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Opinion

Jorge Conde andDr John Blaxland

Twisting Reality Is the Name of Putin's War Game

The failure to capture Kyiv and the fall of Assad's Syria were an embarrassment. But that hasn't stoped the Kremlin claiming to be all-powerful.
Elena Davlikanova

Make War Acceptable Again: Crimea Today, Taiwan Tomorrow?

Washington's proposal to recognize Russia's annexation of Crimea is not only anathema to Ukraine but threatens to bolden bad actors everywhere.
4 Min read
Ayman Eckford

The Killing of a 17-Year-Old Shows the Clash of Cultures Taking Place in Chechnya

The lifeless body of a teenage boy left out in public to send a message may backfire by showing Chechens Moscow has no respect for them.
4 Min read
Joshua R. Kroeker

Putin Wants to Look Like the Good Guy by Proposing Ceasefires. It's a Trap.

Kyiv says Russia violated yesterday's ceasefire 3,000 times. Moscow isn't seeking peace; it wants Washington to believe Kyiv wants war.
4 Min read
Taras Kuzio

Putin's Demands Mean Trump Can Never Truly End the War. Here's Why.

Trump and Witkoff fail to understand how long Russia has coveted Ukrainian land for. Moscow's conditions are unacceptable to Ukraine.
8 Min read
Indigenous of Russia Foundation

An Open Letter to Vladimir Kara-Murza: Don't Spread Racist Myths About Indigenous Peoples

The leading opposition politician's remarks in the French senate, suggesting that ethnic minority soldiers are more brutal, are unacceptable.
4 Min read
Inna Bondarenko

I Trained With Russian Diplomats. I Can Tell You How They Work

We were taught to undermine the global, rules-based order with all the diplomatic niceties you'd expect in the liberal order. That makes it dangerous.
4 Min read
Maxim Alyukov

Here’s Why More Russians Don’t Read Independent Journalism

Negative stories about the war and repression put readers off. How can independent media retain their audience without betraying their mission?
6 Min read
Jason Corcoran

How Trump’s Backfiring Trade War Could Crash Putin’s Economy

What Putin hoped would be an opportunity for sanctions relief and economic revival is now shaping up to be a deepening crisis.
5 Min read
Temur Umarov

Can Trump Channel Nixon to Turn Russia Against China?

Apart from the economic obstacles facing the U.S. plan, Russia is extremely unlikely to want to contain China — they have too much in common.
5 Min read
Vladislav Inozemtsev

Russia’s Businessmen Are Natural Opponents of Putin. They Just Don’t Know It Yet

Both Russia's self-made businessmen and the opposition have a common interest in living in a peaceful democracy that respects the rule of law.
5 Min read
Olesya Vartanyan

The Window for an Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Deal Is Closing

Though Yerevan and Baku have formally reached an agreement to end the 35-year conflict, it’s unclear whether the document will actually be signed.
5 Min read
Ayman Eckford

Ramzan Kadyrov Is Not the True Leader of Chechnya. Nobody Wants Him

Nobody would talk about the leaders of Crimea and the Donbas without providing context. Why don't they do the same for Chechnya?
5 Min read
Saahil Menon

Do the Saudis Really Want Peace in Ukraine?

The Kingdom's cozy relationship with the Putin and Trump administrations suggest it has selfish motives in hosting Ukraine peace negotiations.
4 Min read
Anonymous

How the Secretive Freemasons Stayed in the Kremlin’s Good Books

Despite the conspiracy theories surrounding their work, the world's oldest fraternity has avoided the Kremlin's crackdown on non-state organizations.
5 Min read
Avesta Afshari Mehr

Criminal Networks Are the Kremlin's Not-So-Secret Weapon

Outsourcing sabotage of organized crime groups gives the Kremlin plausible deniability and access to a pool of covert resources.
4 Min read
Suzanne Antelme

Trump and Putin’s Hockey Puck Diplomacy Puts Europe on Thin Ice

Putin's hockey passion might be another tool Trump can leverage in striking a deal with Russia. But the lack of concessions is troubling.
6 Min read
Ksenia Turkova

I’m a Russian Journalist. I Recognize The Strangulation of American Media Today

American media is not immune from the patterns of self-censorship that constrained journalists as Russia retreated from democracy.
4 Min read
Dan Storyev and Olgierd Schmidt

'Big Men' See Everyone Else As 'Small.' That's How Washington Sees Europe and Ukraine

Because the U.S. was the bedrock of the system that positioned Ukraine as a bastion of Western civilization, it was easy for them to take it away.
5 Min read
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