Evgenia Kara-Murza

Evgenia Kara-Murza is a Russian human rights activist and wife of former political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza, the twice-poisoned Russian opposition leader who was imprisoned for protesting the war on Ukraine from April 2022 until his release in a August 2024 prisoner exchange. 

Born in Russia’s Far East, Evgenia graduated with honours from the Moscow State Linguistic University. She worked as a translator and interpreter in Russian, English, and French for pro-democracy NGOs including the International Center on Nonviolent Conflict, the Institute of Modern Russia, and Pen America. 

She subsequently joined her husband Vladimir at the Free Russia Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan international organization supporting civil society and democratic development in Russia. Advocating for human rights accountability and promoting civil society and democratic change in Russia, she serves as the foundation’s Advocacy Director. 

Alongside her work for Free Russia, she traveled across the globe advocating for her husband’s release. Now reunited with her husband, Evgenia and Vladimir live in exile with their son and two daughters.