Latest News in Desk Russie
Provides an informed view of today's Russian reality through analyses, decipherments and original information often from first hand, but also debates and positions Every week we wrap up the must-reads from our coverage of the Ukraine war, from news and features to analysis, visual guides and opinion
Russians spend substantial amounts of time watching television news. The content of these programs offers a window into how people Europe's energy costs skyrocket, Russia is burning off large amounts of natural gas, according to analysis shared with BBC News
Would Brussels Fall for Russia’s Trick of Obfuscated Political Reality in Georgia?
While Europeans saw the failure of the attempt to depose the Georgian president as “a victory for Georgia's European future”, Jaba Devdariani shows, with facts to back it up, that it was in fact a maneuver by the Georgian government to conceal an otherwise serious affair of collusion by the ruling Georgian Dream party with the FSB.
Read More 14 November 2023 | 5:00 amUkraine’s War and Challenges of Decolonization
Why western “political realists” are wrong about the nature of the Russian-Ukrainian war which is in fact a “culture war”, and is all about history and identity. In fact, this war has shaken the academic world, writes one of the best Ukrainian political analysts, Mykola Riabchuk.
Read More 14 November 2023 | 5:00 amWhy the Anti-jewish Riots in the North Caucasus?
The pogrom at Makhachkala airport in Dagestan (southern Russia) took the world by surprise. How should we interpret this event? Was it spontaneous, or did the Russian authorities manipulate it to send messages to the West and Israel?
Read More 1 November 2023 | 5:00 amWhy Putin Chooses Chaos
On October 5, 2023, Vladimir Putin delivered a lengthy speech to the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club. Françoise Thom analyzes this speech, which unambiguously sets out the Kremlin's global aspirations, and identifies its main ingredients.
Read More 20 October 2023 | 4:00 amThe Second Front
Historian Françoise Thom says, Russia barely gave in on its original plan to settle a pro-Russian government in Kyiv.
Read More 6 September 2023 | 4:00 amWhen Russia “helps” Africa
The African summit in St. Petersburg was not a great success. But Vladimir Putin was able to harangue to his heart's content.
Read More 3 August 2023 | 4:00 am
Confusion in the Kremlin
Since the Prigozhin mutiny, confusion reigns at the top of the Russian state and among the population: the head of Wagner, sometimes accused, sometimes pardoned, negotiating with Putin, keeping his money and leaving for Belarus to reconstitute his private army
Read More 30 July 2023 | 4:00 amRussia: the end of Consensus
According to historian Françoise Thom, the almost monolithic appearance of Putin's system is no cause for complacency. The policy of breaking away from Europe lies at the heart of the rift between two groups of the elite.
Read More 27 July 2023 | 4:00 amThe war Against Ukraine Exposes the Shortcomings of International Humanitarian law: Together we can Remedy Them
Mikhail Savva, an expert with the Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine), calls for the reform of international humanitarian law in view of the behavior of the Russian authorities. In his view, existing mechanisms are not sufficient to force Russia to comply with international conventions.
Read More 27 July 2023 | 4:00 amThe Russian Lobby in the United States
In this in-depth investigation, historian Laurence Saint-Gilles sketches the contours of the Russian lobby in the United States and examines the conditions that have enabled it to penetrate deeply into American society and politics.
Read More 26 July 2023 | 4:00 amThey Made Putinism: Mikhail Lesin (1958-2015) from Russia Today to Hollywood
Dubbed by some as “the number one enemy of Russian independent media”, Mikhail Lessin was instrumental in reshaping the media landscape after Vladimir Putin became president. And he’s buried in Hollywood. The fifth part of the serial of the historian Cécile Vaissié.
Read More 17 July 2023 | 7:11 pmA Feigned Innocence
Our cartoonist tackles the destruction of the Kakhovka dam by the Russians, while the Putin regime continues to claim, falsely, its innocence. Like so many times already...
Read More 17 July 2023 | 7:10 pmThey Made Putinism: Alfred Koch, the man of Privatizations and NTV
The historian Cécile Vaissié offers *Desk Russie* the fourth part of her soap opera. If Alfred Koch is quite universally hated in Russia, it is above all because he is associated with the privatizations of the 1990s. Less so because he, *“like the shark of capitalism”*, contributed to the suffocation of the media under Putin.
Read More 17 July 2023 | 7:10 pmWild Geese
Drones descend on the Kremlin, Russian rebels attack Belgorod, Russian positions are attacked in Ukraine, but Vladimir Putin and his entourage continue to show their faith in the final victory.
Read More 17 July 2023 | 1:00 pmRelated News Feed
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More Information Latest News in Desk Russie
Provides an informed view of today's Russian reality through analyses, decipherments and original information often from first hand, but also debates and positions
Why is Russia burning off gas?
Supply was cut off for 10 days in July while the pipeline was undergoing annual maintenance, and while it has since resumed, the gas flow is running at a fifth of its capacity. Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled energy company, has cited faulty or delayed equipment as the main reason behind this
A newly launched Russian spy satellite may be tasked with stalking one of its American counterparts. The Russian satellite, known as Kosmos 2558 (opens in new tab), was rumored to be an "inspector" craft even before it lifted off on Monday
What is the main news source in Russia?
television
Main sources of news in Russia 2022
For over 60 percent of Russians, television was the primary source of national and international news in June 2022. Social media were the second most popular channel, as 39 percent of survey participants mostly got news from there