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This week, the final event of the project “How has the Russian language changed in the 2020s?”  took place, featuring one of Finland’s most renowned scholars of the Russian language — Professor Arto Mustajoki. Arto Mustajoki spoke about how contemporary political, social, and cultural processes influence the Russian language. An unexpected example he mentioned was the word “скуф”  from Russian internet culture, which amused the audience. The professor explained that the term

We are pleased to present the dictionary “Russian Newspeak ”  — a Russian–Finnish dictionary of new words and expressions , created as part of the project “How has the Russian language changed in the 2020s?” . The dictionary is based on a series of discussions held in Finland and on additional research examining vocabulary that has emerged or changed under the influence of war, repressive laws, migration, internet culture, and other processes shaping contemporary Russian real

On December 11 at 18:00, Suomi–Venäjä-seura and Initiative FoReDi invite friends to our Pikkujoulut (Little Christmas) celebration. The event will be a relaxed, festive gathering aimed at bringing together Finnish- and Russian-speaking participants. The programme will take place in two languages — Finnish and Russian. You can expect music and singing, competitions, Christmas workshops, warm glögi and light snacks, as well as a bilingual — but fully united — Santa Claus / Joul

In Oulu , a performance titled “Putin is a terrorist. Freedom and peace are held hostage” was organized, where participants protested against the criminalization of the Russian opposition following the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to designate the Anti-Corruption Foundation as a terrorist organization. In Uusikaupunki , participants of the picket drew attention to the paradox: the Taliban — previously recognized as a terrorist organization — was re

Today, the organization “ European Choice for Russia ”  published an open appeal to the international community calling for the release of political prisoners in Russia. “In November 2025, discussions intensified about a possible ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, mediated by the United States. Unfortunately, neither the Trump plan nor the proposals by European politicians mention the fate of Russian political prisoners — citizens of Russia, Ukraine and other countries — o

Two years ago, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation  declared the “international public LGBT movement”  an extremist organization — thereby putting a large part of Russian society under the threat of criminal prosecution and changing the lives of LGBTQ+ people by depriving them of safety, support, and visibility. On 30 November , events will take place in Helsinki  under the slogan “Love is not extremism” , organized by Queer Asylum: FI  ( qa-finland.yhdistysavain.fi )

On 3 December at 18:00 , we invite you to a meeting dedicated to the Russian language with one of Finland’s most renowned Russian linguists — Professor Arto Mustajoki . The event will be held in Finnish. Professor Mustajoki will talk about how the Russian language is changing in the 2020s.The main theme of the evening is “novoyaz”  — the new political language of Russia — and how it is used in contemporary political rhetoric, as well as the newest borrowings and semantic shif

On 25 November at 18:00 , we invite you to a discussion as part of National Dialogue Day , dedicated to the theme: “Does an immigrant need Sisu?” Sisu  is a uniquely Finnish concept often associated with national character. It means perseverance, determination, courage, and the ability to keep going no matter what. Together, we will explore this fascinating Finnish word and talk about: • Have you had situations in Finland where you truly needed to show sisu? • Are some people

On the big screen we will watch a production directed by Dmitry Krymov , inspired by Alexander Pushkin’s  historical drama “Boris Godunov.” The performance premiered in 2019, was removed from the repertoire in March 2022, and by September 2022 all Krymov’s works were banned from Moscow theatres by order of the city’s Department of Culture. The play draws parallels between today’s Russian style of governance and its imperial past, revealing the myths on which Russian identity

On November 26 at 18:00  in Helsinki, a discussion “Who is to blame and what should be done: trust in the media and the Russian-speaking residents of Finland”  will take place, organized by the Cultura Foundation . The discussion will focus on the reasons behind the lack of trust in Finnish-language media among Russian-speaking residents of Finland, and on the ways this trust can be rebuilt and strengthened.The goal of the dialogue is to deepen mutual understanding and ident

📍 On November 6 from 16:00 to 20:00  in the city of Kemi , the association Kemi Against War will hold a letter evening in support of political prisoners . The organizers invite both Russian- and Finnish-speaking residents of Finland — interpretation from Russian will be provided, as well as assistance in translating letters to political prisoners. Address:   Kemin kulttuurikeskus, Marina Takalon katu 3 , Auditorium “Aquarium.” For any questions, please contact Maksim . 📍 O

We have managed to collect the full amount needed to bring the project to life! The project received financial support from 114 people across 23 countries , with a total of €9,797  raised. Huge thanks to everyone for your help and support! ❤️ A special thank you to journalist Michael Nacke for his generous donation, which allowed us to complete the fundraising ahead of schedule. Our goal is to install the memorial by June 4, 2026  — the day Aleksei Navalny would have turned

On October 23, a panel discussion titled "Russian-Speaking Civil Society in Europe: Extremists Fighting against Extremism?"  took place in Helsinki. The event was organized by the Finland–Russia Society  in cooperation with Initiative FoReDi ry  as part of the annual Aleksanteri Conference , dedicated to the theme “Extremisms: ambiguities, ideologies, agency.” The discussion focused on the different meanings and uses of the term “extremism”  in Russia and Europe. Participant

So far, we have managed to collect €2,650 , but we still have a long way to go — the implementation of the project requires significant resources. Since our organization has been declared “undesirable”  in Russia, and for your safety, we have added an option to support the project through cryptocurrency . • USDT (TRC20):  TE6C9yW73STnCkhmBk1WLLXmsirhKUSSMb • BTC:  1481tmNnKo9n56Hr9wfdJ62VPKkKTytKJD • ETH:  0xb86626a772c244eef72f9a136bd46583cdebe34d You can also make a donatio

The final discussion titled "Informers: The Language of Society"  focused on how language in today’s Russia has become an instrument of control, repression, and propaganda. The moderator, Nikita Kirillov , chair of Initiative FoReDi ry , noted that following this series of discussions, a Russian–Finnish dictionary of new words and expressions of the 2020s  will be compiled to reflect the political, social, and cultural transformations of recent years. Three experts took part

The event was held in support of the musicians of the St. Petersburg band StopTime , who were detained and sentenced in Russia for their street performances. Participants performed songs by Monetochka, Noize MC, Zemfira, Splean, Pornofilmy, Kino  and Grazhdanskaya Oborona . From behind the embassy fence and nearby building windows, staff members of the diplomatic mission were seen watching and photographing the participants — for what purpose, remains unclear. With this rall

We will gather outside the Russian Embassy in Helsinki  to show support for the musicians of the band StopTime , who were detained and sentenced in St. Petersburg for their street performances.The band’s vocalist Diana Loginova (Naoko)  and percussionist Vladislav Leontiev  were arrested for 13 days, and guitarist Alexander Orlov  for 12 days, accused of “organizing an illegal public event” simply for performing songs by banned artists. In addition, Diana faces administrative

We have already received 70 donations totalling €1,481! 💶 Special thanks for helping us spread the word go to Fedor Krasheninnikov,...

Today we learned that on October 3, 2025 , our non-profit organization Initiative FoReDi ry , registered in Finland, was officially...

Together with Russian-speaking journalists, we discussed state and opposition media, censorship, disinformation, social media, and...