Let’s unite to come back and to build democratic Russia after the collapse of Putin’s regime
“By the First Flight” is a community of Russians who left the country because of their anti-war stance and political persecution and are ready to return home after the fall of the Putin’s regime to build democratic Russia.
The project is being created by the Ark, which has already united thousands of Russians all around the world, with the support of the Anti-War Committee and the participation of partners’ initiatives.
Join us if you want to contribute to the development of new Russia, and meet supporters
Complete training programs, develop leadership skills and get your initiatives accelerated
Create an alternative version of our country’s future together with us
Complete training programs from the “First Flight” and gain the knowledge required to create and develop democratic institutions. Lectures will be available to view as they are published.
We are learning to understand basic principles and forms of democratic policy, discussing the organization of democratic state and current challenges to democracy.
All lectures are published in Russian.
Ph.D. in History, publicist
We are learning to understand basic principles and forms of democratic policy, discussing the organization of democratic state and current challenges to democracy.
All lectures are published in Russian.
Series "What to do?" on Sergey Guriev's YouTube channel 
Lecture by political scientist Grigory Golosov "Democracy in Russia"
Mikhail Khodorkovsky's interview - about what will happen to Russia after Putin (and whether it will be at all) 
How to think about a post-Putin future?
Wherever you are in the world, remember to follow basic digital security guidance to protect yourself and others.
Do not connect to open Wi-Fi networks without using a VPN - traffic via open wireless networks can be easily intercepted. Read about how to choose and connect a VPN here.
Passwords must be unique, at least 12 characters long, and contain uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Be sure to enable two-factor authentication, use TOTP authenticators (like Google Authenticator) wherever possible. A short course on how to come up with strong passwords is here.
Refuse to use Russian services, such as mail.ru and Yandex.Mail. Use Gmail with the Mailvelope or Protonmail extension. A video tutorial on how to encrypt email messages can be found here.
Before filling out and submitting the application, please read the full digital security memo from our colleagues of the Teplitsa.
“By the First Flight” is created by members of the “Ark”. Please provide us with your support, so we could continue to help citizens of Russia who had to leave their country because of their anti-war views or political prosecution
