Wartime Russians Fall Back on an Ancient Survival Strategy
One of the strangest aspects of the mutiny that took an army of Wagner Group mercenaries almost to the gates of Moscow in June was...
New Russian Schoolbooks Preach Hatred of Ukraine and the West
When some million and a half 10th- and 11th-graders across Russia and the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine started the school year on Friday, they received...
Russia Is Returning to Its Totalitarian Past
A month after Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s aborted mutiny, Russia is well along the path from ordinary authoritarian control to full-on totalitarian repression. As...
Putin’s Strongman Image Suddenly Unravels for Russians
On Saturday morning, Russians watched a rattled and angry President Vladimir Putin deliver an emergency address to the nation. Wagner Group’s mutinous mercenaries had just...
Russians Are Unraveling Before Our Eyes
Something extraordinary happened in Moscow on May 30: In broad daylight, the city was attacked by a swarm of drones—anywhere from five to 25 or...
For Russians, It’s the Wild 1990s All Over Again
A common feature at cemeteries outside many midsize Russian cities and towns is a separate necropolis of headstones bearing the names of (mostly) young men...
The Return of the Russia Question
What is Russia? Today’s Russians can’t even be sure where their country’s borders lie. Newly issued maps of Russia include regions of Ukraine that are...