It was the other Russia gathered on Tuesday, December 3 in Berlin, in a location kept secret for security reasons until the preceding day, this group striving to be the exact opposite of Vladimir Putin's Kremlin: plural and tolerant, close to the ground, operating in a non-hierarchical style. "The aim is to represent Russians who don't identify with either the regime or the movements in exile. We are all against the Kremlin, against the war, for a free Ukraine, for democracy in Russia," explained Katia Moroko, 28, one of the coordinators of this "Platform" bringing together over 80 organizations, most of them born after the launch of the Kremlin's "special military operation" in Ukraine in February 2022.

In the hall of the Friedrich-Ebert Foundation, an institution close to Germany's Social Democratic Party, these rebels are mostly young and impetuous, but organized and disciplined. For them, facing up to the Kremlin is above all a matter of "resistance," uniting their efforts and coordinating their initiatives, in order to be part of concrete rather than rhetorical action. "We have no experience in politics. We're just normal people! A real civil society," explained Moroko, who like other activists was forced to leave Russia. Some are involved with political prisoners in Russia, others with deserters or political opponents seeking to express themselves without too much danger inside the country. Some are fighting against LGBTphobia, and others defending the feminist cause.

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