Mobilization fallout Paid Members Public
Hello! In this week’s newsletter, we focus on the Kremlin’s military mobilization that has uprooted Russian society over the past week — sparking protests, sending hundreds of thousands of Russians scrambling for the borders and threatening broad economic implications. We also look at how Russian businesses are struggling to
Russians await arrival of iPhone 14 Paid Members Public
Apple’s new iPhone — the iPhone 14 — went on sale in U.S. stores Friday. Even though the company’s flagship product is not officially available in Russia, it will still reach the country via the so-called parallel imports scheme. Moreover, a strong ruble means there has reportedly been a
Sanctions threaten domestic payments system Mir Paid Members Public
The exit of Visa and Mastercard from Russia in the wake of the Ukraine invasion means Russians with cards issued by them can no longer use them overseas. Now, it looks like Russia’s Mir alternative is also being targeted by the West. * Mir cards can still be used in
Russia’s Kharkiv defeat ignored by propaganda outlets Paid Members Public
The Russian authorities and supporters of the Ukraine invasion spent much of last week trying to make sense of the Armed Forces’ heaviest defeat since the spring. State-owned media studiously ignored the fact that Russia was almost entirely driven out of Kharkiv region, focusing instead on military successes announced by
State-owned Russian media shrugs off Russia’s Kharkiv defeat Paid Members Public
Hello! This week our top story is about state-owned Russian media ignoring the successful Ukrainian advance near Kharkiv and some top politicians raising the issue of mobilization. We also look at how Russia’s domestic payments system is threatened by sanctions and why the new iPhone will be both cheap
The Central Bank will compensate Russian investors at foreigners’ expense Paid Members Public
Russia’s Central Bank seeks to compensate 5 million Russian investors who lost access to their foreign shares due to war-related sanctions. To do this, it will use an estimated $300 billion in funds from “unfriendly” countries frozen in Russia. The Bank intends to invest this money in “friendly” securities
Putin increasingly divorced from reality of Russian economy Paid Members Public
Putin didn’t just spend last week riding on Moscow’s new ferris wheel. He also visited the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, where he delivered another keynote speech about the economy. Compared with the figures and predictions that Russian officials debated behind closed doors in late August, the president’
Russia’s pro-war bloggers become a serious threat to the Kremlin Paid Members Public
This week’s fighting saw Ukraine’s armed forces inflict a major defeat on Russia, almost completely liberating the Kharkiv region. Neither Russian nor Ukrainian officials offered any significant information about the course of the offensive and, unsurprisingly, the gap was filled by bloggers and Telegram channels. Russian pro-war bloggers,
