OVD-Info

What OVD-Info does

OVD-Info is a Russian human rights media project founded in 2011 that documents political repression in Russia and provides free legal support to individuals facing politically motivated prosecution. Its core constituents are activists, journalists, and ordinary Russian citizens detained, arrested, searched, or prosecuted for anti-war speech, protest participation, or other dissent; OVD-Info currently documents 4,796 active criminal prosecution cases and 2,173 political prisoners. The organization operates a suite of interconnected products: a bilingual news website (ovd.info), a Telegram-based legal guidance bot (@ovdinfobot), a free hotline (8 800 707-05-28), the data.ovd.info research platform with interactive dashboards on persecution by region and by group (including a dedicated Jehovah's Witnesses tracker), the ovdinfo.legal instructions portal, the advocacy.ovd.info international advocacy platform, and the lettersnow.org directory for writing to political prisoners. Underlying technology is a lightweight, security-conscious stack built around Telegram as the primary intake and distribution surface, email-based request routing (legal@, media@, data@, donate@, info@, volunteers@), and a multi-region Russian detention dataset maintained continuously since 2011.

The business model is donation-funded and free to end users. OVD-Info accepts contributions through donate.ovdinfo.legal, including from foreign bank cards and cryptocurrency; donations from Russian bank cards were suspended following the June 2026 extremist designation. The go-to-market is community-led, relying on earned media (PBS, NYT, BBC, Reuters, The Moscow Times), organic social (Telegram, X, VK, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube), and a volunteer base of thousands that contributes to letter writing, prison support, and information gathering. There is no pricing model, no enterprise sales motion, and no disclosed revenue or institutional investor structure; the organization is a private nonprofit with 51-100 employees headquartered in Moscow, co-founded by Daniil Beilinson and Grigory Okhotin.

On June 4, 2026, Rosfinmonitoring designated OVD-Info as an extremist organization, and on June 5, 2026, Russia's Ministry of Justice added it to its register of extremist organizations. In response, OVD-Info terminated cooperation with lawyers inside Russia, suspended humanitarian assistance and the Vestochka letter-sending program, and paused advocacy campaigns, while continuing legal advice (via the hotline), documentation, and research. The organization is responding to the designation by pivoting operations and donor infrastructure internationally, including a Berlin-based 're: connect' hackathon in June 2026 focused on secure communication channels, AI-powered message triage, and censorship circumvention.

Name

OVD-Info

Legal name

ОВД-Инфо

Website

https://ovd.info

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

OVD-Info is a Russian human rights media project founded in 2011 that documents political repression, provides free legal aid to dissidents and activists, and runs a Telegram legal bot, hotline, and a 14-year detention database. It is funded by donations and currently serves 4,796 documented politically prosecuted individuals in Russia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Rights, Privacy & Free Expression Advocacy (BPAGAFAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Media Freedom, Access to Information & Digital Rights (BPADAGAE)

Keywords

• Human rights monitoring
• Political persecution documentation
• Legal aid services
• Political prisoner support
• Civil rights advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Moscow

HQ country

Russia

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Crowdfunding: OVD-Info relies on donations from supporters. The organization operates a donation portal at donate.ovdinfo.legal and accepts contributions via foreign bank cards and cryptocurrency. Donations from Russian bank cards were suspended in March 2026 following the extremist designation.
2. International Support: Following the June 2026 extremist designation in Russia, the organization now relies primarily on international supporters who can donate from abroad using foreign payment methods.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

OVD-Info is a Russian human rights media project that documents political repression, monitors detentions and politically motivated prosecutions, and provides free legal aid to individuals facing persecution. The organization operates a Telegram legal bot, a telephone hotline, legal instruction guides, an open data platform, and an international advocacy program, all offered at no cost to users.

Product overview

OVD-Info is a human rights media organization offering a suite of interconnected products and services to document political repression in Russia and support those affected. The core offering includes the ovd.info website for news and analysis, a Telegram legal bot (@ovdinfobot) for real-time legal guidance, and a telephone hotline (8 800 707-05-28). These are complemented by the data.ovd.info research platform, advocacy.ovd.info international advocacy tools, and legal instruction portals (ovdinfo.legal). Supporting services include Vestochka (lettersnow.org) as a directory for writing to political prisoners and the Бюро передач initiative for humanitarian package delivery. Following their designation as an 'extremist organization' in June 2026, the organization has suspended cooperation with Russian-based lawyers and humanitarian assistance programs while continuing legal advice, documentation, and research work.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• OVD-Info Website (ovd.info) Primary human rights media platform providing news coverage, expert articles, and newsletters in Russian and English about political repression in Russia. Targets dissidents, journalists, researchers, and the general public.
• Legal Bot (Правовой бот / @ovdinfobot) Telegram bot providing legal consultations and guidance for people facing political persecution in Russia, and serving as an intake channel for assistance requests.
• Hotline (8 800 707-05-28) Telephone hotline for reporting detentions and persecution, providing legal consultations, and coordinating assistance for affected individuals.
• Legal Instructions (Инструкции и сервисы / ovdinfo.legal) Comprehensive library of legal guides and instructions covering scenarios such as detention, arrest, questioning, phone seizure, border crossings, and asset freezing, written for people facing political persecution in Russia.
• Data Platform (data.ovd.info) Research platform collecting and publishing data on political repression in Russia, including statistics, datasets, interactive dashboards, and analysis of persecution trends.
• Advocacy Platform (advocacy.ovd.info) International advocacy platform promoting human rights values and working with international institutions through complaints, reports, and advocacy tools to achieve justice for political prisoners.
• Vestochka (lettersnow.org) Directory of political prisoners with contact information and instructions for sending letters independently. Letter-sending through the platform was suspended following the 2026 extremist designation, but the directory remains available as a resource.
• Бюро передач (Transfer Bureau) Service providing instructions and coordination for sending packages and essential supplies to detainees in SIZO (pre-trial detention facilities) and colonies; the sending program was suspended following the 2026 extremist designation.
• re: connect Hackathon Technology initiative focused on developing solutions for communication infrastructure, AI-powered data analytics, and circumvention tools to combat internet blocking and maintain access to information. Delivered as a hackathon event.

Quantifiable outcome

• 4,796 individuals currently facing politically motivated criminal prosecution documented
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature3 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Access Now: International digital rights organization defending user rights, including in Russia. Comparable through its focus on digital civil liberties, secure communications advocacy, and operational support for at-risk users in repressive jurisdictions.

Direct peers

• Public Verdict Foundation: Russian human rights organization providing legal assistance to victims of police abuse and documenting abuses of power. Comparable in providing legal support in politically sensitive Russian cases and producing public-facing documentation.
• Net Freedoms Project (Roskomsvoboda): Russian digital rights NGO focused on internet freedom, censorship monitoring, and privacy advocacy. Highly comparable to OVD-Info's tech-forward human rights approach and shares the at-risk Russian NGO operating context.
• First Department (Perviy Otdel): Project of Memorial lawyers providing legal aid in politically motivated criminal cases in Russia. Closely mirrors OVD-Info's legal-aid-for-persecuted-individuals mission; also targeted by Russian authorities and now operating in exile.
• Committee Against Torture (Nizhny Novgorod): Russian human rights NGO providing legal support to victims of torture and abuse by state agents. Comparable in offering legal aid to individuals targeted by Russian state authorities, with deep documentation expertise.
• Memorial (International Memorial): Russia's preeminent historical and civil rights society, also liquidated by Russian authorities. OVD-Info was specifically designated as a structural subdivision of the non-existent 'International Memorial Movement' as the legal pretext for its June 2026 ban, making it the most direct precedent and peer.
• Agora International Human Rights Group: Russia-based association of human rights lawyers providing legal defense in politically motivated cases. Shares OVD-Info's core legal-aid-for-political-persecution mission and faces similar state pressure; the closest operational peer.

Broad incumbents

• Human Rights Watch: Major international human rights research and advocacy organization producing detailed country reports, including on Russia. Comparable in producing evidence-based documentation used by international media, policymakers, and accountability mechanisms.
• Amnesty International: Global human rights organization documenting political persecution, conducting advocacy, and publishing reports. Operates a much broader international scope than OVD-Info but shares the documentation-of-repression and international-advocacy model.

Regional players

• CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists): International organization defending press freedom and documenting attacks on journalists, including in Russia. OVD-Info's coverage of journalists facing persecution overlaps directly with CPJ's mandate, making it a thematic peer in the same repression-documentation ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ovdinfo
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@kakteper
• Facebookfacebook.com/ovdinfo
• Instagraminstagram.com/ovdinfo
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ovd-info

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OVD-Info