Was founded in March 2022 as a response to the exclusion of Russians who disagree with the war in Ukraine. Mass arrests of protesters, repressive laws, “military censorship” and mobilization forced huge numbers of Russians to leave the country. The Ark is the first initiative that centrally helps people from Russia who left because of an anti-war stance.
Now the audience of the Ark is about half a million people.
We oppose war! We support the anti-war initiatives of Russians, including the information support, providing them with a platform for activities in the Ark Centers, holding educational events for them, and involving new immigrants in anti-war projects through the Telegram bot. The Ark organizes online events with Western foundations and experts on the one hand and Russian anti-war initiatives on the other. The Ark also talks about the activities of the Russian anti-war movement in English on the social network Twitter.
We provide housing for the first weeks in co-living apartments and houses where expats can recover their breath, solve primary household problems and meet like-minded people. The “Ark” co-livings in Armenia, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Poland can accommodate two hundred people and more than 3600 people have been welcomed so far.
Legal support and psychological support. The Ark lawyers and volunteers answer questions about emigration, legalization and adaptation abroad, and professional psychologist volunteers provide psychological support in the form of individual and group consultations. Over the entire period of the project work, the support service has managed to process more than 95,000 requests, and the psychological service has helped 4,000 emigrants.
Language classes. Thanks to 120 volunteer teachers, we organized language courses where expats learn 13 foreign languages: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Norwegian, Serbian, Danish, Czech and Greek.
We have made our social networks useful for everyone. On social networks, we regularly publish current vacancies, internships, scholarships, volunteer offers and information about other opportunities for emigrants, as well as information about war crimes, war news, ideological and value information, and resist propaganda. To date, the audience of the Ark on all platforms (Telegram, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and chats) reaches 500,000 people.
We create a community of Russians abroad and build a dialogue with the local community. The Ark Resource Center operates in Yerevan, where the events for emigrants are held, and there is a co-working space. Regular meetings are also held in Istanbul, Warsaw, Almaty and other cities. The events, among other things, are aimed at the interaction of the diaspora with the local politicians, experts, representatives of non-profit organizations to build a dialogue and adaptation. The Center’s Site is provided free of charge for anti-war initiatives and civil projects.
We create communities of mutual aid. The project brings together more than 150 thousand people in 39 countries and six professional communities in its chats. More than 1600 volunteers are helping us.
We are engaged in non-formal education. With the help of volunteers and partners, we conduct webinars on employment abroad, the features of legalization and adaptation in individual countries, psychological self-help, and others.·
The Mutual Aid Chat Coordinator at Kovcheg
Politician, election observation coordinator, member of the board of the Moscow branch of the Civic Initiative party.
From: Saratov
Telegram: @KovchegPartner
Email: [email protected]
Directed by: Taya Zubova
The heroes of the film – Yulia, Kirill, Ilya, Inna, Alevtina – fled Russia at the very beginning of the war. A photographer (during the filming, her husband was taking his grandmother and mother through Bucha), an opposition journalist, a manager, an anthropologist and a volunteer – common people without connections and big savings.
Today, their fate has turned out differently, but each of the heroes has retained the main thing – mercy, human dignity and freedom.
(English subtitles are available)
Authors: Without Prejustice project
The heroes of the film are people whom the Ark helped with temporary housing and provided a place in co-living when they left Russia because of the war. WP were filming from May to December 2022 and were able to follow the changes that had taken place in the lives of our heroes. In lives, one of the main criteria of which is freedom.
To watch:
To read (RU):
Forbes.ru
как эмигранты создают сообщества и помогают друг другу
Медиазона
Как волонтеры в Грузии и Казахстане помогают бегущим из России
Idel.Реалии
Теплица Социальных Технологий
Медуза
Из-за войны россияне уезжают в Турцию и Армению. Там им помогает проект «Ковчег». Вот его история
To read (other languages):
iNews
Meduza
Tens of thousands of Russians have fled to Turkey and Armenia. A new project seeks to ease their transition.
Interview with Russian activists, Eva Rappoport and Kate Yasnaya
d – Journalismus von links
The Kowtscheg organization helps Russians in Istanbul who are fleeing their homeland before mobilization
Meduza
A guide to the most important anti-war initiatives in Russia and abroad
NTV
(More and more Russians are fleeing to Istanbul)
NTV
(More and more Russians are fleeing to Istanbul)
Russland News
Desk Russie
