February 1, 2022

Dear CCI Followers,

Never has it been more important for Americans to get eyes and ears on ground in Russia… than today. We U.S. citizens have had a heavy barrage of propaganda regarding Russia from the highest sources in our country, most of whom have never been to Russia or certainly not in the past 20 years. It is time for a large group of responsible American citizens to get real information about how Russian citizens think and live at all levels, in addition to how regional officials respond to citizens, and top leaders see themselves and their population across Russia.

CCI takes pride in its long history starting with its first Citizen Diplomacy trip in 1983. We have numerous human connections all across Russia, thanks to the former CCI programs we initiated which were funded by the U.S. State Department and leading American foundations.

We have been watching all of the parameters surrounding CCI’s next investigative trip to Russia. This will be the most comprehensive and largest travel to Russia to date, by any organization including our own. At present we have close to 50 applications for the trip.

How can we best lead a delegation during this very challenging 2022 environment?

For starters, we need to be sure the environment is relatively safe regarding Covid.Secondly, we need to be assured that war with Ukraine is no longer being pushed. I believe both of these aspects will be under reasonable control, hopefully within the next month.

We at CCI need to make a final decision to travel by March 1 at the latest.

Our choices are listed below:

1.  Make the full trip as planned for the whole group June 22 to July 5, 2022. Or …

2.  Divide 2022 travelers in two trips:  June/July and a second delegation in early September.
The advantage would be a longer time to market a second trip in the autumn.

3.  We will educate travelers on current Russian requirements for Covid and its variants.
Likely these requirements will shift between now and September.
There are many health tips we will recommend that can be started even now.

4.  Some of you are ready to travel in the midst of challenges; others are more cautious.
So we hope to provide solutions that are good for all American participants.

5.  We feel it critical to educate Americans on numerous aspects of Russia by sending you to multiple cities and towns to     experience precisely what is going on across Russia.
Ask any questions you wish, request counter-part introductions, interview journalists, etc.

6.  CCI ReportOut in St. Petersburg: each traveler shares their experiences in regional cities.
This is a 360 degree session which gives all participants a serious look at Russia today.

So much disinformation and propaganda has been widely circulated about Russia, that it is impossible for Americans to get an accurate picture of what is going on there unless they experience the country themselves. This pervasive lack of knowledge about one’s perceived enemy is exceedingly dangerous not only for us and Russians, but to the whole world.

Our former U.S. travelers tell us their CCI trips opened up a whole new mentality for them, a completely new view of the world and our responsibility to preserve life on this planet.

CCI makes no money on these trips. Each trip is costed out depending on factors you will choose for yourself. Trip costs can range from bare bones, economy, mainstream, to elite trips. More will be explained when you send in your application for travel in 2022.

We hope to hear from you soon! Any and all questions will be answered.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

Dear CCI supporters and travelers,

Our June 20 to July 5 Mega-Trip to Russia is still on schedule!
We of course are watching the impact of the new Omicron variant.

We have made all of the necessary connections for the trip to go forward, and will begin a new marketing push for travelers in early January.

We are encouraged that Putin, et al, plan to do a four-month lockdown February 1 to the end of May.  This most likely will slow down the rate of viral cases.  We assume that the results will be tallied and reported as the months move forward.

I’m watching closely and will travel there in January ahead of the lockdown.
Of course I’ll report to you what is happening on ground.

I do know this: our Russian experts and Russian people throughout the country will be so happy to see American faces again! When traveling there in September, Russians spoke of being cut off and missing interacting with Americans. And they so miss being able to get U.S. visas to travel here.

I hope and suspect that unknown circumstances are in motion that will bring an end to this crazy sanctioning and demonizing of Russia and the Russian people. It is literally insane to operate in this manner … spending trillions of dollars to build more military weapons and not a cent on real diplomacy!  More information from January 1 forward.

Meanwhile have a wonderful Holiday Season with your friends and families!

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

Dear CCI Friends,

I asked Paula Day, lawyer and a dedicated CCI volunteer, to write you regarding her experience traveling with Volodya Shestakov and me over thousands of miles across Russia less than a month ago. The following is her description of our travels in addition the impact of the situation with Dennis, one of our two CCI men traveling on another route across Russia.

It was great traveling with Paula, sharing her previous experiences and mine with her. Enjoy her fresh take on the people we met. Later I’ll send you photos to give you a sense of where Russia and her people are today.

Sharon Tennison
Center for Citizen Initiatives

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Dear CCI Community,

We at CCI continue to deal with Russia’s and America’s challenges regarding COVID.

We are moving ahead with our large June 2022 Citizen Diplomacy Trip to Russia and urge you to participate with us. We will be flexible and sensitive to applicants’ concerns regarding the COVID virus— which unfortunately still remains unpredictable.

Hence, we will continue to advertise our VIP trip, receiving and accepting trip applications all the while.

 However, we will require no financial payments until we and you determine whether the COVID viruses are sufficiently subdued. Applicants can opt out at any time.
The Application for the trip is below.

We are eight months away from the date projected for our June 20, 2022 trip.

In September and October, several CCI travelers visited different Russian cities. We are so sorry to report that Dennis Ortblad, a former State Department Diplomat became ill in Saratov and was transferred to a Moscow hospital for treatment. To our utter shock, Dennis expired in Moscow on October 24th.

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Center for Citizen Initiatives
Citizen Diplomacy Mission to Russia
June 5 – 20, 2022

Dear CCI Followers,

Plans are underway for CCI’s trip to explore Russia in 2022. We hope you will join us!

COVID forced us to cancel three earlier travel dates. CCI’s unique travel to 30 or more Russian regions necessitates that we use Russia’s coveted Humanitarian Visas. The H.Visa is currently being revised and will become available around the turn of 2022.

We are delighted to announce that Ambassador (Ret.) Jack Matlock  will co-lead our 2022 delegation!

This will be CCI’s largest-ever delegation both in number of participants (100) and geographic areas visited (30 to 40). Current relations between our two nations are at their lowest ebb since 1962 (the Cuban missile crisis). It is critical that we U.S. citizen leaders make efforts to connect with Russia’s citizens and decision makers. We can leave behind a trail of American goodwill along with our total commitment to diplomacy between our two nations.

Here is our trip format which will occur during Russia’s famous “White Nights”.

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