Yuri Fedorov

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Yuri Fedorov (Russian language: Юрий Фёдоров; born in 1943 in Moscow) is a Soviet dissident and human rights activist.

As a student, Fedorov participated in a human rights group "Союз Свободы Разума" (Union of Intellectual Freedom) which published and distributed proclamations denouncing anti-democratic Soviet regime. In 1962 the members of the group were arrested by the KGB. He was sentenced to five years in prison for anti-Soviet activities.

In May 1970, Fedorov participated in the Dymshits-Kuznetsov hijacking affair, was charged for "treason", sentenced to fifteen years in prison and served the full term.

Fourteen out of sixteen participants of the hijacking attempt were Jews. Due to international pressure, the Soviet captors released them earlier. Upon his release in February 1981, Yosef Mendelevitch urged continuance of the campaign to free two Christian members of the group, Yuri Fedorov and Alexei Murzhenko: "The fact that both are non-Jewish is the worst example of Soviet discrimination and must not pass without protest".

In 1985, Fedorov was released under the 101st kilometre settlement restriction. He was denied an exit visa until 1988 when he was able to emigrate to the USA. In 1998, after visiting "new" Russia and witnessing many former political prisoners who live in poverty, he founded The Gratitude Fund in order to commemorate the Soviet dissidents "who waged a war against Soviet power and sacrificed their personal freedom and their lives for democracy".