According to Novaya Gazeta Europe, the third founding congress of the Dawn party is taking place in one of Moscow’s hotels. This is the third attempt to register the association as a party.
109 delegates from 46 regions of Russia gathered for the congress, including from Dagestan, Perm Krai, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Udmurtia, Moscow, and the Moscow region. The participants are discussing the party’s further development and the formation of governing bodies, and the congress’s geography spans from Kaliningrad to Sakhalin.
Deputy party chair Alexander Novikov said that restrictions at airports are hindering the arrival of delegates, particularly from Omsk. Yekaterina Duntsova, a former candidate for president of Russia, said that representatives of the Ministry of Justice are not expected at the congress.
In her speech, Duntsova spoke about change in Russia, fair elections, the return of those who left, and the release of political prisoners. According to her, the participants gathered not to “promise each other the impossible”, but to “make the best”, and the future “will not be given to us from above — we build it ourselves”.
Duntsova also said that “no system built on fear and lies stands forever” and that Russia “will stop frightening the world and will once again become a country one can be proud of”. She promised that Dawn would continue its work despite possible repression, and added that “at the moment, nothing is absolutely safe”.
According to the publication, Dawn emerged in January 2024, when Duntsova announced its creation. In November 2024, the association was denied registration due to incorrect paperwork, and in April 2026 the Ministry of Justice again refused to register the party.
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