Politics
Runet gets a new boss: The Bell exclusive PRO Members Public
The Bell has managed to find out who is behind the latest wave of repression against the Russian internet — from restricting calls on messaging apps to blocking Telegram and waging war on VPNs. These crackdowns have already caused businesses to lose millions, as we previously wrote about, and have also
Propaganda in Russian schools PRO Members Public
Hello! As a new school year kicks off in Russia, we dig into how the authorities are pushing propaganda into Russian schools and glorifying the invasion of Ukraine in lessons for children as young as three. Instilling ideology: How the Kremlin raises young loyalists Much like during the Soviet era,
Derk Sauer, founder of Vedomosti and The Moscow Times, dies PRO Members Public
Derk Sauer, the Dutch media manager, who spearheaded independent media in Russia, has died at the age of 72. Sauer arrived in Russia in the dying days of the Soviet Union, and in the 1990s became renowned as one of the founding fathers of the post-Soviet media market. He created
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
Iran-Israel war plays into Kremlin hands PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we cover how Moscow could benefit from the conflict between Iran and Israel. We also unpack an investigation into Telegram and the FSB, examining what mobile data Russia’s security services can and cannot access. Moscow stands to benefit from all-out war between Israel and Iran Although
Russia’s Pearl Harbor? PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we look in depth at Ukraine’s attacks on Russian air bases housing its strategic bomber fleet — what it means for the war, could Russia go nuclear in response, and why state TV hasn’t been talking about it. Ukraine attacks Russian strategic bomber fleet in stunning
Repression set to tighten PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we analyze how Russia is preparing to tighten the screws on domestic critics and why a ceasefire in Ukraine would only lead to yet more repression on the home front. Russia steps up campaign against the ‘enemy within’ ahead of possible ceasefire Amid a thaw in relations
Istanbul talks: Russia’s impossible demands PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we look in detail at what Russia put on the table at the first direct peace talks with Ukraine in more than three years. We also talk a bit about our dear colleague Irina Pankratova, The Bell’s investigative correspondent who recently passed away. Russia comes to
THE BELL WEEKLY: How May 9 became a symbol of the ongoing war PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we look at Russia’s celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and how they have been hijacked by Putin’s political agenda and inextricably tied to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s Victory Day celebrations tie WW2 to attack
THE BELL WEEKLY: Can Trump bring peace to Ukraine? PRO Members Public
This week we take a detailed look at Donald Trump’s attempts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, outline what each side wants, what we’ve learnt from the various plans on the table, and how likely an end to the war might be. This is the last free
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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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