Vladimir Kara-Murza

Vladimir Kara-Murza is a Russian politician, author, historian, documentary filmmaker, and former political prisoner. A close ally of slain opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, he served as deputy leader of the People’s Freedom Party and ran for the Russian Parliament. He played a key role in securing Magnitsky sanctions on senior Russian officials in the United States, United Kingdom, European Union, Canada, and Australia. For this work, he was twice poisoned and left in a coma; investigations by Bellingcat, The Insider, and Der Spiegel identified FSB officers behind the attacks. In April 2022, Kara-Murza was arrested in Moscow for publicly denouncing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After a closed trial, he was sentenced to 25 years for “high treason” and held in solitary confinement in a maximum-security prison in Siberia. He was released in August 2024 as part of the largest East–West prisoner exchange since the Cold War, negotiated by the U.S. and German governments. Kara-Murza is a contributing writer at The Washington Post and won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for his columns written from prison. He has worked for the BBC, Echo of Moscow, RTVi, Kommersant, and other media outlets; directed three documentary films; and authored or contributed to several books on Russian history and politics. He serves as vice-president of the Free Russia Foundation and holds senior roles at the McCain Institute, Human Rights First, and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre. He is an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he holds an M.A. in History. He is married, with three children.