Sergei Kovalev: Truth Over Fear

Sergei Kovalev was a Soviet scientist who could have lived a quiet, comfortable life.

Instead, he chose conscience over safety. In the 1960s and 70s,

when speaking against the Soviet government meant surveillance, prison, or worse,

Kovalev openly defended political prisoners and exposed human rights abuses. For telling the

truth, he was arrested and sentenced to seven years in a labor camp,

followed by internal exile. He endured freezing conditions, hard labor,

and isolation — yet he never renounced his beliefs. Even in captivity, he continued to

document injustice, believing that silence was a greater danger than punishment. After the fall of