A better Russia, tomorrow. Meduza turns to you.

Dear readers, this is a special transmission of Meduza’s newsletter, coming to you at a time of crisis. We are writing to you now for one simple reason: We need your support today more than ever. 

Russia is at war in Ukraine, and the authorities in Moscow could try to ban our website at any moment for covering the invasion honestly. Even calling it an “invasion” is now enough to invite state censorship. Whatever the state’s efforts to block Meduza, our work will continue. We have prepared for this. Meduza has a mobile app, we have an enormous audience on social media, and we distribute newsletters like the one you’re reading now. Our readers will also still be able to reach us using VPNs.

There’s one challenge for which we are not prepared, however. Ninety percent of the donations we receive come through the payment systems Stripe and PayPal. Our readers in Russia want to keep supporting us, but now their bank cards are being rejected.

Additionally, economic sanctions against Russia’s financial sector create serious risks for our crowdfunding, forcing us to prepare for the worst. We are relying especially on you, our international audience, to help sustain our work.

What you should know: We are an independent publication, and we work only in the interests of our readers. Since Meduza launched in English, our website has gained millions of unique views. Our Russian-language edition’s audience is vastly larger still, and your support is essential to maintaining both projects. Financial uncertainty in Russia means Meduza must turn to our readers around the world. In our reporting and in this message to you, we want to make it clear that this war is an act of aggression by the Russian state against the people of Ukraine. To continue this work, we turn to you. 

To become a contributor, please click here. Meduza accepts direct bank transfers, cryptocurrency, and payments through Stripe and PayPal.