As a British producer selling British programmes in a country that loves British TV, Peter Pomerantsev thought success was assured. He hadn't banked on the peculiarities of the Russian TV industry...
On December 11, a group of 15-year-old schoolboys found themselves in the middle of a several thousand strong race riot in central Moscow. The boys, already badly beaten, were rescued by four unarmed OMON [special police force] officers. In contrast to their assailants, the boys and police officer
Ilya Varlamov is one of Russia's leading photojournalists, enjoying prominence for his memorable narratives of the country's dramatic politics. Here we present his take on the Russian New Year. It proved to be an unforgettable one for dozens of activists, who in highly controversial circumstances
The differences between Putin and Medvedev over the sacking of Mayor Luzhkov in 2010 were the first real crack in the Russian duumvirate. Khimki Forest, the Khodorkovsky guilty verdict and the manoeuvring for position before the 2012 presidential election are likely to exacerbate the situation fur
On 27 December Mikhail Khodorkovsky was found guilty of money laundering and probably faces another long stretch in prison. 4 days earlier retired colonel Vladimir Kvachkov was suddenly arrested. Examining these two, and one other, apparently dissimilar cases, Dmitry Travin finds that the threads
Russia’s security apparatus is back in charge — as powerful, and with less holding it back than ever before. Susan Richards reflects on Wikileaks and reviews a fascinating account of Russia's unofficial second state
In some card games, the aim is to collect as many cards as possible; in others it is to get rid of cards that have been dealt. There are regimes where the point of the rules is that they should be observed and others where simply they are there to be broken. This is Russia, explains Kirill Rogov
Russian human rights activists routinely put themselves in danger’s way, but are largely unappreciated and mistrusted by their compatriots. In times of despair, Anna Sevortian is brought back to one thing: idealism.
Russia is deep in reflection about a mass murder that left twelve dead. For Andrei Konchalovsky, the most shocking thing about the Kuschevskaya killings was neither crime nor bungled cover-up, but the sobering thought that Russians are not really citizens. He implores his fellow countrymen to find
The story of scores being settled with a brutal mass murder in southern Russia has hit the Russian national press. It reveals much about the links between organised crime and power in the country today and gives the lie to the propaganda machine’s claims of increasing happiness and stability.
On Thursday evening, prominent TV journalist Leonid Parfyonov broke with the etiquette of live award ceremonies, and made an unannounced and sensational attack on the state of Russian journalism. Russian TV bosses have become slaves to government bureaucrats, he said, and in so doing are complicit
10 years ago former tennis prodigy Viktor Potemkin (not his real name) decided to come off heroin and leave the criminal world. He did this using the detox approach. Now he teaches, and trains future tennis stars. He talked to Mumin Shakirov.
