My interview for Radio Liberty about my piece on same-sex entrapment and Soviet queer history in general.

My other article is out in @kritikajournal.bsky.social. In it, I show how, after Stalin’s death, leftist queer people in the West forged and demonstrated forms of queer kinship with their counterparts in the USSR. It is a new lens on the study of Soviet queer life, moving beyond national narrative⬇️

Leverhulme Early Career Fellow @mozzgi.bsky.social @bristoluni.bsky.social talks about her recent article in this podcast. Tune in 👇 Read here: direct.mit.edu/jcws/article...

KGB, Cold War, Same-Sex Entrapment. Also available on Spotify.

I spoke at The Eurasian Knot about my piece on same-sex entrapment.

An incredible cover has landed for an incredible book - Philippa Hetherington's "Circulating Subjects: Sex Work and Migration in Russia, 1885–1935." More on how to pre-order a copy of her "riveting" and "radical" @cornellupress.bsky.social book here: www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501...

John Vassall did have diplomatic immunity when he was approached by the KGB in Moscow in 1955 and shown photos of him having sex with a Soviet man. He could have left, but he did not.

Indeed.

I have authored quite a few scholarly articles, but this was the most exciting and the most gruelling piece I have ever written. I think I left part of my soul in it when I submitted it a year ago. And my only wish is that people, regardless of their specialisation, read it.

Thank you for noticing it. For me, footnotes have never been just a technical feature but another way to complement the story with tiny details that would be superfluous in the main body.

In the story I tell, there were two Soviet homosexual men whom the KGB blackmailed into working with them under the threat of arrest for a same-sex offence. They were a couple. Read the piece to learn more direct.mit.edu/jcws/article...?

Yes, I prefer top secrets only.

This is a photo of a couple: a Soviet electrician, Tolya, and his partner, one of the Cambridge Five, Guy Burgess, in Moscow. They lived together until Burgess’s death in 1963. If you want to learn more about the KGB, the Cold War and homophobia, read my new piece. direct.mit.edu/jcws/article...

One section of the article unfolds in Kyiv. There the KGB officer was working over an American slavic scholar, showing him compromising photos and trying to persuade to cooperate. During the breaks he walked with scholar on excursions to Saint Sophia Cathedral and to the grave of Taras Shevchenko.

This is my first article on Soviet history relied exclusively on declassified American and British archives. It is also my first piece to be reviewed by five peer reviewers. The story of the Cold War, the KGB, and same-sex entrapment that no one has ever written about. direct.mit.edu/jcws/article...

#ICYMI: Dr Irina Roldugina (Russian Dept) returned to Arts Matter to tell us about a fascinating late Cold War encounter between Western queer individuals and the Soviet Union Read more 👉 brnw.ch/21wZwbk @lgbthm.bsky.social @leverhulme.ac.uk @mozzgi.bsky.social #LGBTplusHM

Did you know that the largest model of Tatlin’s Tower, the symbol of the new communist present and future, is in Norwich, UK? I didn’t. Interestingly, I learned this while attending a conference dedicated to 1917 in Norwich.

Published in the October 2025 issue! “The Recriminalization of Homosexuality under Stalin: New Sources, New Answers” Irina Roldugina *Open Access* doi.org/10.1111/russ...

I’ve submitted a few pieces for publication recently, but one stands out—it’s truly mind-blowing in terms of sources, argument, and public significance. A tough topic, but what a joy for historian to make something truly important.

I can’t help but post one more—such harmony in every detail.

Working in the Bodleian for the first time since graduation! Nothing has changed. My favourite thing, apart from the vast collection, is the scent of books and the smell of aged wood used throughout the interior. Cannot be found elsewhere.

I miss working with 18th-century Russian archival stuff.

I translated Meduza's interview with historian Irina Roldugina and cultural theorist Katerina Suverina about Soviet failures on the HIV epidemic. A real tragedy, given the advantage the USSR should have had with a healthcare philosophy more progressive than America's. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Ahead of #LGBTplusHM25 in February, Dr Irina Roldugina (Russian Dept) introduces her @leverhulme.bsky.social project which examines how open discussions of sexuality & trans experiences were in the Soviet Union during the HIV/AIDS epidemic Read more about the fascinating project 👉 bit.ly/3EfaiZU