Independent media pressured as VTimes made ‘foreign agent’ PRO Members Public
State pressure on independent media continues to increase. Just three weeks after media outlet Meduza was branded a ‘foreign agent’, business title VTimes received the same designation. VTimes was set up last year by journalists who left top business newspaper Vedomosti when it was bought out by shareholders linked to
Gun control strawman PRO Members Public
The most important stories on Russia this week Hello! This week our top story is a deadly school shooting and the subsequent gun control debate that seems unlikely to reduce the chance of future such incidents. We also look at how the government is eyeing a new tax to boost
Russia’s political crackdown continues to gather pace PRO Members Public
You may be getting tired of reading about Russia’s political crackdown, but it continues to gather momentum. Last week we wrote about how the authorities branded top independent media outlet Meduza a ‘foreign agent’, and the week before we described the attacks on supporters of opposition leader Navalny. This
The Russian from Perm who built a $3bln in-game payments company PRO Members Public
Xsolla is little-known in Russia — let alone abroad. Yet, the payment services company could be worth $3 billion, according to research from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. Xsolla founder Alexander Agapitov gave an interview to The Bell founder Elizaveta Osetinskaya. It’s a fascinating story. * Agapitov founded Xsolla 15
Russia goes on vacation — again PRO Members Public
When the government ordered companies to send staff home on full pay amid the onset of the pandemic last year, many quipped that President Vladimir Putin had gone into someone else’s bar and announced: ‘the drinks are on the house!’. Now, the same gag is back. Putin revealed on
Populist vacations PRO Members Public
Hello! This week our main story is about why Russians have extra vacation days this May and who will pay for President Vladimir Putin’s ‘gift’ to the nation. We also look at a political crackdown that gathers pace with each passing day, and the story of Xsolla, a company
Crisis recedes as troops withdraw, Navalny ends hunger strike PRO Members Public
Fears of a geopolitical showdown faded this week as Russian troops withdrew from the Ukrainian border, opposition leader Alexei Navalny said he was stopping his hunger strike and President Vladimir Putin’s annual state-of-the-nation address was notably light on saber-rattling. In the space of just three days tensions that had
‘Foreign agent’ label given to top independent media outlet Meduza PRO Members Public
The authorities are stepping up their attack on independent media. The Ministry of Justice announced Friday that Meduza, Russia’s most popular independent media outlet, has been designated a ‘foreign agent’ (a Soviet-era term implying espionage). Theoretically, this has no impact. However, in reality, it limits Meduza’s ability to
Meet the Siberian brothers who built a ‘cut-price Walmart’ PRO Members Public
Even today, there are huge Russian companies about which there is almost no public information. This week, The Bell published a long article telling the story of one of them: a Russian Walmart copy-cat known as Svetofor. With 2020 revenue of about $2.5 billion, this Siberian company recently became
Geopolitical tensions fade PRO Members Public
Hello! This week our top story is an analysis of why strained relations between Russia and the U.S. appeared to ease, and what the two sides were trying to get out of an escalation. We also look at what might happen now top independent media outlet Meduza has been
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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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