The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) is jubilant at the release of Russian dissident Vladimir Kara-Murza and 15 other political prisoners from Vladimir Putin’s modern-day gulag. A pro-democracy activist, historian, journalist, and television host, Vladimir Kara-Murza advocated for the human rights of… Read More
Any society that claims to be a democracy must uphold fundamental freedoms such as freedom of religion, thought, assembly, expression, an orderly and transparent legal process and, importantly, freedom of the press. This is certainly not the case of Russia… Read More
Russian President Vladimir Putin first took power in 2000. He succeeded Boris Yeltsin in Russia’s first peaceful transition of power from one democratically elected leader to the next — ever. It was a historic moment for Russia. Putin, however, had… Read More
By Jacob Lavee and Matthew P. Robertson Eight doctors at the Tongji Medical College hospital in Wuhan, China, traveled 40 miles on March 18, 1994, to procure a heart from a death-row prisoner. But rather than wait until the judicial authorities had… Read More
At this critical moment, heavy weapons and more of everything are what’s needed for the Ukrainian military to counter and defeat the new Russian offensive in the Donbas. But what about the next few weeks, months, and potentially, years? The… Read More
By Paula Dobriansky and Richard Levine The West can’t continue to pretend that a negotiated peace is possible in Ukraine. Not after Russia killed 57 civilians with a ballistic missile at the Kramatorsk train station. Any settlement could only legitimize Russia’s control… Read More
Don Ritter of Warrenton, Virginia represented the Lehigh Valley in Congress from 1979-1993. He is president and CEO emeritus, Afghan American Chamber of Commerce and a trustee of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation. His visit to Ukraine in November… Read More
Paul G. Kengor is an author and professor of political science at Grove City College. The number of Russian combat deaths in Ukraine is striking, perhaps already exceeding the total dead in 10 years of war in Afghanistan from 1979-89…. Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today the world marks the 100th anniversary of the decisive Battle of Warsaw when the Polish people stopped Vladimir Lenin’s Bolshevik invasion of Europe. In a foreshadow of NATO, free governments in Europe—and even volunteer military units… Read More
Estonia On March 13, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) Executive Director Marion Smith met Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid to lay a wreath in memory of all Estonians who suffered and were killed during the years of Soviet occupation. Crimea… Read More
