Europe Solidaire Sans Frontières
Russian media pours scorn on Europe, but the only progressive way forward for our common continent is together
In the early 1990s Russia used to have a strong sense of belonging in Europe. This began to change: the post-Soviet shock therapy reforms were a punishing transition to a free-market (...)
Note from the editors: The problem with Russian elections is the same as the problem with elections in most advanced capitalist countries, but simply more extreme: there is nobody on the ballot to vote for. The authorities are prepared to go to great lengths–set up fake opposition parties (...)
For two decades steadily rising living standards and high rates of economic growth have served as the standard explanations for Vladimir Putin’s overwhelming support among Russian voters while a key theme of Russian state propaganda has been the championing of Putin-style “stability” (as opposed (...)
As conspiracy theories about Trump-Russian “collusion” and fatuous claims about Putin’s iron grip have dominated American headlines for the past two years, the politics of the Russian street have undergone a noticeable transformation. Despite the authorities’ best efforts, mass street protests have (...)
Portrayal of Soviet withdrawal from country distorts historical facts, claims politician
A row has broken out in Russia over a film about the Soviet Union’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, after politicians and former servicemen criticised its unflattering depiction of Red Army soldiers as (...)
The Russian authorities’ actions in as they were preparing to raise the retirement age in summer 2018 involved both a thought-out strategy and a relatively weak propaganda component. Analyzing this combination will help us to assess both the potential for a mass movement against raising the (...)
Ten years ago, Russian activist lawyer Stanislav Markelov was murdered in Moscow. This article prwsnts his recently translated reflections on power, the state and revolutionary maximalism.
Ten years ago this January, activist lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia Baburova were (...)
Ten years ago this month, activist lawyer Stanislav Markelov was murdered in Moscow. We publish his reflections on Russian society’s nostalgia for the Soviet period here for the first time in English.
Ten years ago this January, activist lawyer Stanislav Markelov and journalist Anastasia (...)
Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced a drastic reform of Russia’s pension system this June, just as the World Cup began: the retirement age would be increased from 55 to 63 for women and from 60 to 65 for men. Although President Vladimir Putin tried to stay out of the debate, the (...)
“Russia without Putin” is more than a slogan. It’s an analytical claim.
A review of Tony Wood, Russia Without Putin: Money, Power and the Myths of the New Cold War (Verso Books).
Given the hysterical climate surrounding Vladimir Putin’s power in Russia and the wider world, the publication of a (...)
The presence of Ramzan Kadyrov in the front row of the UFC’s first show in Moscow highlights a troubling link between the Chechen strongman and the world’s largest MMA promotion
On Saturday 15 September, Ramzan Kadyrov walked into Moscow’s Olimpiyskiy Stadium to watch the evening’s fights. (...)
Unrest breaks out as Google pulls YouTube ads by Putin critic Alexei Navalny
Police detained more than 800 people across Russia during protests against government plans to raise the national retirement age that have resulted in President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings slumping to a four-year (...)
Vladimir Putin has called the reform a financial necessity as Communist party leader brands move ‘cannibalistic’
Thousands of people across Russia joined protests on Sunday against government plans to raise the pension age, despite recent promises by President Vladimir Putin to soften the (...)
Russia’s intensifying neoliberal policies and the accompanying conservative rhetoric are clear evidence of the prolonged crisis facing the Putin regime.
“A strong president means a strong Russia!”. Photo: Andrey Pronin / Zuma Press / PA Images. All rights reserved.The atmosphere of Russia’s recent presidential election and Vladimir Putin’s predictable victory seemingly leaves no doubt that the current Russian regime is conservative.
The boring election was, in fact, a plebiscite in which (...)
The united front seen during the World Cup is an illusion. Putin fears the convergence of grassroots and an elite opposition
This summer, the World Cup created the illusion Russia was a well-run country with a contented population. But now the sports pageantry is over, Russians are back to the (...)
Four protesters who interrupted the final between France and Croatia sentenced to 15 days
The four protesters who barged onto the field at the World Cup final in Moscow have been sentenced to 15 days in jail.
The protesters, members of the Pussy Riot punk collective, ran onto the pitch at (...)
This article examines the bases of popular support for recently re-elected Russian president Vladimir Putin. Although this support is strenuously “cultivated” by the regime by various illicit means, it nevertheless has a genuine basis that needs to be understood by people on the left who are (...)
On March 3rd, 2018, the main pre-election rally for Vladimir Putin took place at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow. Tens of thousands of public sector workers were brought in from various regions of the country and were expected to listen to the President’s speech as well as those of actors and (...)
The collapse of the Soviet Union ushered in a revolution of the intimate. this article discussed the trajectories of emotional socialism and emotional capitalism in the post-Soviet context.
In the mid-1990s, I observed Russia’s transition to “emotional capitalism” — a value system based on (...)
An interview with left activist and historian Ilya Budraitskis, on dissent, politics left and right, and the “patriotic majority” in Russia today.
How would you describe the ideology of the ruling regime in contemporary Russia? On what values rests that which some call “Putinism”? What is behind (...)
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