Ivan the Terrible had the feared Oprichniki to keep the silence. Men in black; their insignia was a severed dog’s head (to sniff out treachery) and a broom (to sweep the traitors away). In today’s Russia, the state has other, more or less, fearsome means to keep the people from talking.
Kremlin control of the Russian media may not be absolute, though it comes pretty close, and the few independent media have to watch their backs constantly. Aleksey Levinson, Mikhail Sokolov and Zygmunt Dzieciolowski discuss the specifics of the situation in the context of the ever more authoritari
Marina Salye, who died in 2012, was the author of the 1992 Salye report revealing corruption by Vladimir Putin and his officials in St Petersburg City Hall. What happened to that report?
Most Russian TV outlets are kept under tight Kremlin control. TV Rain, an independent cable channel, has navigated many rapids in its short existence, but is nonetheless still operating. Natalya Sindeyeva describes her vision to Mumin Shakirov and Zygmunt Dzieciolowski.
How far has culture become a frontline in Russian politics, and how does it compare to earlier periods in the country's history? Introducing a new week-long CEELBAS debate on oDRussia, Artemy Troitsky, Peter Pomerantsev and Oliver Carroll discuss the nature of art, protest and the absurd.
The death of Boris Berezovsky created a storm of speculation and reminiscences in the world press. But for most Russians Berezovsky was a forgotten figure, so why the explosion of interest there too? Because it’s a classic Russian fable, thinks Zygmunt Dzieciolowski
The annual Best of Russia photography exhibition has opened in Moscow’s Winzavod Centre for Contemporary Art. Reviewing the past five years of images, Jeremy Noble was struck by how explicitly the photographic eye reflects a country in the throes of radical change.
