Nikolay Petrov looks at the impact of the war in Ukraine and Western sanctions on the Russian business and security elites. Any kind of a consolidated opposition to the Kremlin is very unlikely, he believes

Abbas Gallyamov writes that the war in Ukraine is starting to disappear from the front pages and soon the economy, living standards and social problems will again be in the spotlight. This represents an opportunity to criticize Putin.

Marlene Laruelle and Kelian Sanz Pascual on the cinematic universe of the PMC Wagner and how pop culture frames are used to promote and celebrate a mercenary realm favorable to Russia.

Maria Lipman talks to Thomas de Waal, Senior Fellow Carnegie Europe, about whether Russia’s preoccupation with its war in Donbas creates new opportunities for a peace deal in the decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

The amendments to Kazakhstan’s constitution proposed by President Tokayev may look like a move toward democratization, but Kirill Rogov warns not to be fooled – constitutional guarantees can be revised.

Busygina and Filippov analyze the evolution of Russia’s relations with other former Soviet republics and the consequences of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, as well as the debate over whether the ultimate dissolution of the post-Soviet space is inevitable.

Putin's dictatorship has designed and built an almost perfect machine for destroying independent journalism in Russia, but Sergey Parkhomenko searches for and finds those whom they can’t stop.

Victor Shnirelman explains the popularity of the civilizational discourse among the Russian military, security and clergy as a response to globalization, which threatens their political sovereignty

DOXA delved into the intricacies of Russian historical policy and spoke with SHANINKA professor, political philosopher Ilya Budraitskis about rethinking the Soviet experience, returning to the ideas of internationalism, and the correctness of comparing modern Russia with Nazi Germany.

The Russian government says that the goal of the current war is the “denazification” of Ukraine. Farida Kurbangaleeva believes that Moscow has carried out a “denazification” before – in relation to the "non-Russian" peoples living on its territory.

Svetlana Gannushkina, Head of Civic Assistance Committee (Гражданское содействие), a charity focused on helping refugees and migrants, was interviewed for the Meduza podcast What Happened (Что случилось?). She discussed the fate of Ukrainian refugees who found themselves in Russia after the invasion. With the kind permission of Meduza, we are publishing a translation of fragments from the conversation.

Ilya Kukulin looks at the teachings of Soviet thinker Georgy Shchedrovitsky and explains their post-Soviet transformation into a belief that, in the organization of a community, values are an instrumental and secondary matter

The educational portal Arzamas on the cult character Ostap Bender and two classics of early Soviet literature that influenced both Russian official and dissident culture.

A brief history of one of the most iconic Soviet cartoons and how the rebellious Wolf became a classic character on which Soviet generations grew up.

The educational website Arzamas on Vasily Surikov, a 19th century artist famous for his paintings that still shape the visualization of Russia’s history today.

Farida Kurbangaleeva spoke with representatives of the local academic community in Kazan and the independent student media project Storm about government pressure, silent protest, and how the university administration is cooperating with law enforcement.

The famous Russian journalist Alexey Pivovarov and his Redaktsiya team traveled to Kaliningrad and Novosibirsk to see how the war and sanctions are being felt in Russia’s provinces.

Adam Lenton on how Russification continues to erode the rich linguistic landscape of the North Caucasus, while private citizens are stepping in with innovative solutions such as Avzag, a multi-language dictionary of Caucasian languages.

Andrei Semenov on the legal framework regarding protest in Russia and citizens navigate it.

A new online project on the history of White Russian émigrés and their place in the transnational history of the far right in the twentieth century