Award-winning director and playwright sentenced to six years Paid Members Public
A Russian military court on Monday put a grim end to one of the most high-profile political cases of the last year. Director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk were sentenced to six years in prison on charges of “justifying terrorism.” The case is designed to become a demonstrative example
Online voting, electronic manipulation Paid Members Public
Russia’s electoral system is moving closer to the Kremlin’s idea of perfection. For the first time in history, an upcoming poll for elections to the Moscow City Duma will be fully online. Electronic voting makes it much easier for the authorities to manipulate the results and has the
THE BELL WEEKLY: Kremlin goes all-in on online elections Paid Members Public
Hello. This week we look at how the Kremlin is embracing online voting — and how it further streamlines the manipulation of elections. We also look at how a state-backed mortgage program fuelled inequality and a housing bubble, and a landmark sentence designed to scare Russia’s intelligentsia. Online voting, electronic
Why is Narendra Modi coming to Moscow? Paid 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. Our top story this time is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first wartime visit to Russia. We also look at whether legal proceedings to designate
Russia’s propagandists on the Biden-Trump debate Paid Members Public
A presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was always going to be too tasty an affair to pass up for Russia’s hoard of propagandists. While the coverage on state TV was surprisingly calm, focused mainly on Biden’s health, columns published on pro-Kremlin sites were far more
Moscow goes crazy for Kanye West Paid Members Public
It’s less than six months since American journalist Tucker Carlson came to Moscow on a trip that was possibly the highlight of the year for West-bashing Russian propagandists. Now another American celebrity, rapper Ye (Kanye West) is reportedly in town. And once again, Moscow has seized on the visit
A string of hardline proposals from Russia’s chief investigator Paid Members Public
Russia is never short of outrageous proposals from officials looking to grab the headlines. But last week was impressive even by those standards, with Russia’s Chief Investigator Alexander Bastrykin rafting off a string of ultra-hardline initiatives he wants the country to adopt. In the space of just three days
THE BELL WEEKLY: Tough talk from Russia’s top investigator Paid Members Public
Hello! This week we cover a raft of hardline proposals from the head of the Investigative Committee, look at how Russia reacted to the US presidential debate and the buzz around Kanye West’s rumored visit to Moscow. A string of hardline proposals from Russia’s chief investigator Russia is
