"There comes a point when you get on their nerves, and then they put you in jail."

Rostov resident Anastasia Shevchenko — Russia's first "undesirable" journalist, a world-famous political émigré. In June 2022, she left Russia with her two children. She had spent two years under house arrest for politically motivated crimes, during which time her eldest daughter died due to a lack of proper medical care.

For several years, Anastasia headed the Rostov branch of Open Russia and served on the organization's federal council. For this, the prosecutor requested a five-year prison sentence (she was given a suspended sentence of four years). She had begun engaging in public activities even earlier.

Thus, Shevchenko participated in a public campaign against the transfer of the Rostov Puppet Theater building to the church, and was the author and performer of the “Robbed to the Panties” protest against pension reform.

Read on the website "Traits" material by Farida Kurbangaleeva about how Nastya managed to not break down in captivity, escape from Russia, and get used to freedom after two years of house arrest and a suspended sentence in exile