A new level of repression PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we cover a new piece of legislation that would punish Russians for reading “extremist” content online, in what could be the opening salvo in a massive new ramp-up of repression. Russia to fine people for searching or reading material online Russia is taking its biggest step towards
Sanctions bark worse than their bite PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr and brought to you by The Bell. This week we look at a possible escalation of the Western sanctions war against Russia. We also look at the Central Bank’s claim that inflation
Censorship in Russia – back to the USSR? PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we look at plans to revive Soviet-era censorship, what the Kremlin thinks of the idea and what it would mean, if anything, for Russian media. Russia gets serious about bring back Soviet-style censorship Talk of reviving official censorship in Russia, while not new, has taken on a
Fear levels rise among the Russian elite PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr and brought to you by The Bell. This week we examine what the suicide of ex-Transport Minister Roman Starovoit tells us about the pressures facing the Russian elite. We also look at financial
Internet outages and airport disruption threaten Putin’s deal with Russia’s middle classes PRO Members Public
While Russians living in Moscow and other cities away from the border have suffered nothing like the kind of deadly attacks Ukrainians in Kyiv have been put through — with Vladimir Putin deploying hundreds of drones and missiles in escalating nightly barrages — the cost of the war is starting to become
Sacked transport minister dies by suicide PRO Members Public
Hello! Our top story is the shock suicide of Russia’s transport minister, whose body was discovered hours after he was fired amid looming corruption charges. We also look at how a string of internet outages and major disruption at airports could spell trouble for the Kremlin’s support among
Is Russia heading for a banking crisis? PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexander Kolyandr and Alexandra Prokopenko and brought to you by The Bell. This week we analyze why some believe Russia is on the verge of a banking crisis – and whether this could ever come to pass. We also
How Russian banks adapted to sanctions PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we detail our investigation into how Russian banks are skirting sanctions to transfer money to the EU — the latest in a string of restriction-busting innovations rolled out by the sector amid the Ukraine invasion. The Central Asian fix: Sending rubles to Europe Sanctions against Russia over its
Corporate Russia no longer fears sanctions PRO Members Public
Domodedovo and SPIEF: a masterclass in ignoring reality PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we look at how the nationalization of Moscow’s Domodedovo airport came about and why it was a non-issue at Russia’s premier business and investment forum in Saint Petersburg. SPIEF shrugs off Domodedovo nationalization The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum has long ceased to be a
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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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