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Arts & Life

Kirill Serebrennikov's 'The Disappearance of Josef Mengele' at Cannes Film Festival

"The Disappearance," Serebrennikov's first film in German, follows the war criminal's life of impunity.

Author Viv Groskop Remembers 'One Ukrainian Summer'

Writer, comedian, TV and radio announcer Viv Groskop talks about an unforgettable summer in the 1990s when everything in the world was different.
7 Min read

Legendary Russian Choreographer Yury Grigorovich Dies at 98

The towering figure of Russian ballet led Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater as chief choreographer for three decades.
2 Min read

Pro-War Pop Icon Shaman to Represent Russia at Upcoming Eurovision Copycat

Organizers of Intervision 2025 said Shaman’s popularity in Russia was the main reason he was selected to represent the country at its inaugural competition...
1 Min read

Benjamin Nathans' 'To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause' Shortlisted for Pushkin House Book Prize 2025

A fascinating, sensitive and ultimately instructive history of the individuals that made up the "dissident movement" in the Soviet Union.
12 Min read

Sergei Loznitsa’s ‘Two Prosecutors’ Brings Stalin-Era Terror to Cannes Film Festival

Premiering May 15 at the 78th Cannes Film Festival, Sergei Loznitsa’s “Two Prosecutors” is a haunting meditation on the corrosive power of bureaucracy...
4 Min read

Of Forks on the Dinner Table and Forks in the Road

In our last column for The Moscow Times we go back in time to make little pies that you can eat with your fingers - which is good since forks were rare...
6 Min read

Alexei Navalny’s Posthumous Memoir ‘Patriot’ Shortlisted for Pushkin House Book Prize 2025

Part-memoir, part-prison diary, and part political manifesto, Alexei Navalny's last word is a captivating read.
12 Min read

When Kitchens Became Factories in the Soviet Union

Soviet authorities had the idea of building enormous factory kitchens that would provide hot mid-day meals to the masses. How did it go? Not very well...
7 Min read

Remembering the War: Grigory Baklanov and a 'Life, Twice Given'

A story of the war that ended 80 years ago by someone who fought and by a miracle came home.
10 Min read

Bondianna: Anna Chapman’s Spy Memoir, Real and Imagined

This "tell-all" spy memoir tells a lot without getting to spying.
3 Min read

‘The Baton and the Cross’ by Lucy Ash Shortlisted for the Pushkin House Book Prize 2025

Long-time correspondent and Russia watcher Lucy Ash has written an engrossing and revelatory tale of Russian Orthodoxy, past and present.
9 Min read

Wrap Anything in Dough and Call it a Pie

In Russia you can make a pie with just about anything. But "fishniki" (fish pies) are especially delicious.
7 Min read

Howard Amos' 'Russia Starts Here' Shortlisted for Pushkin House Book Prize 2025

Journalist Howard Amos spent years in the Pskov region, the most western tip of Russia, capturing the stories and images of beauty and darkness.
8 Min read

What's in a Name? Everything if Your Blinis are Called 'Benderiki'

Are they named after a Ukrainian hero, an imaginary Turkish conman, or a Moldovan ethnic group? Who cares? These these blinis are delicious.
5 Min read
Feature

Exiled Electronic Duo AIGEL Crashes the Dancefloor With ‘Killer Qız’

On their first album in five years, AIGEL channels exile, existential reckoning and rebirth into a club-ready soundscape.
6 Min read

In Photos: The Works of Sculptor Zurab Tsereteli

Tsereteli, the former chief artist of the Soviet Foreign Ministry, who died on Monday night, left an indelible impression on the landscape of Moscow.
1 Min read

Zurab Tsereteli, Sculptor of Grand Monuments and Putin Admirer, Dies at 91

Born and trained in Tbilisi, Tsereteli rose to prominence in the 1960s, designing resort complexes in Soviet Georgia.
2 Min read

New York’s Hottest Playwright? Anton Chekhov.

In a moment when Russian art is often viewed through the lens of geopolitics, it’s striking that New York theater has so fully embraced Chekhov.
4 Min read
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