Press Release, 10.11.2025

Photo: Valery Borshchev was buried at Nikolo-Arkhangelsky Cemetery in Moscow / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

On Sunday, 9 November, Moscow held the funeral of one of the most outstanding human rights defenders — of both contemporary Russia and the Soviet era — Valery Vasilyevich Borshchev. He passed away on 3 November at the age of 82 after a prolonged illness — at home, surrounded by family, principally preferring freedom to hospital walls. It was precisely “freedom,” as well as “faith,” “dignity,” “responsiveness,” “heroism” and “courage” that resounded on Sunday in tributes to the deceased. For many who came to bid him farewell, Valery Borshchev turned out to be not simply a friend, like-minded person, colleague or teacher, but literally a symbol of several eras and the main values that define life.

The farewell and funeral service took place at the Church of the Protection of the Most Holy Mother of God on Lyshchikova Gora in Moscow. Valery Borshchev was a believer, moreover, a leader of Christian Democrats. He believed that the religious commandments of Orthodoxy and the democratic orientations of worldly life were true allies in defending the dignity of every human person.

People of all ages came to bid him farewell in the church that day: young human rights defenders, mature lawyers, experienced politicians and well-known journalists prayed for his repose. Among them were, for example, were Novaya Gazeta editor-in-chief and Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov, lawyer Mikhail Biryukov, Yabloko Federal Political Committee member and public figure Yevgeny Bunimovich, as well as representatives of the “Committee for Civil Rights” (which was previously headed by Borshchev’s friend and comrade, human rights defender Andrei Babushkin, who died suddenly in 2022) and former participants of the Moscow Helsinki Group — Russia’s oldest human rights organisation, of which Valery Borshchev was Co-Chairman and which the Ministry of Justice liquidated in 2023 on a contrived pretext.

And of course, dozens of Valery Borshchev’s comrades from Yabloko gathered at the church that day. Borshchev joined the party at the dawn of its creation — in 1993. Yabloko Federal Political Committee Chairman Grigory Yavlinsky later recalled that he perceived Borshchev’s joining then as “a sign of trust and spiritual closeness”.

Over the years in Yabloko, Valery Vasilyevich headed the Yabloko Human Rights Faction and became a member of the party’s Federal Political Committee; he represented it in the State Duma, where he developed and, by his own admission, “pushed through” in 2008 the law on Public Monitoring Commissions which observed prisons and became mandatory throughout the country, and their participants were able to visit remand prisons and penal colonies, defending prisoners and their rights. Valery Borshchev was the first to head Moscow’s Public Monitoring Commission then and gained the opportunity to help prisoners, the majority of whom nobody cared about. He continued this work later as a member of the Moscow Region Public Monitoring Commission.

Photo: Yabloko party Chairman Nikolai Rybakov at the farewell ceremony for Valery Borshchev / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Valery Vasilyevich not only stood at the origins of Yabloko, but also instilled the idea of human rights in Russian politics, party Chairman Nikolai Rybakov said at the farewell ceremony:

“He understood: human rights — neither political, nor social, nor religious — will never be protected in our country without profound political changes.

At the same time, he always found opportunities to pay attention both to global tasks and to everyone who turned to him for help. He never forgot about the needs of ordinary people, especially those who urgently needed protection, and devoted himself entirely to this service without remainder. He brought calmness, courtesy, politeness and mutual respect to politics. Recent years have been particularly difficult for him, when it became clear that the former world had gone. He deeply worried about whether we could achieve the goal for which everyone is now working — to stop killing of people, stop the shooting. He devoted his life to this. We will do everything possible so that the cause to which Valery Vasilyevich devoted his life finally comes to pass — so that peace returns, and that at the head of everything in our country there will finally be the person and his life. Let his memory be blessed.”

In the 1970s, Valery Borshchev worked at the [popular newspaper] Komsomolskaya Pravda, was a successful journalist, but principally left the paper — as a protest against the editorial board’s public persecution of Alexander Solzhenitsyn. He was friends with Academician Andrei Sakharov. He participated in negotiations with militants in Chechnya and was a voluntary hostage in Budyonnovsk, when Chechen militants took hostages over 1,200 people – citizens of the town and doctors and patients of a hospital, together with Sergei Kovalyov and other deputies. He was part of all kinds of committees and human rights associations, often heading them — thus, gently and persistently, he defended every day what he believed in above all: the value of human life and freedom.

Therefore, many of those who came to bid him farewell on Sunday — former classmates, today’s employees of human rights NGOs, and representatives of ombudsmen’s offices — spoke of trust. Thousands of people relied on Valery Borshchev throughout his long life, and no one was left disappointed.

Extraordinary. Selfless. Fearless. Stubborn. Diligent. Noble. Freedom-loving. Never separating morality and law. This is only a small part of the words that resounded during the farewell in the church and around it in tribute to Valery Borshchev.

Photo: Moscow Yabloko Deputy Chairman Kirill Goncharov (centre) and party Federal Bureau members Vladimir Dorokhov and Andrei Morev at the farewell ceremony for Valery Borshchev / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Lawyer Dmitry Makarov, Co-Chairman of the liquidated Moscow Helsinki Group, recalled that historic 2023 court case where Valery Borshchev spoke in defence of the oldest human rights organisation:

“He told them (the Ministry of Justice and the Public Prosecutor’s Office) directly ‘you are committing a sin, you are killing, destroying decades of people’s work with one stroke of the pen.’ The image of Valery Borshchev during that speech is one of the most vivid that comes now. His quiet, confident, persistent voice is the voice of connection between several generations. It sounded then in the courtroom and continues to sound today as a reminder of a bygone era, of a new cycle of vileness and the need to stand up for one’s values. Many of his achievements are distorted today — I mean the change to the Public Monitoring Commissions institution, the essence of this institution. But Valery Vasilyevich’s experience and knowledge, and his example remain with us. I am sure that besides his contribution as a public figure and politician, as a human rights defender, many will remember him as a responsive, cheerful person, ready to come to help, combining on the one hand courtesy, on the other — persistence. We will remember him like that.”

Photo: Federal Political Committee Chairman Grigory Yavlinsky at Valery Borshchev’s funeral / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

Grigory Yavlinsky did not speak at the church. He bade farewell to his close colleague and dear friend silently and quietly. When the farewell ceremony and funeral rite were finished, the procession moved to Nikolo-Arkhangelsky Cemetery. Already there, without cameras, Grigory Yavlinsky admitted that Borshchev “was beside me in all difficult and important matters — calm, honest, and principled”: “We could argue, disagree on individual issues, but always knew that Valery Vasilyevich would act according to conscience.”

“I remember a case from our joint work in the State Duma,” Grigory Yavlinsky recounted. “When voting was being prepared on a question connected with a well-known personality, many expected that Valery Vasilyevich would support the common position. But he did not vote. To my question why, he answered: ‘Don’t you see that what is happening now is not criticism, this is already persecution. And I do not participate in persecution. No matter who it is against.’ This answer became a lesson for us for life.”

Valery Borshchev’s passing is more than a personal loss for his loved ones and even for all of Yabloko; this is a loss that the entire human rights community, the entire country is now experiencing, Grigory Yavlinsky concluded: “We will all miss Valery Vasilyevich — his wisdom, kindness and genuine faith. We will continue his noble cause, the cause of defending the person, his life and dignity. Let his memory be blessed.”

Photo: Valery Borshchev’s funeral at Nikolo-Arkhangelsky Cemetery / Photo by the Yabloko Press Service

All week since Valery Borshchev’s passing, Yabloko has been receiving dozens of words of condolence. In addition, Valery Vasilyevich’s friends and colleagues are publishing their memories on their personal pages and on regional branches’ social media. As a gesture of farewell to the great human rights defender, bright comrade and wise mentor, Yabloko presents some of them below.

Yabloko Federal Political Committee member Alexander Gnezdilov, Telegram channel “Gnezdilov. Against the Current”:

“Valery Borshchev’s experience is very important for us today — and not only practically, as the legacy of an outstanding human rights defender, but also in terms of values, ideologically.

Here are the discussions of recent weeks on social media about ‘sympathy and understanding.’ But all of Borshchev’s political life and human rights work is the best answer to today’s ‘unnecessary disputes’. He has already proved and shown everything to himself and all of us. He showed with his whole life that true mercy, that very ‘mercy to the fallen,’ does not contradict principles and principled assessments of what is happening, but is generated by them, grows from them.

He was infinitely kind, but was not ‘sweet,’ ‘convenient,’ one who is ready to write everything off, justify all and close his eyes. Never! And in this there was no notorious ‘hatred,’ the ‘foam on the angel’s lips’ from the common Pomerants quotation — no, only clear distinction between good and evil.

Borshchev loved people with all his soul and precisely therefore was honest with them and called things by their names — for he believed in the best in people and fought for this best in them.

Many speak out against immorality in politics. Borshchev went further — and it is this experience of his that I would like us to remember, preserve and pass on to the future:

Borshchev more than once in my memory spoke out against decisions and actions that he called ‘immoral.’ Not amoral, contrary to morality — but immoral, that is, outside morality, bypassing morality, building politics apart from it, outside concepts of good and evil: yes, some things are not good or even frankly bad — but we don’t participate in this ourselves, don’t approve, but simply live on, work with what is.

Borshchev fundamentally did not accept such immoral politics. He was a man of both kindness and conscience. One and the other were fused together. Both are fatally lacking in contemporary Russia. That is why it is so painful to part with Borshchev.

And more. At the evening at Yabloko for his 80th birthday in December 2022, answering the question what had motivated dissidents for their daily struggle, Valery Vasilyevich said that they had sought the right to self-respect and freedom:

Self-respect and freedom. Self-respect and freedom.

Self-respect and…

For if we do not make politics about ideals — who else will make it?”

Gennady Burbulis’s “Culture of Dignity” Foundation:

“We all mourn an irreplaceable loss. Valery Vasilyevich’s passing is an enormous loss for all of Russia’s civil society, for everyone who believes in the ideals of justice, goodness and truth.

Valery Vasilyevich was the embodiment of honour, principled conviction and unbending civic stance. His courage and inner strength, based on humanism and dignity, served as a moral compass for all of us. He remained faithful to his convictions to the end.

We are grateful to Valery Vasilyevich for his participation in the Foundation’s events, for his honesty and directness, which he always maintained. His words were filled with power and conviction that evoked the deepest respect.

Sharing with you the bitterness of loss, we will preserve blessed memory of Valery Vasilyevich Borshchev — a Person with a capital letter, whose life became an example of service to truth and people.

With deep grief and respect”

Member of the Bureau of Kaliningrad regional branch of Yabloko Roman Morozov:

“In memory of Valery Vasilyevich Borshchev.

If we ourselves disposed of our lives, what would they be like?

Will and Spirit are given to everyone, but not everyone can use them, and if they do, then differently.

Valery Vasilyevich, despite the vicissitudes of fate, derived the experience of the strength of Will and Spirit, rather than taking offence at the whole wide world and becoming disillusioned with people. This was his inner core, formed by trust and respect for people. Love of humanity — that is what he acquired and transmitted. Each handshake was an unconscious transmission of warmth and inner faith in the person.

Valery Vasilyevich possessed a peculiar practicality in solving issues, setting tasks aimed at the future, with correct assessment of the present and past. His goal was the person of the future, who receives life experience and reproduces it in peace and harmony, in respect, with readiness not to take and demand, but to create, including written rules that are built not on prohibition and restrictions, but on new approaches and principles that develop the human, displacing the animal, placing accent on respect and dignity. One cannot remain human if one humiliates another person. Saving the soul — not only of the victim, but also of the potential torturer or executioner — here is the super-task that was set by Valery Vasilyevich, which was reflected in his activity and norm-making.

It is impossible to describe Valery Vasilyevich as a person by listing his merits. Merits are only one side of his life, noticed by society. Valery Vasilyevich was a Person and will remain a reference point for others, which is the highest assessment of him, when Spirit lives in the hearts of those who received this charge of creative energy with the meaning of respect and dignity for the person and his rights.

Let his memory be blessed!”

The Baikal region branch of Yabloko:

“The Baikal region branch of the Yabloko party offers its condolences in connection with the passing of Valery Borshchev. He was a brave and dedicated person, blessed be his memory!”

The Novgorod regional branch of Yabloko:

“Valery Borshchev helped, defended, and upheld people’s rights all his life. His biography reflected the history of our country with its dramatic and sometimes tragic events.

Borshchev’s life has been a screenplay for a full-length thriller, where there will be incredible personal turns — from Komsomolskaya Pravda journalist, fireman at the Taganka Theatre, State Duma deputy, and turns that the country made — from Stalinism to the Thaw, from late Soviet repressions to perestroika, to the cruel wars and terrorist attacks of new Russia and finally to today with rapid rollback to the past.

And also Valery Borshchev means humour and style. The time of the stilyagi (people dressing according to the Western fashion trends in 1950s) fell on his youth, and he was one of those young people who wore a ‘quiff’ hairstyle and bright clothes. He never fell into despondency and was always ‘in character’: Borshchev’s signature red tie is remembered by all who met him at least once.

In the film Valery Vasilyevich says: ‘There is light in the tunnel. This power has reached a dead end, it will go bankrupt, it is not viable, this is obvious. It holds on only through violence. This cannot last long. Its collapse is inevitable.’ And these words today sound like his testament.”

Moscow Yabloko Deputy Chairman Kirill Goncharov:

“Valery Vasilyevich Borshchev has died. There was a long and difficult illness, but he led an active lifestyle to the last, sometimes even attended events, was always interested in occurring events, in general — lived.

In 1974 he worked at Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, but left there in protest against the editorial board’s condemnation of Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

In 1978 he left the Communist Party of the USSR, 12 years earlier than it became commonplace.

Literally abandoning the profession he studied for at Moscow State University and breaking with the state system, he got a job as a fireman at the Taganka Theatre, but was morally free; for a person of his character disposition, this is the highest value. And then ther ecame perestroika, the 1990s and Yabloko.

In the party he was leader of the Christian Democratic direction, and in the 2000s and 2010s also of the human rights direction. He clearly knew and saw where the state was going. He had already been through this.

Communication with him was a pleasure. Very sensitive and gentle, always polite and calm.

Valery Vasilyevich, thank you for everything. Farewell.”

Valery Borschyov

Co-Chairman of the Moscow Helsinki Group. Co-Chairman of the Human Rights Faction of Yabloko. Member of the Federal Political Committee of Yabloko.