Politics

Police raid private parties in search of “LGBT propaganda” Members Public

After Russia’s Supreme Court outlawed the “international LGBT movement” as extremist last year, security forces and intelligence officers immediately began raiding night clubs linked to the LGBT+ community and other public events where there was the slightest hint that they had an LGBT+ connection. Now the police have stepped

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Alexei Navalny’s body handed over after public outcry Members Public

While opposition leader Alexei Navalny was alive, the authorities took every opportunity to make his life as difficult as possible. This persecution continued even after his death. Only at the last moment and after a series of public arguments and interventions did investigators hand Navalny's body over to

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Politics

Russia blocks the only anti-war candidate from running against Putin Members Public

Russia's Central Election Commission has finally blocked Boris Nadezhdin — the only anti-war campaigner to make it this far — from registering as a candidate in next month's presidential election. * Nadezhdin's campaign submitted 105,000 signatures in  support of his candidacy, giving them a possible 5%

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How Russia fell in love with Tucker Carlson Members Public

Conservative journalist Tucker Carlson’s visit to Moscow prompted an unprecedented furore among Russian propagandists. Carlson, an active supporter of Donald Trump and an enthusiastic promoter of conspiracy theories, became the first Western journalist to interview Vladimir Putin since the invasion of Ukraine. Putin told him nothing new, but the

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Authorities prepare to stop Boris Nadezhdin running for president Members Public

On Feb. 7, the Central Electoral Commission will rule on whether to allow Boris Nadezhdin, the only anti-war candidate in the mix, to run in March’s presidential election. Their decision is already becoming clear as the body claimed to have found significant flaws in the signatures backing Nadezhdin’s

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Record sentence for woman who killed pro-Russian blogger Members Public

A Russian court found Darya Trepova, 26, guilty of terrorism over the murder of pro-Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky. He was killed in a bomb blast in a St. Petersburg cafe last April. Trepova was sentenced to an unprecedented 27 years in prison — the longest jail sentence for a woman

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Russian anti-war performers under pressure abroad Members Public

Many Russian musicians and performers have left the country since the start of the invasion. While openly criticizing the war, some have managed to continue earning a living by playing venues in the United States, Europe and Asia. However, since the start of this year, some have seen travel bans

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Russian lawmakers move to confiscate property of anti-war campaigners Members Public

Russia’s parliament last week backed measures that would allow the confiscation of property and assets from political activists, independent journalists and opponents of the war. The potential new penalties do not go as far as the Soviet practice of stripping convicted dissidents of all their items and property. However,

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