Sergey Ukhov, a human rights defender and civic activist from Russia’s Perm region, has announced his candidacy for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), stressing the need for genuine representation of Russia’s regions in European institutions.
According to Ukhov, candidates from the regions are severely underrepresented on the Platform of Russian Democratic Forces at PACE, despite the fact that most Russians live outside Moscow and St. Petersburg and that regional communities are bearing the brunt of war, poverty, and lack of rights.
Russia is not just Moscow or St. Petersburg. Russia is its regions, where people are being sent to war and where poverty and lawlessness are felt most acutely. It is impossible to talk about the country’s future without giving these people a voice,” Ukhov said.
He recalled that Alexei Navalny’s 2018 presidential campaign was built around the regions and the idea of a genuine federation, where power trusts citizens instead of making decisions behind closed doors in Moscow.
Ukhov also highlighted the role of the Russian Anti-War Committee at PACE, which brings together Russian democratic and anti-war representatives working with the Assembly.
Today, the Anti-War Committee at PACE is one of the few platforms where the Russian voice is heard not on behalf of an aggressor state, but on behalf of citizens who oppose the war and stand for a democratic future for Russia,” he noted.
Ukhov grew up in the industrial town of Aleksandrovsk in Perm Krai, graduated with honors from Perm Polytechnic University, and spent seven years working in industrial production. His background includes management roles, human rights projects, and political organizing, including serving as regional coordinator for Alexei Navalny’s campaign.
In 2021, he co-founded the independent regional media outlet Perm 36.6, one of the most cited anti-war media platforms in the region. In 2025, films produced by the team were shortlisted at Artdocfest and received the Redkollegia Award. Ukhov currently lives in France, where he continues civic and municipal work.
I represent the regions. And the voice of the regions is the anti-war voice of the majority of Russians,” Ukhov said, calling for support for his candidacy.
The team of the virtual museum Perm-36 has publicly expressed its support for Sergey Ukhov and hopes that his candidacy will be approved by the organizers of the Platform of Russian Democratic Forces at PACE.
Background
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is a political and consultative body of the Council of Europe focused on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.
The Russian Anti-War Committee at PACE is an informal group of Russian opposition and human rights representatives established after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It works to convey the anti-war position of Russian civil society, support political prisoners, and document crimes of the regime.
PACE creates a ‘platform for dialogue’ with exiled Russian democratic forces: PACE official site.