Dr. Daria Dergacheva is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Media and Communication Research (ZeMKI) at the University of Bremen, Germany. Her PhD at the Autonomous University of Barcelona was completed in 2021 and devoted to Russian state narratives on Twitter. She has also studied international journalism in the UK and worked in Russia-based international organizations and NGOs, such as the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and Open Russia. She has a vast experience in media, both as a journalist as well as an editor
Latest posts by Daria Dergacheva
Every Friday, Russia labels new citizens and organizations as ‘Foreign Agents’
Labeling people and organizations as 'foreign agents' resembles Stalin's repressive regime. It is now being used to push dissenting voices out of the country.
First victims of anti-LGBTQ+ law in Russia are trans persons and books
Openly trans Tiktokers, a publishing house, movies and TV shows feel the weight of the Russian anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda law.
There are almost 1,500 political prisoners in Belarus
The main tools for repressing critics of the regime and dissidents in Belarus are still criminal and administrative prosecution, arbitrary arrests, dismissals from work and de facto deportations
The band that Lukashenka declared extremist sang ‘Zhyve Belarus’ (Long live Belarus!)
Rarely covered by the international media, Lukashenka’s regime is using Stalin-like repression on its citizens. Dissidents are detained and prosecuted and, in many cases now, their family members are too.
‘We are asking for forgiveness that we know we will never receive': In Russia, people are bringing flowers to monuments of Ukrainians
In at least 17 cities of Russia, people are bringing flowers and photos of the destroyed house in Dnipro, Ukraine, hit by a Russian missile on January 14, 2023, to spontaneous memorials.
In Russia, video games are unsafe for kids. But not for the usual reasons
Nikita Uvarov, a teenager from Siberia, is serving a five-year jail sentence for planning to build the FSB building and blow it up in Minecraft.
“I will forever be the enemy of the Russian regime” says TikToker in Moldova
This is the first case of a TikToker formerly based in Russia openly standing against the Russian regime and supporting Ukraine.
Relatives of drafted soldiers in Russia do not know if they are dead or alive
In the Russian region of Samara, a petition to publish names of mobilized soldiers who died after the shelling of Makeevka on the 31st of December, 2022, gathered 50,000 signatures. The army officials refused.
Seven ways Moldova made its citizens proud in 2022
Independent Moldovan media outlet Newsmaker made a list of the ways the country made its citizens proud in 2022
Popular Russian singer answers ‘Glory to Ukraine’. Now they want to revoke his citizenship
Singer Valerii Meladze has been openly against the war since February 2022. Now he may face harsh consequences for the words he said off-the-record in Dubai in support of Ukraine.
For school New Year's Eve parties in Moscow, some music is apparently deemed inappropriate
The list includes 29 artists. Some of them, such as Little Big and Manizha, represented Russia at Eurovideo contest. All of them have explicitely condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Documentary about the 1920s Volga famine is prohibited in Russia but broadcasted on YouTube
A Russian documentary covering the 1921–1923 famine in the Volga region is banned by the Russian government for unclear reasons, but made available online on YouTube.
‘How the fuck is it possible?': Russian rapper releases anti-war album
Vladi, a lead singer of popular rap music group, now prohibited in Russia, released a new album, “February Lasts and Lasts.” It describes how incomprehensible and horrifying the Russian invasion of Ukraine is.
Popular TikToker Nekoglai tells of torture by Russian police
The TikToker's example shows that videos with some political and oppositional content may be as popular among young audience as entertainment ones.
Twitter account “No Context Russia” is sad yet hilarious
A Twitter account shows images from Russia without context, portraying the country in sad and ironic tones.
‘I am not returning to this hell’: In the Russian North Caucasus, NGOs help victims of gender and LGBTQ+ violence to escape
NGOs in North Caucasus are buy tickets and provide other transport for people to escape violence, and assist with legal issues, housing, and medical needs. They need donations to continue.
In darkness but #withoutyou: How Moldova survives power cuts caused by Russia's bombing of Ukraine
After severe power blackouts due to the Russian bombing of Ukraine, more and more people in Moldova, even those who are considered pro-Russian, begin to look at Russia with bewilderment.
The European Union welcomed Ukrainian refugees on an unprecedented scale. What's next?
Costs of war are high for Ukraine but the majority of Ukrainian refugees still want to return. The EU needs to consider, what is going to happen to those that don’t.
Shallow grave: Putin’s dictatorship is slowly killing Russia's main opposition leader Navalny
Putin’s main critic and the Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, has survived an assassination attempt, but now the regime is slowly killing him by harshening prison conditions.
International money transfer routes are evaporating for Russians
There are fewer and fewer ways of continuing using global financial services for Russians, both at home and abroad, and the ordinary people are those who take the hardest hit.
‘We were born in a situation of hellish urgency’: How the Russian Feminist Anti-War Resistance Movement works
This grassroots, spontaneous movement has become the largest network in Russia for anti-war propaganda and assistance to refugees deported and persecuted by the authorities.
