Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, military Putinism has evolved into far more than a wartime policy. It has become a state ideology, reinforced through political repression, propaganda, and an education system increasingly designed to normalize war and militarization. Independent civic institutions have been dismantled, dissent — criminalized, and mass emigration split civil society between exile and paralysis. Bazaleti Uni is a civic education project that was founded outside Russia after the outbreak of the war as a response to this destruction and social fragmentation. It aims to work across borders with both parts of Russian civil society — those in exile and those still inside the country — to preserve civic ties, create spaces for free discussion, and help build an anti-war community despite repression and isolation.

The event is jointly organized by Bazaleti Uni and Dialogue for Understanding e.V. (D4U). For D4U, this cooperation is especially important because civic education, democratic dialogue and the strengthening of independent civil society are at the heart of our work. Through educational programmes, public discussions and transnational cooperation, D4U creates spaces in which Russian-speaking participants can critically engage with authoritarianism, war, human rights and democratic alternatives and remain connected across borders.

Skeptics often argue that cultural and educational initiatives cannot stop a war — and they are right. Civic education alone cannot end military aggression. But does that make such projects irrelevant? How is support for the war actually sustained inside Russia? What do young Russians believe, fear, and hope for? Why has anti-war resistance remained largely invisible? And did decades of civic, cultural, and educational work before 2022 ultimately fail?

Join us on 22 September in Berlin for a discussion with philosopher Arseniy Kumankov (University of Mainz), Anna Krasinskaya, Director of Bazaleti Uni, Anna Ayvazyan, Head of the Educational Programme of Bazaleti Uni, and Chair of the Board of D4U e.V. as we explore these questions and discuss the role civic education can still play in shaping Russia’s future.

22 September, 6:00 p.m. Singerstraße 109, 10179 Berlin
Event language: English

Please register for the event by 20 September.

Registered participants will receive the event programme and further details by email.