But you’re all already subscribed, right?

Have Armenia and Azerbaijan made any more progress towards peace since the White House summit in August? My conversation with @zaurshiriyev.bsky.social for @ceip-politika.bsky.social covers that and more! Check it out now: youtu.be/N3TXiu7LM2s?...

Russia’s full-scale invasion spurred Ukraine to launch a diplomatic push in Africa. But three and a half years on, Kyiv’s outreach still faces an uphill battle. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

While traveling through Uzbekistan this summer, I became curious about the history of the Bukharan Jews and decided to examine how tourism is shaping what remains of the community, for my latest in @meduza.io's The Beet. 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/...

People think they know what war is. Here’s what I learned in seven years on Ukraine’s frontline

Each of Ukraine’s 20,000 stolen children are the eyewitness to a war crime. Now that they’re on the Trump administration’s radar, will it help get them back from Russia? My latest. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io

Dear readers, we urgently need your help. Without at least 15,000 regular supporters, Meduza as you know it will cease to exist. But if you come through, you know we’ll keep working for you. Please, read our full statement here: meduza.io/en/feature/2...

On July 16, Russia dropped a half-ton bomb on the main shopping center in Dobropillia. For many residents, this proved to be the last straw. @meduza.io reports on the evacuation of this frontline town against the backdrop of faltering peace talks. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Washington and Moscow keep accusing each other of “militarizing” outer space. But is international law ready for a new era of conflict in orbit? To find out, Meduza spoke with space lawyer Michelle Hanlon. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

In Opinion | “Until a couple of years ago Peter Ruzavin was a wunderkind of Russian opposition journalism,” M. Gessen writes. “Now, at 34, he is a corporal in uniform — a Ukrainian uniform. He serves with a drone unit in Kharkiv. ‘I feel lucky,’ he told me.”

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...

Many, many years ago, when I was thinking through what non-Russian Soviet world had to teach us about the shape of political power in a globalizing world, I wrote a thing. Now it's published and open access! modernismmodernity.org/forums/posts...

With Trump’s waffling act still rolling, it’s still (always) a good time to consider what constraints the White House faces when it comes to arming Ukraine, even if the Donald makes the unlikely decision to go all in. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Short-range drones are now the leading cause of civilian casualties in Ukraine, according to the UN. Meduza spoke to HRW’s Belkis Wille about how drone warfare impacts civilians in the city of Kherson and facilitates Russian war crimes. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

“When Russia says they’re ‘deporting’ someone, they’re not deporting them back to Ukraine.” My story on how Putin’s latest attempt to force Russian passports on Ukrainians paves the way for more war crimes in the occupied territories. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io

“Russia’s Africa pivot is already taking on the characteristics of a state-backed mega-project.”

Big update for The Beet: We now have our own landing page on @meduza.io! 🎉 Pay it a visit if you’re looking to subscribe to the newsletter or want to read any of our top reporting from the last year-ish. meduza.io/en/specials/...

The latest World Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders paints a grim picture around the planet, but things are especially bleak in Russia, which ranks 171st out of 180. (Ukraine scored 62nd.) meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Before the Russian authorities returned the body of 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna to Ukraine last week, several organs, including her eyes and brain, had been removed, according to a new investigation. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Ukraine has finally brought back the body of journalist Viktoria Roshchyna, which Russia failed to hand over for months after reporting her death last September. “Given the torture and the condition of her body, Roshchyna’s family requested not one, but several DNA examinations.”

As thawing U.S.-Russia relations take a turn toward the Arctic, scientific research appears to be the easiest — and least politically fraught — arena for renewed engagement. Even there, though, the two sides may be further apart than they seem. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

This is probably the longest translation I’ve ever done for @meduza.io. And it tackles a question I’ve long wanted to know the answer to: Who funds the Russian opposition — and what’s in it for them? If you’re looking for a weekend read, this is it! meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Meduza shares photos of the aftermath of Russia’s missile attack on Sumy, which killed at least 34 people, including two children. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Russian forces launched two missile strikes on the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Sunday. According to the latest figures from Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, at least 21 people were killed. At least 83 others were injured, including seven children. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Two Moscow soccer fans are now sitting in prison in Poland for papering downtown Krakow with Wagner Group ads. How did they get there? And what does it tell us about Russia’s covert operations in Europe? Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska reports for @meduza.io meduza.io/en/feature/2...

After a series of undersea cable breaches in the Baltic Sea late last year, NATO announced a new monitoring mission. Meduza boarded one of its ships to learn how the operation works — and what its encounters with Russia’s “shadow fleet” look like.

In our latest Q&A, Cold War historian Sergey Radchenko (@radchenko.bsky.social) explains why talk of a “New Yalta” between Putin and Trump misses the mark.

Russian sabotage spiked in Europe last year in an apparent bid to undermine Western support for Ukraine, according to a new @csis.org study. Is the Kremlin’s covert campaign effective? And what can the West do about it? I asked the report’s author, Seth G. Jones meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io

The destruction of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is so utterly devastating. Despite all the attempts to shut them down in Kyrgyzstan, they remained by far the most trusted source of news. Same goes for the rest of the region

Wrote up a summary of Zelensky’s interview with Fox News. I believe you can criticize Zelensky’s past and present navigation of U.S. politics, but he’s doing the absolute best he can here. meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Today was a grim, terrible day for the United States and the cause of democracy. Putin, along with other dictators around the world, can finally look at Trump with confidence and think: one of us. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Three years ago today, Russia launched its full-scale war on Ukraine. Every day, Meduza asks readers of its Russian-language site to share how the war has affected them. Here are a few of their responses, translated into English.

Riddle Russia, an excellent outlet working in exile, has lost their core grant. They're facing a possible shutdown unless they can come up with an infusion of cash to buy them time to look for new funding. A decimation of independent Russian media is happening as we speak. ridl.io/donate/

“Yes, it’s Russia’s blackmail, but it was so predictable.” My Q&A with Moldova’s former reintegration minister, Alexandru Flenchea, about Transnistria’s gas crisis, Chisinau’s response, and Moscow’s long game. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io

For many of Meduza’s journalists, 2024 marks another year spent far from their families. We asked our colleagues to share the traditions they grew up with, the ones they’ve carried forward, and the new ones they’ve discovered along the way.

"The history of feeling is the history of labels too small to contain the loves of which we are capable — varied and vigorously transfigured from one kind into another and back again." www.themarginalian.org/2024/02/28/t...

Former inmates of Belarusian prisons have recounted hellish conditions — particularly for women, who are denied basic menstrual products while behind bars. We collected first-hand accounts from women who have survived this brutal treatment.

In a bittersweet dispatch from coastal Latvia, Meduza photo editor Katya Balaban captures the country’s vanishing shore and all that’s slowly being lost to the advancing sea. My translation for the The Beet. @meduza.io meduza.io/en/feature/2...

"They live in peace against the soldiers that come to their land to kill and to die: life against death. Sometimes there is no reason for them to stay. But beyond reason, there is a dignity to resistance, which manifests the practice of peace in the midst of war." www.e-flux.com/notes/584642...

A stunningly beautiful portrait of a family’s survival through Soviet deportations and persecution. For @meduza.io’s The Beet, @sambreazeale.bsky.social tells the story of how the past has shaped Lena Wolf and her family and explores their complex relationship to home, language, and identity.

I wanted to contextualize Russia's ban on the "LGBT movement" and figure out why Putin's anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric often sounds so familiar to me as an American, so I went to the experts: historian Dan Healey, sociologist Alexander Kondakov, and political scientist Leandra Bias. meduza.io/en/episodes/...

(1/2) On the latest episode of The Naked Pravda, Meduza spoke to two experts: Olesya Vartanyan, Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for the South Caucasus region, about life near Georgia’s two breakaway regions and the prospects for peace… meduza.io/en/episodes/...

Russia’s Supreme Court has granted the Justice Ministry’s request to ban the “international LGBT movement.” Human rights advocates have warned that the ban will likely lead to an increase in harassment and persecution against LGBTQ+ people. meduza.io/en/news/2023...

Right now, Russia’s Supreme Court is considering a suit to ban the “international LGBT movement” as an “extremist organization.” The case could lead to millions of queer people being declared illegal. We asked our Russian readers to share their thoughts. (Thread) meduza.io/en/feature/2...

“…the ultimate touchstone [of friendship] is witness, the privilege of having been seen by someone and the equal privilege of being granted the sight of the essence of another…” www.themarginalian.org/2015/04/29/d...

“The authorities didn’t want him to ‘contaminate’ other prisoners with his views. And of course, knowing Vladimir, they were sort of right, because he would.” My interview with Evgenia Kara-Murza about her husband’s imprisonment and Russia’s future. meduza.io/en/feature/2... @meduza.io

A really interesting look into the challenges of preserving endangered languages in Georgia from @sashaslobodov.bsky.social for @meduza.io's The Beet! meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Evan Gershkovich turned 32 in prison yesterday. You can still write him a note using this form and my colleagues will translate it to Russian and do everything they can to deliver it to him. Send him a happy belated birthday and some words of support: meduza.io/en/feature/2...