“In the city of Kharkiv, in northeast Ukraine, there is a kindergarten classroom with bright yellow and green walls and long, gauzy curtains…But these days, there are no children.”
Putin
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Collaborators
“As occupied territories are liberated, some residents face accusations that they sided with the enemy.”
Posted inEditor's Pick
The Kremlin Has Entered the Chat
“Telegram has the capacity to share nearly any confidential information a government requests. Users just have to trust that it won’t.”
Posted inQuotes
Chasing Spies From the Couch
Discover a website that solves crimes without its members ever leaving home.
Posted inEditor's Pick
‘A Chain of Stupidity’: the Skripal Case and the Decline of Russia’s Spy Agencies
“The new hero of journalism was no longer a grizzled investigator burning shoe leather, à la All the President’s Men, but a pasty-looking kid in front of a MacBook Air.”
Posted inBooks, Current Events, Member Pick, Story
Putin’s Rasputin
Journalist Amos Barshad meets with “Putin whisperer” Aleksandr Dugin to try to understand how a shadowy advisor exerts influence.
Posted inBlog Post, Commentary, Unapologetic Women
The Manipulative Power of ‘You Understand’
A reminder, courtesy of Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova.
Posted inCurrent Events
Are Regular Russians Ready to Take On Vladimir Putin?
The Russian election is one year away, but taking on a ruthless autocrat may not be welcomed by a generation looking for stability and security.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
A New American Pastime: Putinology
Russian-born journalist Keith Gessen breaks down seven theories about Vladimir Putin that have gained traction as a result of a diversion that’s become popular with Americans in the Trump era: Putinology.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Killer, Kleptocrat, Genius, Spy: the Many Myths of Vladimir Putin
Russian-born journalist and author Keith Gessen’s analysis of seven theories about Putin borne of “Putinology,” a long-standing tradition in eastern Europe, newly adopted by Americans as a diversion in the Trump era.