It was easier to approach Moscow in June than to leave it in August. Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeniy Prigozhin, who staged a short-lived mutiny against the Russian military two months ago, was reportedly killed in a plane crash along with nine other passengers on Wednesday while traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg, according to
Russian society has never undertaken an introspection of Czarist colonialism or Soviet crimes against humanity because the post-Soviet Russian Federation did not evolve into a genuinely post-imperial nation state. Instead, during Vladimir Putin’s nearly quarter of a century in power, a new generation of Russians have actively embraced the country’s imperial identity. This unreconstructed imperialism
Germans call it Sommerloch, or “summer hole.” In Sweden, it’s called nyhetstorka, or “news drought.” It’s a period, usually in the dead of summer, when it seems there is less to report on and media outlets are desperate for a story. All too often during these periods, journalists and commentators chase phantom leads, overeager to
It is time for a serious conversation on how to hold Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka accountable for his participation in Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Lukashenka has brutally terrorized his own people for decades, stealing elections, imprisoning tens of thousands, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee Belarus for their safety, and attempting to eradicate independent
How is the business climate in Ukraine doing as Russia’s full-scale invasion approaches the eighteen-month mark? Available data indicates that the private sector is recovering and innovating, with a non-governmental consensus forecast of around 5% GDP growth this year (albeit from a much lower conflict-affected 2022 base). This is also the sentiment you feel whenever
On July 17, Russia withdrew from the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative, striking a devastating blow to Ukraine’s economy and undermining global food security. Yet the grain shutoff is just one symptom of a much broader strategic problem. The bigger issue is that Moscow is well on its way to turning the Black Sea, which
In recent weeks, Moscow has been hit by a series of suspected Ukrainian drone strikes. While the Ukrainian authorities typically prefer not to acknowledge responsibility for individual incidents, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly warned that the war is now “returning to Russia.” Speaking in late July, Zelenskyy described the growing number of drone strikes
With the start of the winter heating season now just a few months away, Ukrainian officials and energy sector experts are having trouble predicting whether the country is far enough along with infrastructure repairs, gas storage, and other measures to counter the threat of renewed Russian airstrikes on the country’s civilian energy infrastructure. Although Ukraine
To understand Russia’s current obsession with Ukraine, it is important to recognize that Russia was never a state in the common usage of the term. Unlike the modern Turkish state that emerged from the Ottoman Empire, or Great Britain, which acquired and lost an empire, Russia never had an identity separate from empire. As British
A deadly Russian airstrike close to a Ukrainian hotel and restaurant frequented by international journalists is fueling accusations that the Kremlin is deliberately targeting international media representatives in Ukraine. The August 7 bombing in east Ukrainian city Pokrovsk that killed nine people and wounded nearly 90 was the latest in a series of attacks on
