Putin tries to inspire Russia with the legend of Stalingrad PRO Members Public
Ahead of an anticipated Russian offensive in Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin is attempting to galvanize society by invoking the sacred legacy of World War II — or, as it is known in Russia, the Great Patriotic War. Last week, Putin went to Volgograd, which briefly re-adopted its historical name of Stalingrad.
Latest Western oil embargo expected to have minimal impact PRO Members Public
A Western embargo on Russian oil products came into force Sunday — along with the related price cap. Oil products are a market segment in which Russian companies will have a hard time replacing European costumes with Asian ones (traditionally, Asian countries only buy crude oil from Russia). Gasoline prices in
Oil product embargo PRO Members Public
Hello! Our top story this week is about the imposition of the West’s oil product embargo, Putin’s attempt to use the World War II battle of Stalingrad to rally support for the Ukraine war and the International Monetary Fund’s surprisingly positive forecast for the Russian economy. Latest
IMF predicts Russian economy to rebound in 2023 PRO Members Public
International economic institutions, which recently doubted Russia’s economy could survive under Western sanctions, are now sounding more optimistic than even the Russian government. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), known for its gloomy forecasts, this week predicted Russia’s GDP will grow at 0.3% this year. The typically conservative
IMF upbeat on Russia’s economy PRO Members Public
Hello! This is Alexandra Prokopenko with your weekly guide to the Russian economy — brought to you by The Bell. In this newsletter, we’ll look at whether the IMF’s rosy predictions for Russia’s economy are realistic, Putin’s upcoming state-of-the-nation address and U.S. warnings to countries helping
Russia bans Meduza, the country’s largest independent media organization PRO Members Public
Russia named independent news outlet Meduza an “undesirable” organization Thursday, effectively banning its work in the country. Meduza has the biggest audience of any independent media source, attracting tens of millions of readers to its site every month (by comparison, The Bell’s Russian-language site has just over one million
Wagner founder Prigozhin finds a vocal parliamentary ally PRO Members Public
Mercenary company Wagner, which is fighting alongside the Russian army in Ukraine, still has no official legal status in Russia. However, that is proving no problem for its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, as he seeks support in Russia’s parliament. One of the most vocal (albeit not hugely influential) supporters of
Putin’s foreign friends PRO Members Public
Hello! This week our top story is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s long-standing foreign friends and how they are faring amid the Ukraine war. We also look at mercenary company Wagner’s new political ally, and the outlawing of Meduza, Russia’s top independent media outlet. Putin’s foreign friends
Putin’s foreign friends complain of bullying, wonder why they are “toxic” PRO Members Public
German newspaper Die Zeit last week published an interview with Matthias Warnig, head of the company that was due to take charge of the never-opened Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Europe. Warnig, who worked for East Germany’s Stasi in the 1970s, got to know Vladimir Putin
Putin’s got plenty of money to keep fighting PRO Members Public
One of the main aims of Western sanctions against Russia is to reduce Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ability to pay for his war in Ukraine. Since the invasion, Russia has lost access to about half of its reserves of gold and foreign currency — while economic links between firms, in
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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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