For Russian law enforcement, informal connections with the opposition can be anything from genuine information-gathering to ticking boxes in their monthly reports.
What role can civil society play in creating the dialogue necessary to end the war in Donbas? RU
A number of Russian anti-fascists and anarchists have been tortured by the country's security services. The official investigation into this torture is yet to turn up results. Warning: graphic.
Russian rights defender Svetlana Gannushkina has been defending the rights of refugees and displaced persons for years. Here she talks about the decay of the judicial system in Russia, Chechnya and pessimism. RU
The sprawling system of Soviet camps contained many untold stories. I spoke to one of the few historians researching the experiences of gay men and lesbians in the Gulag to find out more. RU
Allegations of a cover-up and improper qualification of an organised assault on an Orthodox Church in May this year have left space for conspiracy and intrigue.
Prisoners in the so-called “People’s Republics” in Donetsk and Luhansk are facing terrible living and working conditions – and being kept beyond their sentence. RU
Russia's North Caucasus region is famed for its landscapes and nature. But as this local doctor and activist tells me, there's a lot more going on behind the scenes.
Organisers across the country have been detained ahead of Vladimir Putin's fourth inauguration as president.
While a Russian state agency attempts to close down the internet, protests in Armenia are resonating in Moscow
