The Long Afterlife of the KGB “The last time I was in Moscow, I was well aware that I was being watched wherever I went.” December 5, 2020
Navalny, Ready to Run Again in Russia The Russian opposition politician, who narrowly escaped death by nerve agent poisoning, remains undeterred from challenging Putin’s hegemony. December 3, 2020
The Secret Files of the Soviet Union Judgment in Moscow: Soviet Crimes and Western Complicity by Vladimir Bukovsky, translated from the Russian by Alyona Kojevnikov January 16, 2020 issue
The Price of Doing Business in Russia: Prison Mike Calvey’s detention has caused alarm in the Russian financial community. This makes the virtual silence of the US State Department, which has made no comment on the case beyond acknowledging the fact of his arrest, all the more shocking. March 4, 2019
The Crime of the Century On the killing of Boris Nemtsov The February 2015 Assassination of Boris Nemtsov and the Flawed Trial of His Alleged Killers: An Exploration of Russia’s “Crime of the 21st Century” by John B. Dunlop Nemtsov The Man Who Was Too Free a documentary film written by Mikhail Fishman and directed by Vera Krichevskaya March 21, 2019 issue
Navalny, Anti-Rutabaga Candidate This is the third time this year that Russian authorities have put Aleksei Navalny, the charismatic anti-corruption crusader who has declared himself a candidate for the Russian presidency, behind bars. Rather than intimidate him, the arrests seem to embolden him. October 12, 2017
A Show Trial in Moscow As the sensational trial of former Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukaev continued this week in Moscow’s Zamoskvoretsky District Court, it seemed more and more like a replay of the infamous show trials of the Stalin period—the charges bogus, the outcome predetermined. September 8, 2017
Putin’s Monster Why would the Russian government tolerate the Chechen government’s campaign against gays, which has been so heavily criticized and seems to serve no political purpose? May 19, 2017
Putin’s Intelligence Crisis Amid the political and diplomatic chaos in the US since Donald Trump assumed the presidency, Russian leadership has been experiencing its own turmoil, until recently kept under wraps, but now emerging into the open. February 3, 2017
Fatal Russian Poison in London: The Report The Litvinenko Inquiry: Report into the Death of Alexander Litvinenko by Sir Robert Owen April 21, 2016 issue
Putin: Strong and Weak Despite their country’s economic crisis, Russians still overwhelmingly support Putin, resting on the illusion that somehow he can recreate former economic well-being. But presidential elections are not scheduled until March 2018. Will Putin be able to sustain this illusion until then? February 23, 2016
Putin's Sinai Problem Why would the Kremlin want the FBI involved in the investigation of the crash of flight 9268, a case that could seriously compromise public support for Russia’s Syria campaign? November 9, 2015
Stalin: His Daughter & His Crimes Stalin’s Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva by Rosemary Sullivan Stalin: New Biography of a Dictator by Oleg V. Khlevniuk, translated from the Russian by Nora Seligman Favorov November 19, 2015 issue
Why Russia Needs Syria Russia’s entry into the Syrian conflict has fundamentally changed the dynamic of the four-and-a-half-year-old war there. October 8, 2015
A Kremlin Conspiracy? The arrests of five Chechens have led to new speculation about the Kremlin’s involvement in the murder of Boris Nemtsov. March 15, 2015
Russia's Political Murders The murder of Russian politician and liberal activist Boris Nemtsov fits into a long and well-established pattern of politically-motivated killings in Putin’s Russia. March 2, 2015
Unaccountable in Ukraine A growing number of unofficial investigations show unambiguously that a Russian missile system was used to down Malaysian flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. November 19, 2014
Obama’s Putin Delusion The Obama White House has exhibited a misguided optimism about Kremlin intentions ever since the introduction of the “reset” with Russia in 2009. March 29, 2014
