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Articles by Samantha Berkhead

RELIGIOUS RIFT

Fire and Brimstone: The Rise and Fall of Russia’s Coronavirus-Denying Rebel Priest

The Russian Orthodox Church is trying to remove defrocked, ultraconservative Father Sergei Romanov from a monastery he has taken over by force.
socially distanced excursion

Moscow Getaway to Nikola-Lenivets Art Park

It's like Russian Portlandia meets Midsommar — but so much more.
VAGINA MONOLOGUES

Russian Women Rally Behind Feminist ‘Political Prisoner’

Yulia Tsvetkova’s pornography case for body-positive drawings is sparking resistance across the country and beyond.
STIFLED IDENTITIES

Quarantined With Family, Russia’s LGBT Youth Face New Struggles

In a country where negative attitudes toward the LGBT community are rife, young people are forced to stay with unaccepting relatives.
EROTIC ISOLATION

‘Kinky Russia’ Throws Zoom Orgies to Overcome Coronavirus Quarantine

Russia’s sex party organizers are using video calling for more than work meetings.
VIRTUAL MOURNING

Russia's Funeral Industry Moves Online to Cope With Coronavirus

As the death toll from the virus rises undertakers are organizing live-streamed burials.
NOWHERE TO ISOLATE

Moscow’s Coronavirus Lockdown Leaves the Homeless Out in the Cold

The city’s 12 million residents have been ordered to stay inside as the coronavirus sweeps the city. Its thousands of homeless have nowhere to go.
HOLY RISK

Russia’s Orthodox Church Sticks to Its Traditions Despite Coronavirus Threat

As institutions across Russia close down to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the Church sees closing its doors as a last resort.
WOMEN’S DAY

Russian Women Are Ready to Reclaim Once-Forbidden Jobs

Women are training for professions that have been closed to them for decades.
Infected with love

Love in the Time of Coronavirus: Two Young Russians Start Dating in Quarantine

Inna and Daniil's hearts "started to beat faster at the sight of each other" in a clinic in Siberia after they were evacuated from China.
bloody valentine

Andrei Molodkin's Art Show 'Bloodline' Boldly Confronts the Language of Power

The show opens on St. Valentine's Day in Dublin.
BLAST FROM THE PAST

Young People Take Back Soviet 'Kommunalkas'

Soviet Kommunalka apartments — each one housing several families — are still very much a thing in Russia's big cities.
‘IF HE BEATS YOU HE LOVES YOU’

Russia Faces Up to Its Dark Domestic Violence Problem

A rising chorus of outrage over high-profile domestic abuse cases signals a sea change in Russian society, but are lawmakers listening?
Growing chorus

Moscow Feminists Protest for Domestic Violence Re-Criminalization

Hundreds called for an end to what they say is Russia's culture of impunity toward domestic abusers.
long read

Alexander Lebedev's 'Hunt the Banker'

If you think you know the story of the last 25 years in Russia, think again, and read this book.
WEEKEND PROFILE

A Russian ‘Freegan’ Challenges Capitalism and Consumerism

As more Russians become aware of food waste, they’re putting on their gloves and heading to the dumpster.
one man's trash

What Can You Find in Moscow’s Trash?

While dumpster-diving is a well-known phenomenon throughout Western countries, in Russia this unusual activity has its own unique challenges.
canine community

How the Dogs of Chernobyl Found a Happy Ending

A U.S. charity is making sure the descendants of pets left behind after the world’s worst nuclear accident aren’t forgotten.
shutter speed

The Shape of Water in St. Petersburg

Claudio Koporossy’s exhibition captures the magic within Peterhof Palace’s fountains.
Doors of perception

Opening Eyes to Sightless Life in Moscow

Moscow’s first musical in the dark engages four out of five senses.
Once Upon a Time ... in Moscow

Tarantino ‘Shocked By Moscow’ in First Visit to Russia Since 2004

The director, in town to promote his new movie, went on a highly publicized Kremlin tour but stressed that he came to Moscow to see his fans.
Small screen

Andrey Ivchenko’s Truly ‘Stranger Things’

The Soviet-born actor talks about playing an "evil Russian" on the Netflix hit.
long read

'1983: The World At The Brink'

On this day 36 years ago, the world almost came to an end while you were sleeping.
Soviet Kitsch

A Glimpse Behind the Iron Curtain

As nostalgia for the Soviet Union swells, one project aims to show what life was like for ordinary citizens in the U.S.S.R.