Vladimir Kara-Murza — activist with roots in the USSR
Vladimir Kara-Murza is a Russian-British opposition activist and journalist born in Moscow who survived two poisoning attempts attributed to Russian security services before being arrested in Russia in 2022 and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was released in a prisoner exchange in 2024 and won the Pulitzer Prize for commentary.
Tracing the roots — Moscow
Born in Moscow in 1981, Kara-Murza has been one of the most courageous voices of Russian democratic opposition — repeatedly returning to Russia despite assassination attempts. His British citizenship and his American connections represent the Russian opposition diaspora's rootedness in the democratic West, while his willingness to return to Russia defined him as a figure of exceptional moral courage.
Moscow. At the time, this region was one of the fifteen republics of the Soviet Union.