir BUKOVSKY died of cardiac arrest in Addenbrookes Hospital, in Cambridge, England at 9:30 pm (Greenwich Mean Time) on Sunday, 27 October 2019. He was 76. His health had been poor in recent years. After his expulsion from the USSR in December 1976, he … Continue reading Vladimir Bukovsky, 1942-2019
Self-immolation: A protest of despair (1968-2019)
On 10 SEPTEMBER 2019, 79-year-old activist Albert Razin set fire to himself in Izhevsk, capital of the Udmurt Republic (Volga Federal District) in protest against the policy of the national government concerning languages and linguistic minorities within Russia. No fire extinguisher was near to hand and he died later in hospital. This horrendous act recalls … Continue reading Self-immolation: A protest of despair (1968-2019)
Events in Estonia (1968-1987)
See reports in A Chronicle of Current Events (1968-1982) in English translation https://chronicle-of-current-events.com/tag/estonian-ssr/ and in USSR News Update (1978-1991), «Вести из СССР» (in Russian) https://vesti-iz-sssr.com/tag/%d1%8d%d1%81%d1%81%d1%80/ Note These reports are tagged on the two websites, in the entries for 'Estonian SSR' in "Guided Search" and ЭССР in "Tags", respectively, in the right-hand column of the page. … Continue reading Events in Estonia (1968-1987)
