After four years full-time at @meduza.io, I'm moving on. I'll still be in Riga, where I'm taking over as editor of Novaya Gazeta Europe’s international edition. Send your pitches my way, or reach out if you're interested in translating. I'm also available for freelance work.

Hello Bluesky! In the interest of being able to afford to go everywhere and see every bird and eat every thing, I am announcing that I am available for freelance editing/research/writing jobs. Have done developmental editing of fiction, copy editing for curriculum development and government grants,

Big story coming out of Kyrgyzstan: President Japarov just dismissed his second-in-command Kamchybek Tashiev from his position as head of the country’s security services The two had been effectively ruling in tandem since Japarov came to power in 2021 www.azattyqasia.org/a/33674147.h...

“This disruption to NATO is the greatest gift Trump has offered Putin so far,” Russia expert Keir Giles said. A Russian political scientist said Europe is now stuck between “one military aggressor on the eastern border and another aggressor on the western side.” meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Last summer, an exiled Russian journalist friend reflected to me that his country had felt totally “normal” until it didn’t, and that “meat-grinder operation” had been a term from the early 20th c - until suddenly it was part of daily life. Then he said, “Trump will start a war.”

Venezuela looks like a defeat for Moscow, but is it actually a gift to Putin’s worldview? The Naked Pravda asked political scientist Seva Gunitsky and Russian oil-industry expert Craig Kennedy about "spheres of influence" and Moscow's money problems. meduza.io/en/episodes/...

The 20-point peace plan under negotiation left me with a nagging question — how would it impact the millions of Ukrainians living under Russian occupation? Big thanks to @karolinahird.bsky.social for helping me unpack this complex humanitarian issue. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io

putin doesn't seem to be doing too well -- so what can he get from Trump's ongoing destruction of Nato and the liberal order? I had a good conversation with Sam Breazeale from Meduza: meduza.io/en/episodes/...

This week's Naked Pravda is out. My colleague @sambreazeale.bsky.social put some excellent questions to @seva.bsky.social and Craig Kennedy about this whole Venezuela business. I really enjoyed this episode; if you're like me, or if you like the podcast but hate my voice, you will too.

I couldn’t be prouder of the reporting The Beet has produced. That’s why I’m sorry to say that the newsletter will be pausing publication. Read my letter to subscribers here: mailchi.mp/meduza.io/le...

What made the Maidan a revolution? Meduza talks to historian @marcishore.bsky.social about Ukraine’s “existential transformation” and the “systemic nihilism” of Russia’s war. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Excellent episode here from @sambreazeale.bsky.social 👇

western interference in us democracy must be stopped

Putin’s war reshaped Russia’s elite, making them fear peace most of all. On the latest Naked Pravda, Meduza’s @eilishhart.bsky.social talks with journalist @faridaily.bsky.social about the pressure, the paranoia, and what a post-war future could unleash. meduza.io/en/episodes/...

Hard to keep up with the absurd news coming out of Kyrgyzstan. Tashiev, the head of national security, just unilaterally banned cafes and restaurants from being open past 10pm. Anyone who doesn’t respect these quiet hours will have their electricity cut off kaktus.media/doc/535201_p...

For today's newsletter, I reviewed the Russians sentenced to years in prison for "illegal speech" acknowledging the Russian military's atrocities in Bucha and other parts of Ukraine — contrary to claims by a certain former Estonian president. meduza.io/en/brief/202...

As of August 2025, more than 1,700 people in Russia were behind bars on political charges. A new volunteer initiative lets them study subjects of their choice with experienced teachers — via snail mail. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

For any followers in NYC: Zere, one of Kyrgyzstan’s most talented musicians, will be performing at Ibeam Brooklyn on November 19 at 09:30pm Don’t miss out on a chance to see her live! www.instagram.com/p/DQ8ztCvCFt...

Latvia has the highest femicide rate in Europe — ranking above Russia. Its parliament just voted to exit a treaty protecting women from violence. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

A Bishkek court has just ruled that two of the countries most influential independent news sites Kloop and Temirov Live (both in exile abroad) are extremist organizations. This means that liking or reposting their content may be deemed a criminal act in Kyrgyzstan kloop.kg/blog/2025/10...

“Everyone understands that if Ukraine comes under Russian domination, or is even absorbed into a kind of reconstituted Russian empire, then we have a challenge that is so much larger,” a senior NATO official told Meduza in Brussels this week. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Reporting from Bukhara, journalist @sashaslobodov.bsky.social explores how tourism and the diaspora sustain the last vestiges of Uzbekistan’s Jewish heritage. The Beet’s latest. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

New podcast alert! For The Naked Pravda, researcher @msnegovaya.bsky.social breaks down the rising costs straining the Kremlin’s war machine — and explores four possible scenarios for the Russia–Ukraine war’s next chapter. meduza.io/en/episodes/...

More than 1800 detainees are missing after the closure of Alligator Alcatraz. Their families and lawyers can’t find them and they’ve vanished from the ICE database. Feels like this should be a much bigger story www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...

Russians say the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel’s show feels familiar. Here’s what became of the country’s TV comedy shows that dared to criticize the Putin administration. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

You may have noticed that many of our stories simply say “Meduza” in the byline. That's a safety precaution, as any cooperation with our newsroom is against the law in Russia. But we'd still like you to know the people who work here. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Any English speakers in Bishkek who’d be interested in informal language exchange/English practice with some local journalists?

Ukraine has verified Russia’s deportation of nearly 20,000 children from occupied territories. Can the Trump administration help get them back? meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Just in case you like in-depth analytical angle on Russia, think about donating to ridl.io ridl.io/donate/

Any English speakers in Bishkek who’d be interested in informal language exchange/English practice with some local journalists?

[email protected] calls for immediate support, otherwise they are going to crash. I got to say - they are the best independent Russian media that does extensive coverage of everything that you need to know about Russia. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

In 2004, my family moved back to Russia from Alaska, where we lived back then. Putin was supposed to visit the school I attended in St.Petersburg, but never showed. I spent hours locked in a classroom because I had long hair and according to the principal would be an “embarrassment” in public

The draft media law has been in the works since 2022 and has been criticized by journalists, civil society, and human rights organizations from the outset.

It’s long been too dangerous for our readers in Russia to support us financially. Luckily, we have more than 3 million readers abroad — but only 2 of every 1,000 donate monthly. Unless that changes, we won’t last much longer. meduza.io/en/short/202...

Born in Philadelphia, Telo Tulku Rinpoche was sent to a monastery in India at age seven. At 19, he was chosen to revive Buddhism in Russia’s Kalmykia. He spent 30 years doing just that — then denounced the war in Ukraine. Now he can’t return to Russia. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

You’ve heard of the Chicago Pope — now meet the Philly Lama. I spoke to someone I’d been wanting to interview for years: Telo Tulku Rinpoche, who served as the head of Buddhists in Russia’s Kalmykia for decades until he denounced the war in 2022. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

My conversation with political analyst Balazs Jarabik about Zelensky’s anti-corruption reversal and the return of politics in wartime Ukraine. Check it out before the new bill goes to the Rada floor tomorrow! meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io

My summary of the story of a very, very American family

Former Kursk Governor Roman Starovoit, who was dismissed by Putin *earlier today* as Russia’s transport minister, has reportedly been found dead in his home in an apparent suicide. meduza.io/en/news/2025...

“When Alexei Navalny died, I thought, that’ll probably be me soon…And then something changed. It was clear that someone at the top said, ’Make sure he doesn’t die here. We don’t need that problem.’” Siarhei Tsikhanouski’s first interview after 5 years in prison in Belarus. apnews.com/article/bela...

very rare that an update from Gaza is good to hear — but WCK’s tenacious commitment to its kitchens there is that rarity I just donated again to support their work and hope you can & will too

Okay, that’s why.

My report from NATO def ministers’ last meeting in Brussels before the alliance’s annual summit later this month

“And then I’d sit in on yet another [online] safety training for journalists, listening to exiles telling me how important it is to ‘follow safety protocols’ — and it would drive me up the wall.” More invaluable reporting from my colleague Lilia Yapparova: meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Russian independent newsrooms in exile have been essential for our understanding of the Kremlin's crackdown on civil society in Russia: A lot of what we know about the closed-door trial of four journalists in Moscow is thanks to the excellent Mediazona: zona.media/online/2025/...

Russia has sentenced four journalists to 5.5 years in prison, including past Reuters and AP contributors, on charges of participating in an “extremist organization” for their alleged ties to Navalny’s organization. The trial was held behind closed doors. meduza.io/en/news/2025...

Kyrgyz human rights defender Rita Karasartova, who was imprisoned for months in 2022–2023 on bogus charges in the Kempir-Abad case, just had her home raided again and was taken in by law enforcement, according to her daughter Kasiet

NEW: Journalist Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska tells the story of how posting Wagner Group ads in Poland landed two Russian citizens in prison — and what their case revealed about the Kremlin’s covert operations in Europe.

Kseniia Petrova, a Harvard scientist who fled Russia after protesting its invasion of Ukraine, has been captive to the hard-line immigration policies of the Trump administration for nearly eight weeks. She fears arrest if she is deported.

For a close-up look at NATO’s mission to safeguard undersea infrastructure in the Baltic, I spent a day aboard a French Navy frigate. I also spoke to experts @katjabego.bsky.social, @keirgiles.bsky.social, @olivierschmitt.bsky.social, and Lukas Milevski about the value of such an operation.