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Opinion

Tatyana Rybakova

Congratulations to Russia's Agriculture Ministry for Soaring Food Prices

With the industry regulated into a corner, the price of staples like sunflower oil and rye are climbing. Officials are only making things worse.
Inna Bondarenko

My Revolut Account Was Frozen for Having the Wrong Passport

Overzealous regulation and cautious corporations are making it as hard for Russians to live in the EU as the Moscow does for them to remain.
6 Min read
Jason Corcoran

Visa Bans Don't Hurt the Russians With True Power

Rich Russians with multiple passports or golden visas can open doors with their money, while ordinary Russians become increasingly alienated.
5 Min read
Julian Waller

Russia's Defense Ministry Is Undergoing Generational Change

Installing technocratic bureaucrats without their own patronage networks helps the Kremlin rein-in the leaders of the military and security services.
5 Min read
Lucy Ash

Russian Orthodox Priests Don’t Practice What They Preach

To endorsing "holy war" and living in luxury, the actions of Russia's religious elite are miles from the spiritual values they profess.
7 Min read
Ilya Yashin

By Blocking Russian Exiles’ Accounts, Revolut Is Hitting the Wrong Targets

Sanctions should try to weaken the social base that supports Putin, not reinforce Kremlin claims of Russophobia toward ordinary people.
4 Min read
Tatyana Rybakova

Russia's Self-Imposed Isolation Reaches a New Frontier: Medicine

Moscow's blind patriotism and shunning of anything foreign means Russians will have to pay higher prices for less effective medication.
6 Min read
Boris Bondarev

Don't Blame Putin Alone for Russia's Misdeeds – It's the System

Yes, the Russian system is repressive. But imagining that Putin is behind every headline is an unhelpful distortion of how the system works.
6 Min read
Valery Panyushkin

How ‘Masha and the Bear’ Upset This Putinist Activist

The idea of a little girl living without adults, bossing around a bear and other talking animals, proved too much for this Russian political scientist...
3 Min read
Tatiana Stanovaya for Carnegie Politika

Carnegie Politika: Russia’s System Is Beginning to Eat Its Own

There are no longer any political guardrails on the country’s powerful security agencies, and the number of arrests of officials will only grow.
4 Min read
Tatyana Rybakova

Russia's Central Bank Has Lost What Remained of Its Independence

Russia's budget is impossible to balance. The regulator just made a significant concession to Putin and the increasingly powerful Finance Ministry.
7 Min read
Boris Bondarev

Russia's Nuclear-Powered Missile Test Was More for Show Than Substance

Using the Burevestnik missile would not help Russia win an actual war. But its testing is supposed to warn the West that Russia will fight back.
4 Min read
Andrey Pertsev

Why Is the Russian Elite So Keen to Cozy Up to Trump?

The main audience for all these proposals from the Russian elite is not in fact Trump, but Putin, who still seeks an agreement with Washington.
5 Min read
Andrei Malgin

Here's Why Plans for a Tunnel Between Russia and Alaska Are Insane

Putin's special envoy Kirill Dmitriev thinks a tunnel will boost trade and bring peace. It isn't a new idea — and has never been built for good reasons...
4 Min read
Jason Corcoran

Can Russians Be Trusted With Dollars? The Finance Ministry Doesn't Think So.

A proposed law to grant Putin powers over Russians' foreign currency transactions would suffocate personal freedom and the economy.
4 Min read
Olga Abramenko

How the Kremlin's 'Foreign Agents' Law Strangled Freedom in Russia

The "foreign agents" law was never fair. But in recent years, it has been turned into a more effective tool to stifle Russian society.
5 Min read
Dmytro Zhmailo

The Kremlin Bets on Terror Tactics as it Faces Autumn Dilemma

Putin's recent boasts about Russia's supposed progress show how out of touch he is with the reality on the ground.
4 Min read
Arshak Makichyan

A Russian Billionaire Was Fined for Environmental Damage. It’s Fake Accountability.

The Kremlin only cares about the planet when it sees an opportunity to keep the elites and ordinary people in line.
5 Min read
Valery Panyushkin

Meet Russia's Most Harmless Terrorists – The Most Decent People You Could Meet

The FSB has branded the Anti-War Committee a terrorist group.The real threat they pose? Having a conscience.
3 Min read
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