Newsletter
Russia’s economy after four years of war 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. Ahead of the anniversary of Russia’s invasion on February 24, we analyze the irreversible changes the Russian economy has gone through in the four years
Russia nukes its main messenger PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we cover how Russians are responding to the state throttling Telegram, the country’s most important messenger and social media app. How collapsible is Putin's Russia? The Bell on In Moscow's Shadows podcast with Mark Galeotti Four years into the war with Ukraine,
EU tries to sink the shadow fleet 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 the EU’s latest package of sanctions on Russia, targeting oil exports and the shadow fleet, could be one of its
Russia’s Shadow Fleet comes in from the dark PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we ask why is Russia increasingly bringing its fleet of sanctions-busting tankers in from the shadows, and is it an effective strategy to help ship its oil around the world. Russian flags for the shadow fleet Shadow fleet tankers have been rushing to re-register themselves under Russian
To cut or not? Central bank faces tough choice 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 get behind the dilemma facing Russia’s central bank — whether to carry on cutting rates even as inflation creeps higher. Can the central
Why is Russia legalizing online casinos? PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we look at why Moscow is planning to legalize online gambling. Hint: there’s money to be made — both for the national budget and friends of the Kremlin. Winner-winner: Finance ministry and Putin’s cronies stand to gain from legalization of online casinos With Russia facing a
Waging war with the poor 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 reveal our research into how regional poverty levels correlate with death rates in the Russian army, and explore what the slowing economy could
Russia revels in Ukraine energy crisis it caused PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we analyze how Russian propaganda channels and pro-war bloggers are celebrating the fact that massive Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy grid have left millions without heating, power and water in sub-zero temperatures — and why it reveals, yet again, that Moscow’s invasion is not going to
Six lessons for Russia from the Iran protests 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 explain what the Kremlin learned from the Iranian protests and how Moscow could strive to avoid a similar uprising. We also review the
Russia’s wartime parliamentary elections PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we dig into the Kremlin’s campaign to get ex-soldiers elected to parliament later this year — a move that isn’t exactly popular across society. How Russia will exploit the war during this year’s parliamentary elections The Kremlin has officially launched the campaign for the 2026
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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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