Oleg Orlov: the veteran dissident who accepted jail to ‘show there is resistance inside Russia’

Oleg Orlov in Berlin: ‘If you criticise the authorities, they can call you a “foreign agent”. It’s a label that shows you’re an enemy.’ Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP

For many people, if they had recently turned 70 and were faced with the prospect of a long stint in a Russian prison, their first instinct would be to dash to the airport and escape the country as quickly as possible. Oleg Orlov, one of Russia’s most experienced and respected human rights advocates, had that opportunity but never considered it an option.

Orlov, whose organisation, Memorial, won the Nobel peace prize in 2022, remained in the country after being accused of “discrediting the Russian army” for his commentary on the war in Ukraine. In February this year, he was convicted and sentenced to two and a half years in prison.