Insight: Young Russian lawyers step up to defend anti-war protesters

Russia has quashed dissent since invading Ukraine Lawyers for protesters risk wrath of authorities Young attorneys fill gap from those who have fled Tiring, risky work seldom brings acquittals Moscow sees Western conspiracy to destroy Russia July 4 (Reuters) - Sofia Gominova wanted to be a lawyer from age 11.

Born after the fall of the Soviet Union, she grew up in a Russia blighted by organised crime and watched police dramas on TV, wanting to "fight evil like they did."

Now, at 29, Gominova believes she is doing just that.

Among a new cadre of young lawyers outraged by suppression of dissent, she has joined OVD-Info, one of Russia's biggest legal defence groups that supports thousands detained for opposing the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"I have always had a keen sense of justice," Gominova told a Reuters reporter based in Poland.