EXPLAINING THE STRUGGLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS IN RUSSIA |
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Hello and welcome back to the Digest. |
Today we are covering the story of jailed vegan activist Anna Arkhipova. |
In solidarity, Dan Storyev |
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Trigger warning:
This is a newsletter about Russian repressions. Sometimes it will be hard to read. |
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Anna Arkhipova is 27 and she was a Vesna activist. I have already written about Vesna and the Vesna case in #13. Long story short, Vesna was a youth collective from St Petersburg, focused on bold, visually striking demonstrations — pickets, marches and performances. Founded in 2013, they couldn’t sit aside seeing the carnage in Ukraine. Not even a year after the full-scale war began, they were proclaimed undesirable and extremist by the Russian government and in effect were forced out of Russia. Those who stayed have mostly been jailed for their activism.
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For her anti-war demonstrations and writing, Anna was sent to pre-trial detention. Charged on seven counts she is looking at years in prison once a sentence is handed down. Before the arrest Anna lived a fairly normal life. She studied at a university and worked as a barista. She had a cat named Torri. She was also a vegan. |
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Anna Arkhipova in court / Photo: SOTAvision |
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Most people would likely give up on veganism upon entering a Russian jail. There are no accommodations there made for vegans — or for anyone else, for that matter. You might recall Sasha Skochilenko, who was exchanged in the momentous prisoner swap in 2024. As a person with celiac disease, Sasha faced an incredible ordeal, as a lot of prison food caused her physical pain, and she could only survive on parcels passed on by her loved ones and supporters.
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Anna decided to maintain a vegan diet — even in prison. “I have never been a strong fan of meat, but I came to a vegan lifestyle shortly before my arrest, gradually replacing animal products with vegetable products. I’ll clarify right away: I’m not a full-fledged vegan, as I am addicted to chocolates and cookies. Sweets are my fuel and antidepressants,” she told OVD-Info.
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Read more about transnational repression in our in-depth report. | |
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Anna gets a parcel every 10 days. Usually they contain vegetables, instant products, cheese, sausages (all vegan), herbs, nori and something tasty, like corn sticks. Her favorites are ready-made canned vegan products. Usual prison rations are milk porridge, watery meat soup, potatoes, cabbage and fish cutlets. For a while Anna had no refrigerator access in the cell, and she had to keep her produce in a bucket of cold water. |
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One of the prison parcels prepared for Anna Arkhipova by her support group / Photo: "Свободу Анне Архиповой!" Telegram channel |
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This is how Anna describes her prison diet: "My usual breakfast is a simple sandwich or a cracker with something. I have dinner with a vegetable salad with tofu, on happy days I add potatoes to it — the only thing I eat from the canteen food. But lunches are much more interesting!’ |
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Here’s one of Anna’s prison recipes: |
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1. Take vegan canned bolognese mince.
2. Heat water with a kettle and boil instant noodles.
3. Add noodles to the mince.
4. Season with herbs and onions.
5. All done! |
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“I take vitamins: B12, D, iron. Sometimes they got confiscated [by prison authorities], but after I fought them with complaints, [the authorities] returned them. I think my poor physical condition was brought about by a lack of vitamins, anemia and massive stress. Well, in the end, a person will never feel good in a prison! Health is undermined here anyway,” Anna told us. |
We sent a complaint to the UN on Anna’s behalf. These complaints are vitally important as they document the Kremlin’s repression. These complaints also inform global policymakers and stakeholders who are working on countering this repression. Lastly, in the possible future where justice prevails these complaints are invaluable for accountability. |
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The Digest is created by OVD-Info, written by Dan Storyev, edited by Dr Lauren McCarthy |
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