Imagine you are a Ukrainian citizen who fled Crimea in 2014 after Russia occupied the peninsula. You left behind your apartment, your parents’ house, maybe the little plot of land where your family planted grapes. But your family was safe, and that mattered most. As for the property, you hoped to return one day. After…
A Russian general celebrates his birthday at an expensive restaurant in central Moscow. His family is there. His guests are there. Security is outside. Then a woman approaches carrying a package. Seconds later, the package explodes. The general survives. Others do not. And suddenly one of the most important privileges of Putin’s ruling class begins…
Imagine that tomorrow the war in Ukraine ends on Putin’s terms. Russian television interrupts its programming. Putin addresses the nation. Fireworks explode over Moscow. Commentators announce that Russia has defeated not only Ukraine, but the entire collective West. For a few days, the country celebrates, and then comes the much more interesting question: What happens…
Russia currently has around 720,000 troops committed to the war against Ukraine—more people than the entire population of Boston. Who are these men? What brings them to the recruitment office? Do they believe Ukraine is ruled by Nazis? Do they still believe Putin after seeing the front? Or are they there because the state…
When Ukrainians see another apartment building destroyed, another family killed, or another city attacked, the question feels unavoidable: How could 140 million Russians allow this to happen? Why did they not stop Putin? Why did they not fill the streets, sabotage the war, overthrow the government—or at least speak openly against it? And if they…
A Russian oligarch seems to have everything: private jets, enormous yachts, villas in several countries, companies worth billions, and access to the Kremlin. From the outside, he looks powerful enough to influence presidents. That is why many people in Russia and the West assumed that oligarchs were the true rulers of the country—that Putin depended…
Every army has deserters. But when thousands of soldiers begin leaving, hiding, escaping across borders, choosing prison over the front, or disappearing into civilian life, this is no longer just a discipline problem. It is a crisis. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has pulled hundreds of thousands of men into the trenches. Some are defending…
When listening to Russian officials, you may wonder: why can’t they just face the truth? Admit that Russia is losing the war it started in Ukraine. That its economy keeps taking damage from sanctions and the ongoing war. That the fuel shortages are spreading across regions and there’s no clean resolution in sight. Instead, they…
