Elena Zhemkova is a co-founder of Memorial, the Russian human rights organisation awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, together with human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski and the Ukrainian human rights organization Centre for Civil Liberties.

Founded in 1987, Memorial has worked to compile a history of mass atrocities and political repression in the former USSR and to defend human rights. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Memorial became the most prominent human rights organization in Russia. It was dissolved in 2022 by the Russian authorities, and its documentation centre was closed.

Dr Zhemkova served as Memorial’s Executive Director until the organization was closed. She continues to coordinate Memorial’s regional network in Germany, Italy, Russia, France, the Czech Republic and Ukraine. 

‘Our organization is destroyed but our work in Russia goes on,’ she said in a recent interview. ‘Though our lectures and history tours are disrupted by hooligans, and we receive many threats, we continue to monitor human rights, challenge abuse through the courts, work with refugees, look after victims of oppression, stand by people who refuse to take up arms.’

Asked who is responsible for the war in Ukraine, she answered, ‘Every Russian has his or her own measure of responsibility. Each of us is responsible for what we say or where we keep silent. I don’t run away from my own responsibility. I’ve worked a lot, I’ve tried to be honest, but not everything has worked out. Our failing was our inability to achieve a legal assessment of the past. We exposed the perpetrators. But if a crime is not punished, then the crime expands.’

‘This war is a huge tragedy for Ukraine, but also for Russia. A horrible future awaits us, and the price will be paid by the people of Russia.’

Dr Zhemkova is grateful to have shared the Peace Prize with human rights advocates from Ukraine and Belarus. ‘When we are in a state of war,’ she said, ‘civil society should unite against the common evil – human rights abuses, the humiliation of dignity and the destruction of life.’