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Published in: oDRThe rise and fall of Mikhail KhodorkovskyDoes a personal vendetta lie behind the imprisonment of Russia’s once-richest oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky? Was...
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Published in: oDRKafka’s Castle is collapsingYou can’t reason with the absurd, as IKEA found when it tried to build a model business in Russia. Institutional...
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Published in: oDRIs Russia’s judicial system reformable?In this interview for oDRussia, Prof.Alena Ledeneva talks to Oliver Carroll about the prospects for judicial reform...
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Published in: oDRTackling Russia’s legal nihilismOlga Kudeshkina made headlines in 2004 as the first Russian judge to flag up political interference in the judicial...
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Published in: oDRDedovshchina: bullying in the Russian ArmyWhile bullying (see our Soldier’s Tales) is common to all armies, the aberration that is dedovshchina in Russia’s...
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Published in: oDRA Soldier's Tale 9: changed, but not utterly dehumanised
In his final letter home from the army our conscript Tolya “finds” a mobile phone, is pursued by a mad officer and...
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Published in: oDRWomen’s day makes a lot of cents
On Women’s Day in Russia you really get to see what your price tag is
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Published in: oDROlympean blow at the Kremlin
Russian national pride has been badly dented by poor performance at the winter Olympics. It is being widely read as...
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Published in: oDRSo what do Russia’s people think?
In the first of his regular monthly reports for odRussia, Alexei Levinson of Russia’s prestigious Levada Centre...
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Published in: oDRA Soldier’s Tale 8: violence is no joke
Our conscript Tolya continues his study of violence in his airborne division of the Russian army
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Published in: oDRIKEA in Russia: Now 'Everything is Possible'...for a priceIKEA, which has publicly railed against corruption in Russia, has itself been caught paying bribes there. Could...
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Published in: oDRA Soldier’s Tale 7: Hopes dashed, business as usual!
Our conscript Tolya had such high hopes of his new posting in the elite regiment of the Russian airborne division,...
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Published in: oDRRussian Reform at a Turning Point
Much of Russian history is characterized by pendulum swings between orthodoxy and reform to overcome backwardness....
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Published in: oDRMoscow protests: Groundhog Day in Triumfalnaya SquareTanya Lokshina, Russia researcher for Human Rights Watch, attended a recent demonstration in her professional...
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Published in: oDRA Soldier's Tale 6: new beginnings? Perhaps!
Conscript Tolya has been moved again, this time to a show regiment. Life suddenly looks rather better, but is it for real?
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Published in: oDRA Soldier’s Tale (5): a new life? Not b… likely!
Our conscript, Tolya, has left basic training. He hopes that things will be different, but his hopes are soon dashed...
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Published in: oDRWinter Storm in TatarstanJobs are scarce, pension rises mediocre and the local authorities have even taken away the Christmas trees. But...
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Published in: oDRA Soldier’s Tale (4): the army paradox
Letters are a life-line for Tolya. The army’s a mysterious entity, unknowable by anyone outside it, the conscript...
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Published in: oDRIn memoriam Nastya and Stas
Anastasia Baburova and Stanislav Markelov were gunned down in a neo-Nazi contract killing a year ago. In this moving...
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Published in: oDRA soldier’s tale (3): hospital, then what?
In this third excerpt from his letters, our Russian conscript ends up in hospital, with time to reflect on what lies...
