MOSCOW — Exiled Russian activists Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Khodorkovsky and Vladimir Kara-Murza have worked to form the Platform for Dialogue with Russian Democratic Forces, a consultative body in the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe established in 2026. The platform aims to give Russia's opposition an international voice.

The launch is part of a broader mobilization by exiled Russians voicing opposition to the war in Ukraine and resisting the regime in Moscow. Since the start of the war, a diverse resistance movement has worked to counter the Kremlin's authoritarian practices and propaganda, challenging the narrative that all Russians support the war.

Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian citizens criticizing the war or expressing an anti-war position have faced severe prison sentences. The Russian government has expanded war censorship laws to target the spread of alleged false information and the discrediting of the army. The Center for Strategic and International Studies said in early 2026 that Russian forces had suffered nearly 1.2 million casualties since the start of the war, while the Russian government has provided almost no official data on the extent of Russian and Ukrainian casualties.

Exiled Russians have sent money and letters of solidarity to political prisoners in Russia and their families, coordinated legal aid for anti-war defendants inside Russia, and lobbied Western governments to distinguish between the Kremlin and Russian civil society. Anti-war Russians abroad have helped people inside Russia escape mobilization by offering shelter and safe routes out of the country. A 22-year-old Russian now living abroad established transnational networks across Europe, the Caucasus and Russia to help criminally prosecuted anti-war Russians flee the country before standing trial.

Exiled Russians have been running independent Russian-language media through Telegram channels and YouTube. Russia's telecommunications regulator Roskomnadzor has severely restricted access to Telegram channels and YouTube to censor outside information and force Russians to adopt the state-controlled Max app.

Indigenous diaspora networks have informed communities in regions of Russia with large ethnic minority populations such as Tuva, Tatarstan, Buriyatia and Chelyabinsk about the realities of the war, including the use of underage soldiers and heavy recruitment from ethnic minority regions. These networks have posted videos on Instagram, YouTube and Facebook, as well as messages on Telegram and Signal, to counter official state narratives.

Exiled Russians have also provided shelter and safe routes out of Russia for LGBTQ+ people facing discrimination, created digital safe spaces for Russian LGBTQ+ communities, and lobbied for their protection in European countries. Russian legislation introduced in December 2022 prohibited any perceived propaganda about non-traditional relationships. In 2023, a decision by the Russian supreme court designated the international LGBT movement as an extremist organisation, making any association with or support for LGBTQ+ communities a criminal offense.