Daria Egereva: “In Handcuffs, I Feel You So Strongly, as Though You Were Standing Behind Me”

“Physically, I am not with you, but believe me, I am close… I am here, together with you!”

These words from Daria Egereva were heard at a meeting of the International Indigenous Peoples’ Forum on Climate Change (IIPFCC), taking place in Antalya ahead of the UN climate conference COP31.

Daria is a member of the Selkup people and a Co-Chair of the Forum. Last year, she was among the participants at COP30 in Belém, Brazil. A few weeks after returning to Russia, she was arrested. Now, instead of international negotiations, there are court hearings, a courtroom cage and handcuffs.

Yet even from detention, Daria reaches out to her friends, colleagues, sisters and brothers around the world.

“I do not see my arrest as something directed at me alone. It is my voice at UN platforms that is on trial, but it is our collective voice, our appeals that we made to the ‘people in ties’…”

There is no plea for pity in her letter. On the contrary, she asks people not to be sad. She remembers Antalya, where she was once happy, and says there is no need to sadden the land that holds her love.

She imagines her colleagues setting up equipment, answering questions, raising their hands and making decisions by consensus. She remembers every detail of their shared work.

And even from her cell, she continues to speak about the Forum, Indigenous Peoples and their shared struggle.

“I am not alone in my cell. Our past is here too, sweeping over us once again like a tsunami, and, sadly, our present, which is so similar for all of us.”

Her words about solidarity are especially moving:

“In handcuffs, I feel you so strongly, as though, just as before, you were standing behind me. I know that whatever happens next, I am not alone.”

In Antalya, a chair has been kept for Daria, with her portrait and the words “Reserved for Daria Egereva.” Today, her voice was heard once again among the people with whom she should have been sitting at the same table.

This letter is a reminder that behind international climate negotiations are real people. People who defend their lands, waters, traditional knowledge and the right of future generations to life.

And that even imprisonment cannot make a voice disappear when it has become part of the collective voice of Indigenous Peoples.

“This is your struggle too, and please, never give up, never.”

This is how Daria addresses the Forum’s participants.

She ends her letter with words so full of love and strength that they feel like an embrace through prison walls:

“I love you! Stay strong, I am so proud of you! Have a good COP and a productive conclusion!”

In Antalya, her chair remains empty. But her voice is with them.

Free Daria Egereva. Free the persecuted defenders of Indigenous Peoples’ rights.

Source: Indigenous Russia, 8 November 2026.