Civil Society
Civil society and its resilience under authoritarian pressure, in Russia and beyond: how people defend human rights and free expression, how the state works to silence them, and why independent voices and grassroots initiative still matter for a democratic future
June 22: debates over the WWII history
On June 22 Russia commemorates 75th anniversary of Nazi Germany attack against the Soviet Union in 1941. For every American killed in the World War 2 there were…
“We cannot do it again”
Victory Day means millions of people’s stories carefully told from generation to generation. There used to be those happy days when the Kremlin didn’t need this holiday for…
Corruption A La Russe
Until a few years ago most Russian opposition members had strongly believed that exposing corruption schemes is a way to consolidate people with different views making them realize…
The Sweet Poison of Propaganda
In a previous article, I tried to describe how Russian propaganda works, specifically, the weakening of critical thinking, playing emotions (such as pity, fear, and anger), the creation…
Economic Crisis and The Protests
A section of Russian analysts view the political potential for protests in Russia in the near future with scepticism: in the conditions of an economic crisis, Russians- adapting…
Selective Solidarity
“Remember when they convicted X?” “No, I was already doing time in Magadan.” “Wasn’t Y there at the same time? We met at a pretrial before they sent…
The Patriarch’s Grand Tour
The Kremlin employed an ancient and underused instrument of Russian soft power in February when Kirill, Russian Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow, conducted an 11-day, four-country tour of Cuba,…
The Assassination of Boris Nemtsov—One Year Later
The brazen murder and its subsequent investigation demonstrate the nature and fragility of the Russian political regime. A year ago this Saturday, Boris Nemtsov, one of Russia’s leading…
Russian Refugees in Ukraine: The Broken Hopes
Right after Putin's third term, and especially after the Maidan revolution in Ukraine followed by the Russian annexation of Crimea and the subsequent military conflict in Eastern Ukraine,…
How one law can deprive a little girl of a family: the anti-orphan law, 3 years after
Exactly three years ago, the Russian parliament passed a law that forbids Americans from adopting children from Russia. This was the Russian authorities' response to the “Magnitsky list”…