Stories about Russia from November, 2022
‘I am not returning to this hell’: In the Russian North Caucasus, NGOs help victims of gender and LGBTQ+ violence to escape
NGOs in North Caucasus are buy tickets and provide other transport for people to escape violence, and assist with legal issues, housing, and medical needs. They need donations to continue.
In darkness but #withoutyou: How Moldova survives power cuts caused by Russia's bombing of Ukraine
After severe power blackouts due to the Russian bombing of Ukraine, more and more people in Moldova, even those who are considered pro-Russian, begin to look at Russia with bewilderment.
Shallow grave: Putin’s dictatorship is slowly killing Russia's main opposition leader Navalny
Putin’s main critic and the Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, has survived an assassination attempt, but now the regime is slowly killing him by harshening prison conditions.
‘Handmaid’s Tale’ author Margaret Atwood shuns Russian sanctions, ridicules travel ban
Canadian poet and writer Margaret Atwood was joined by Hollywood actor Jim Carrey in ridiculing the travel ban to Russia imposed on them in latest batch of Kremlin sanctions for Canadians.
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine unlikely to stop soon, Kazakhs rally around their language
Interestingly, it seems to be Putin’s war in Ukraine that induced many Kazakhs to embrace the Kazakh language, and, in some cases, to start learning it anew
International money transfer routes are evaporating for Russians
There are fewer and fewer ways of continuing using global financial services for Russians, both at home and abroad, and the ordinary people are those who take the hardest hit.
‘We were born in a situation of hellish urgency’: How the Russian Feminist Anti-War Resistance Movement works
This grassroots, spontaneous movement has become the largest network in Russia for anti-war propaganda and assistance to refugees deported and persecuted by the authorities.
LIVE on November 24: Disinformation and censorship in Russia
Join us on YouTube live on November 24 for a discussion exploring the convergence of Russia’s rapidly strengthening censorship infrastructure, and its use of disinformation both internally and externally.
TikToker Nekoglai was deported from Moscow to Moldova with signs of torture
The “ritual of guilt and shame” has been increasingly used by the Russian police to publicly show the “remorse” and fear of those protesting
Anti-war Russians find a new home in Turkey
It is not entirely clear how many Russians have arrived thus far to Turkey since Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
‘It is really difficult to see resistance when we don't see pictures of street protests': Interview with Belarusian activist Hanna Liubakova
Famous journalist in exile, Atlantic Council non-resident fellow and media trainer on what the country's opposition media needs to do when there are no visible protests in the dictatorship
Eight months of ‘fakes’ and ‘discreditation’: How the Kremlin’s new laws against anti-war dissent are applied online
Censorship and political repression are not new to Russia, but, in 2022, they reached new heights. Alongside new digital tools, new legislation allows the state to expedite and industrialise the repression of dissidents.
Relatives of Russian drafted soldiers weep: ‘They were abandoned, like dogs…’
Relatives testify that recently drafted soldiers do not have food or water, cannot go back from a battle through Russian block posts, and cannot refuse to go to the front.
Ukraine is not enough: An investigative report unveils Moscow's plans to take over Moldova
RISE Moldova, a group of investigative journalists, uncovers how Moscow is buying political influence in the country that borders Ukraine and thus becomes even more crucial for Russia's expansionism.
Is the European Union applying a practical visa policy on Russia? Interview with activist Almut Rochowanski
We hear a lot of Ukrainian civil society voices, but these are elite voices. For Belarusians, their revolution is still ongoing. For European foreign policy experts, the uprising is over, and it failed.
Lives, interrupted: The human cost of resistance in Belarus
Hanna Liubakova, an associated member of the Atlantic Council, journalist and media trainer, posted a Twitter thread about the most recent and most shocking cases of political prisoners in Belarus
