Evgenia Chirikova
In the face of rampant political corruption, Evgenia Chirikova mobilized her fellow citizens to reroute a highway that would bisect Moscow’s protected Khimki Forest.
Dmitry Lisitsyn
Dmitry Lisitsyn fought to protect Sakhalin Island’s critically endangered ecosystems while also demanding safety measures from one of the world’s largest petroleum development projects.
Olga Speranskaya
Russian scientist Olga Speranskaya successfully transformed the NGO community in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia into a potent, participatory force working to identify and eliminate the Soviet legacy of toxic chemicals in the environment.
Marina Rikhvanova
As Russia expanded its petroleum and nuclear interest, Marina Rikhvanova worked to protect Siberia’s lake Baikal, one of the world’s most important bodies of fresh water, from environmental devastation brought on by these polluting industries.
Vera Mischenko
In response to post-communist development and resource exploitation, Vera Mischenko cofounded Ecojuris, Russia’s first public interest law organization, and brought the first successful environmental lawsuits against the government.
Alexander Nikitn
A former naval officer, Alexander Nikitin was unjustly imprisoned for almost five years for treason after revealing the potential for a nuclear catastrophe due to Russia’s aging nuclear submarines based near the Norwegian border. He was acquitted in 2000.
Sviatoslav Zabelin
A modest man who inspires trust, Svet Zabelin raised public awareness of environmental problems in the former Soviet Union and helped build a grassroots environmental movement that sparked the country’s democratic transformation.
Suren Gazaryan
An internationally recognized bat expert and zoologist, Suren Gazaryan led multiple campaigns exposing government corruption and illegal exploitation of federally protected forestland along Russia’s Black Sea coast.