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Opinion

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Andrei Kolesnikov

How the Moscow Protests Reveal a Schism in Russia’s Middle Class

A clash has been taking place between Moscow's two middle classes: one born of the market economy, and one for which the only social elevator is the state...
Abby Innes

Boris Johnson: The Brezhnev Years

With their utopian market assumptions, contemporary neoliberal states share many of the pathologies of the Soviets.
Leonid Bershidsky

Was This Man the Prized U.S. Asset in the Kremlin?

If a midlevel Kremlin official was indeed the agent the U.S. pulled from Russia in 2017, he couldn’t have known much about covert election interference...
Ilya Shepelin

Muscovites Did Not Buy the Kremlin’s Lies, But Putin Can Rule Without Their Support

The only real victory in politics is when power changes hands. That did not happen in this case, but protestors did achieve a victory of sorts.
Sharanya Rajiv

India and Russia: Connecting Eurasia And The Indo-Pacific

After meeting in Vladivostok, it’s clear that the two countries have developed a new vision for their partnership.
Christo Grozev

For Russia, the Exchange of a Key Figure in the MH17 Crash Could Be Quick Fix That Backfires

In pursuing its aim to get Vladimir Tsemakh out of Dutch reach at any cost, the Kremlin may have made another blunder.
Leonid Bershidsky

The Kremlin Won — and Proved It Can’t Win Fair

In local elections, frustrated Muscovites voted for Communists and oddballs to keep out pro-Putin candidate.
Michele A. Berdy

How Low Can You Go in Russian?

Start September with a pop quiz and learn how to let go, let down, put down, and dip in.
Ella Paneyakh

Does the Kremlin Have an Alternative?

Let’s imagine that the Kremlin unexpectedly decides to behave constructively and engage in negotiation – what is there to negotiate?
Yegor Zhukov

The Change of Power in Russia Will Be Very Similar to My Arrest

Letter from jail: Detained student says change is coming to Russia.
Pavel Luzin for Riddle

Why Corporations Are the Kremlin’s Best Friends

State-owned and state-controlled companies have come to play a crucial role in managing Russia and guaranteeing stability in the regions.
Leonid Bershidsky

Why Germany Is Ignoring Its Own Russian Spy Scandal

The murder of a Chechen rebel in Berlin looks like a Russian operation, but the Merkel government is not making a public fuss about that.
Mark Galeotti

Why I Talked to RT

The people we need to engage with are those who don’t agree with us, who don’t share our sense of the world.
Leonid Bershidsky

A Prisoner Swap With Russia Tests Ukraine’s President

Whether Zelenskiy decides to give up a key MH17 witness will shed light on his policy toward eastern Ukraine.
Tanya Lokshina

Remembering Beslan 15 Years Later

For the nightmare of Beslan never to be repeated, its lessons must be learned.
Ilya Nuzov

The Kremlin Is Trying to Whitewash Russia’s Stalinist Past

Driven by the desire to forge a strong national identity, the authorities are excavating the graves of victims of Soviet repression.
Michael Mesquita

Despite Political Will in the U.S., Tougher Russian Sanctions Seem Unlikely... For Now

With U.S. presidential elections 15 months away, we can expect rhetoric on Russian sanctions but little action.
Alexandra Dzhordzhevich

Russia Needs to Know the Truth About the Arkhangelsk Nuclear Blast

From what, or whom, could this silence possibly offer protection?
Leonid Bershidsky

Eastern Ukraine Isn’t Really That Separatist

The way to resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine is to arrange a credible people’s vote in the Donbass.
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