Why are Russians not protesting? Do they understand anything about the atrocities being committed in their name? Why do they support Putin? Are sanctions working at all? There are so many questions being asked these days by everyone who tries to understand Russian society and what is happening to it because of the war. Join us to hear Leonid Volkov discuss the work of the Anti-Corruption Foundation, founded by opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and its insights on the structure and dynamics of Russian society. Putin is losing ground, but how can the world can make use of it to stop the war?

Speaker:
Leonid Volkov is chief of staff for Alexei Navalny and political director of Navalny’s team. He was campaign manager for Navalny’s mayoral campaign in Moscow in 2013, as well as for his bid to get onto the presidential ballot in 2018. Between 2017 and 2021 Leonid Volkov has created and led Team Navalny’s network of regional offices in 45 Russia’s largest cities. Currently operating from Lithuania, Leonid oversees the Anti-Corruption Foundation’s international and domestic political projects. 
Moderator:
Sam Greene is Director for Democratic Resilience at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) and Professor of Russian Politics at King's College London. Before joining CEPA, he founded and directed the King's Russia Institute for ten years. He is the author of Moscow in Movement: Power & Politics in Putin's Russia (Stanford, 2014) and Putin v. the People: The Perilous Politics of a Divided Russia (Yale, 2019, with Graeme Robertson), as well as numerous academic and policy papers.
This event is off the record and closed to the media.
The Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES)
Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University
1957 E Street, NW / Suite 412 / Washington, DC 20052
Tel (202) 994-6340 / Fax (202) 994-5436 / Email ieresgwu@gwu.edu