Arshak Makichyan

Arshak Makichyan is a climate and anti-war youth activist from Russia, originally from Armenia. He staged a solo strike for the climate every Friday in Pushkin Square, Moscow for more than 100 weeks. He has inspired others across Russia to take part in strikes for the climate, including other single-person pickets in Moscow, and organised the Fridays for Future movement in Russia. In December 2019 he was jailed for six days, hours after returning from Madrid, Spain, where he spoke at the 2019 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 25). After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he expanded his protests and joined anti-war protests in Russia. At the end of March, he went to Germany to develop a new strategy for activism, with the intention of returning to Russia, but in the middle of May, he found out that the Russian government had brought up a case against him to strip him of his only citizenship. After the final trial in February 2023, his family members were deported from Russia and illegally deprived of their citizenship. Currently, he lives in Germany.