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Babel Books: The Berlin Bookstore Building Community for Russian Speakers

Founder Natalia Smirnova discusses the impact of growing censorship in Russia on Babel's operations and what it means to curate a bookstore in exile.

'He Played a Colossal Role': Moscow Times Alumni Share Memories of Derk Sauer

Dozens of journalists got their start under Sauer's leadership at MT. We asked some of them to reflect on their experiences working with him.
8 Min read

Chuvash Artist Aysha Demina Weaves Away Cultural Taboos and Generational Trauma

Demina is one of a new generation of Indigenous artists from Russia who challenge the Moscow-imposed, “museumified” canons of Indigenous art.
7 Min read

‘First of All, It’s Beautiful’: Marat Gelman Seeks to Disarm Putin’s Nuclear Threats in New Art Project

The art gallerist and former Kremlin adviser-turned-critic has, for the first time in his career, stepped into the role of an artist himself.
6 Min read

In Russia, Soldiers’ Wives Are Urged to Give Birth to Children Who Might Never Meet Their Fathers

Initiatives across Russia are encouraging wives of soldiers to carry their pregnancies to term, even as the fathers might not return from the front.
5 Min read

‘There’s No Life Without Water’: Occupied Donetsk Residents Plead for Water Amid Supply Collapse

Faced with severely limited and poor-quality water, residents are calling on Putin to investigate local authorities' action — and inaction.
4 Min read

‘We Could Lose It in 60 Days’: Russia Closes In on Ukrainian Stronghold of Pokrovsk

Though losing Pokrovsk would significantly worsen the situation for Ukrainian forces in Donetsk, analysts doubt it will dramatically impact the war.
6 Min read

Billions Spent, Nothing Built: The Deepwater Port in Sakhalin With Links to Russia's Elite

Four years after the government and Gazprombank pledged billions to build a strategic deepwater port on Sakhalin Island, there is not even a construction...
5 Min read

Sun, Sea and the Russian Flag: Inside Vacation Season on the Beaches of Occupied Ukraine

Russia is promoting summer getaways to occupied seaside towns as part of a broader push to normalize control over territory it seized by force.
5 Min read

Love Letters to the Justice Ministry: How Daria Apakhonchich Turned Her ‘Foreign Agent’ Reports Into Art

Apakhonchich chronicles both the absurdity and brutality of Russia’s “foreign agents” law with her works.
8 Min read

'Harmful by Nature': Bashkortostan's Controversial New Mining Project Could Have Global Impacts

Activists warn the planned mine at Kyrktytau could harm ecosystems as far away as Kazakhstan — and its copper could be shipped as far as the EU.
6 Min read

What Happens When Your University Is Banned in Russia?

Yale and Brigham Young Universities were recently blacklisted in Russia. The fate of another U.S. college could show what that means.
5 Min read

‘A Revolution in Drone Warfare’: As Russian Fiber-Optic Drones Flood the Battlefield, Ukraine Scrambles to Catch Up

The race for fiber-optic drones is one example of how the war in Ukraine has become one of adaptation and innovation.
4 Min read

Russian POWs’ Families Accuse Moscow of Redeploying Their Loved Ones After Prisoner Swaps

As Moscow and Kyiv have held several rounds of prisoner swaps, reports have surfaced of exchanged Russian soldiers being redeployed to the front.
4 Min read

‘My Homeland Is a Country Within a Country’: Avar Activist Zarema Gasanova

The nurse-turned-Indigenous-activist discusses activism in exile, xenophobia against people from the Caucasus in Russia and Dagestan’s future.
5 Min read

‘We Are Being Held Without Protection’: North Caucasus Women Decry Dire Conditions in Kurdish-Run Syrian Camps

Wives, sisters and children of ISIS fighters, many of whom hail from Russia's North Caucasus, have been held in detention camps for years.
6 Min read

No Way Home: The Exiled Russian Speakers Fighting Their Own War in Syria

After the fall of Assad, some rebel fighters from Russia's Muslim communities continue to speak out against imperialism and the war in Ukraine.
5 Min read

Mariupol Children Undergo Pro-Russian Indoctrination at St. Petersburg ‘Wellness Camps’

Billed as health and wellness retreats, the camps teach children to develop respect and love for the country that occupies their home city.
5 Min read

‘A Turning Point That Never Happened’: Eyewitnesses Recall the Wagner Mercenary Mutiny 2 Years Later

An ex-employee of Prigozhin’s “troll factory,” a graduate student who was near the fighting and a soldier shared their memories.
6 Min read
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