Oleg Serebrennikov is a Russian journalist and well-known antifascist in Izhevsk.  In 2004, a group of about twenty neo-nazis armed with clubs and knives attacked him.  He spent three months in the hospital recovering from his injuries.  During his time in the hospital, neo-nazis visited him, threatening to kill him if he pursued charges.  One of his attackers is from a very powerful Russian family and took steps to ensure Oleg didn’t receive necessary treatment; this was followed with the police threatening him with false charges.  Oleg now suffers from a permanent brain injury that prevents him from working or leading a normal life.

After it became increasingly clear that the police and the state was collaborating with neo-nazis to harass, intimidate, and threaten Oleg, he did the only thing he could do, fleeing to Finland as a refugee.

Oleg first came to us asking for some help in 2015 when he needed help paying for his medical treatment; we helped him then.  A year later, when he determined that it was no longer safe for him to stay in Russia, we helped him relocate to Finland.  Now, he’s come back to us again for help paying to get some drugs that he needs but are out-of-reach financially at the moment; of course, we helped him again.

We recognize that the consequences of fascist violence are far-reaching and can play out over years, not days.  We will not turn our backs on anti-fascists and people fighting back against hate when they reach out to us for solidarity and support.  The sole reason we’re able to be always here for heroes like Oleg is because of the generosity and support of the hundreds upon hundreds of people just like you that have donated to the Defence Fund.  Whether it was a dollar or a thousand dollars; whether it was just once or something they’ve signed up to do monthly – our donors made it possible for us to have Oleg’s back this whole time.

If you are one of our donors and you can’t contribute a little bit more right now, why not reach out to a friend and hit them up on our behalf (here, we made you a flyer to help explain what we’re about); if you’ve donated once or twice before, why not think about signing up on our Paypal or Patreon to kick in a little bit every month?  If you’ve never donated to the Defence Fund, today is a great day to start!