Politics
Russian officials target Telegram over Moscow concert hall attack PRO Members Public
Russian officials spent the first week after 144 people were killed in the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack looking for links to Ukraine and debating how to censor the Telegram messaging app, which has long served as a substitute for state news media in Russia. Among the ideas were proposals
The opposition’s approach PRO Members Public
The Russian opposition saw its organizational structures demolished even before the war. As a result, there weren’t many options for what they could do during this contest. They adopted two main tactical approaches. * The first, backed by Alexei Navalny’s supporters, called for a significant election-day quasi-protest. Called “Noon
A background of shelling PRO Members Public
This was the first major Russian election since the invasion of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian military did all it could to overshadow polling with rocket attacks and artillery bombardments of Russian territory. Pro-Kyiv sabotage groups attempted armed raids across the border, and there was also an escalation in drone attacks.
‘Record’ victory cements Putin’s autocrat status PRO Members Public
Vladimir Putin was re-elected as Russian president. Officially it’s his fifth term in the Kremlin — although in practice it’s six if we include his stint pulling the strings as prime minister. The official results have Putin polling even higher than predicted, taking 87% of the vote. That figure
Putin’s pals eye election as springboard to power PRO Members Public
On the eve of the presidential election, a serious debate is ongoing about what changes Putin might make to his government after he inevitably secures a fifth term. The big story at the moment is where Boris Kovalchuk, the son of Putin’s old friend Yury, will end up. Kovalchuk
Russia says its final farewell to Navalny PRO Members Public
Thousands of people took to the streets to see Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny take his final journey on Friday at his funeral service and burial in Moscow. Despite fears of a widespread crackdown, the police refrained from mass arrests, even as the crowds chanted banned anti-war slogans. * Navalny, an
New Russian law robs critical independent media of income PRO Members Public
Russian authorities have found a new way to attack independent media outlets and journalists that aren’t loyal to the Kremlin, with a law that will make it illegal to pay for advertising with so-called “foreign agents” — both individuals and organizations. Advertising is an important revenue source for many Russian
Russia ignores invasion anniversary PRO Members Public
The second anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 went largely unmentioned in pro-government circles. In the Kremlin and on state propaganda channels, the occasion was largely ignored, while the Russian military chose to focus on the few modest successes its forces had achieved at the
Police raid private parties in search of “LGBT propaganda” PRO 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
Alexei Navalny’s body handed over after public outcry PRO 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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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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