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Russia bans Greenpeace Members Public

Russia’s prosecutor general designated Greenpeace as an “undesirable” organization Friday, which effectively bans its members from working in Russia. According to the authorities, Greenpeace “poses a threat to the foundations of constitutional order and security” in the country, and, since the start of the war, it has “engaged in

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Politics

State propaganda casts capture of Bakhmut as a big win for Russia Members Public

Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and Russia’s Defense Ministry announced over the weekend that they had taken complete control of eastern Ukraine’s Bakhmut after a grinding nine-month battle for the city. The Ukrainian authorities denied the claims and said that fighting in Bakhmut continued. That did not stop

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Politics

Putin hands an ancient icon over to the Russian Orthodox Church Members Public

President Vladimir Putin responded to “numerous requests from Orthodox worshippers” and donated the famous “Trinity” icon to the Russian Orthodox Church last week. The 15th-century piece is believed to be the work of religious artist Andrei Rublev. Many artists and experts warned against the handover, claiming that the church is

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Politics

THE BELL WEEKLY: Icon Giveaway Members Public

Hello! This week our top story is President Vladimir Putin’s decision to return a historic religious icon to the Russian Orthodox Church. Then we turn to how Russian propagandists have tried to portray the capture of Bakhmut as a significant military victory for the country’s Armed Forces. And,

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Russia, Explained

Russia’s Central Bank assesses the impact of sanctions on the economy Members Public

The Central Bank issued a new macroeconomic forecast, for the first time taking full account of the consequences of the war in Ukraine. The regulator sees no risk of catastrophe in the coming two years, but at the same time doesn’t see reason for optimism. * The Central Bank’s

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Economy

Russia puts hopes on an Erdogan victory in Turkey Members Public

The Kremlin’s long-time partner Recep Erdogan did better than expected in the first round of Turkey’s presidential elections this weekend. However, he couldn’t secure a third term in office outright. Now he faces another, even more difficult run-off with opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the second round

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Politics

Georgia emerges as an unlikely Kremlin ally Members Public

The Georgian government’s long and slow drift toward improved relations with Russia has borne some fruit. Last week, President Vladimir Putin canceled visa requirements for Georgian citizens visiting Russia and lifted a flight ban between the two countries. The Georgian government likely achieved these results after refusing to impose

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Politics

The conflict between Wagner and the Defense Ministry heats up Members Public

Over the last year, mercenary group Wagner and Russia’s Defense Ministry have regularly clashed. Last week, this spat reached new heights when Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin released several clips in which he aggressively accused the Russian defense minister and his chief of staff of failing to provide shells for

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Politics

One more pro-war Russian propagandist is targeted in a car bomb attack Members Public

This weekend saw another attempted assassination of a prominent supporter of Russia’s war. Writer and politician Zakhar Prilepin survived a car bomb but was seriously injured. His driver was killed at the scene. This is the third assassination attempt in the past nine months. Earlier, the daughter of pro-Kremlin

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Politics

Billionaires compete to buy the ‘Russian Google’ Members Public

Yandex, one of Russia’s biggest IT companies and a local equivalent of Google, is about to decide on its new owners. The corporation is currently going through a “divorce” from its founder, Arkady Volozh, who is retaining part of the company’s businesses to develop them abroad. As The

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Business
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The Bell was founded in 2017 by journalists Elizaveta Osetinskaya, Irina Malkova and Peter Mironenko as a news outlet independent from the Russian authorities, after its founders have been sacked as top editors at the largest Russian news website RBC because of pressure from the Kremlin.

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