Russian Opposition and Russian Resistance: The Landscape Before the Battle for Power

Ilya Ponomarev

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Russian Opposition and Russian Resistance: The Landscape Before the Battle for Power, by Ilya Ponomarev, the Chairman of the Congress of People’s Deputies of the Russian Republic, is the first article in a series of analyses as part of “Promethean Liberation: Russia’s Emerging National and Regional Movements,” a new project from Jamestown Senior Fellow Janusz Bugajski.

The Russian opposition is currently fractured, dominated by ideologically diverse groups that lack a coherent strategy, shared goals, or political legitimacy. Many function more as protest movements than viable alternatives to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Several different organizations lead the opposition, including the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), the Anti-War Committee (AWC), the Free Russia Forum (FRF), and the Congress of People’s Deputies (CPD), as well as moderate urbanist reformers, each pursuing distinct strategies.

A new resistance movement has emerged, involving over 10,000 people—including fighters on Ukraine’s frontlines and guerrillas within Russia—who are actively challenging Putin’s regime through direct engagement, offering a new model of sacrifice for change.

Initiatives, such as the CPD, are proactively crafting constitutional reforms and legislative frameworks to ensure that a democratic, decentralized, and rights-respecting Russia is prepared following a regime change.

Western powers hesitate to support armed opposition groups, favoring moderate exiles, but embracing the full spectrum of the Russian opposition, especially those risking their lives in active resistance, would facilitate unity and democratic transition.

Many people consider the “Russian opposition” to be impotent, and few believe that it can defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin and ultimately transform the country. It has reached the point where representatives of the armed part of the Russian opposition are beginning to say, “Do not call us the Russian opposition; we now are the Russian resistance.” This resistance exists and is growing, and already involves more than ten thousand people who are both on the frontlines of Russia’s war against Ukraine and are conducting guerrilla operations on the home front, behind the lines of Putin’s army.