Russian teachers, doctors, programmers, book critics, and actors join Orthodox priests in signing open letters against Moscow repressions

After dozens of Russian Orthodox clergy released an open letter on September 17 criticizing the prosecution of Moscow election protesters, members of several other professions have also gathered together to demand that defendants in the so-called “Moscow case” be released or acquitted.

By the end of the day on September 18, 1,868 Russian schoolteachers had signed a letter saying the Russian government had learned nothing from its history and would have been “held back a grade” under their watch. More than 100 doctors signed a different manifesto saying they could sense the country’s escalating political anxiety through their patients. Over 150 programmers signed yet another petition on Github. For Russia’s theater professionals, the repressions hit particularly close to home thanks to the now-infamous sentencing of actor Pavel Ustinov; they collected signatures for a letter to Vladimir Putin himself. More than 30 publishing and bookselling professionals, including Meduza’s own resident film and literature critics, also jumped into the mix.