Growing media crackdown Paid Members Public
Hello! Our top story this week is another assault on independent media with the effective ban of investigative journalism outlet Proekt. We also look at Putin’s 5,000-word historical essay on Russians and Ukrainians, a billion-dollar IPO for a leading private healthcare provider, and the chart-topping success of Russian-made
Russia’s first major corporate LGBT+ scandal Paid Members Public
Social media went into a meltdown this week when supermarket chain VkusVill launched — and then suppressed — an ad campaign involving a homosexual couple. Vkusvill suffered significant reputational damage in what was the first major LGBT+ scandal to engulf a top Russian company. * VkusVill is a successful Moscow food retailer that
Officials mull tax hike for the middle class Paid Members Public
After a raid on the ‘superprofits’ of metals companies, Russian officials are now looking at new taxes: one on the middle class, and another on high earners. The two levies being considered could bring in as much as 200 billion rubles ($2.7 billion) a year to the state’s
Media law sparks ‘terrorist’ absurdity at Taliban talks Paid Members Public
The withdrawal of U.S. forces appears to have reignited Afghanistan’s civil war and could even return the Taliban to power — but the Kremlin has prepared for such an eventuality by cultivating a relationship with the Taliban. The arrival of a Taliban delegation in Moscow for talks Thursday could
Corporate LGBT+ scandal Paid Members Public
Hello! This week our top story is the social media storm that erupted when a top Russian retailer featured a homosexual couple in an ad — and then apologized for doing so. We also look at government plans for a tax hike on the middle class, and the jokes that resulted
End of ‘liberal era’ at top Russian university Paid Members Public
The resignation last week of the head of Russia’s Higher School of Economics (HSE) generated shockwaves that reached far beyond academic circles. Economist Yaroslav Kuzminov confirmed Friday that he was stepping down as dean of the university he founded in the 1990s and which is today Russia’s finest
Moscow’s backdoor lockdown hits hospitality sector Paid Members Public
Russian officials scrupulously avoid using words like ‘lockdown’. Last summer, the official euphemism for lockdown was ‘non-working days’; today, officially, not even that. However, Moscow’s hospitality sector is suffering from a strict de facto lockdown that does not come with state support and has little chance of taming the
Is Putin still a man of the people? Paid Members Public
Russian President Vladimir Putin held his 18th televised call-in show Wednesday. This annual event has evolved to the point where it has become almost a parody of itself. Despite rising public discontent over coronavirus restrictions and approaching parliamentary elections, it passed off without incident. * Putin’s call-in show is a
