Russia is now training elderly pensioners to operate drones as part of its expanding civilian drone programs tied to the war in Ukraine. A headline from inside Russia called it exactly what it is: complete absurdity. This episode unpacks what that program actually signals about the demographic and military pressures the Kremlin is facing, from mobilization waves the government refuses to call mobilization, to a pension system that already triggered nationwide protests in 2018. When a country starts handing joysticks to retired schoolteachers, it is not a heartwarming community story. It is a window into how a prolonged war consumes everything it can reach.

The second story digs into how Russian state media maintains its grip on the information environment, not by convincing everyone, but by making people uncertain enough, tired enough, or scared enough to stay quiet. The system does not need true believers. It needs a fog dense enough to disorient. But casualties are not abstract. They come home. And the gap between official figures and what Russian families are actually living is quietly corroding the architecture from the inside.

Throughout the episode, the host reflects on what it means that people inside Russia can still see the absurdity and still name it, even in a single wry headline, even in a joke to a neighbor. In a landscape designed to make clarity impossible, calling something absurd out loud is not nothing. It might be exactly the point.

This episode is for anyone trying to understand what Russia actually looks like from the inside right now, not as a monolith of true believers, but as a country full of people navigating an impossible set of trade-offs in a system designed to make the truth as hard to hold onto as possible.

May 9th in Russia — Victory Day — is the holiest date on the national calendar. But this year's holiday told two stories at once, and together they reveal exactly what the ritual has become.

The first story is about the parade itself. An analysis making the rounds this week asked why the Kremlin places such enormous importance on the May 9th ritual, and the answer is both obvious and deeply unsettling. The parade is not for the veterans, most of whom are gone now. It is not for the families still carrying grief across generations. It is for Vladimir Putin — a legitimacy machine that runs once a year to position him as the heir to the Soviet victory over fascism, and to drape the current war in Ukraine in that same heroic frame. Strip away the May 9th mythology, and the invasion has no story. No grandfather standing behind it.

The second story comes from the Caucasus — a region the host knows personally. On the same day Russia staged its most elaborate military pageant on Red Square, a drone struck Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, whose fighters have been deployed to Ukraine under the loyal and theatrical Ramzan Kadyrov. The war, in other words, was not a backdrop. It arrived at the party uninvited.

And in Stavropol, a city in southern Russia near the Caucasus, kindergarteners marched in a military parade. Five and six year olds in uniform costumes, carrying flags, performing patriotism before they are old enough to understand what they are performing — or what war actually costs.

Drones over Grozny. Children in Stavropol. A parade for one man on Red Square. That is the whole picture of what Victory Day has become: on one end of the same region, the war arriving in real and physical and dangerous form; on the other, the next generation being prepared to experience that war as glory.

The host grew up in Russia and reflects honestly on what it means to be shaped by a system that decides what you believe before you are old enough to believe anything — and what it means to watch a genuine historical grief, twenty-seven million dead, be hollowed out and weaponized in service of a 21st century land grab.

In this episode, we cover the detention of Alina Dzhikaeva, editor-in-chief of Sapa, a North Caucasus-focused outlet, and what it means for independent reporting in one of Russia's most sensitive regions.

We also look at Kremlin propagandists reacting to Viktor Orbán's party losing in Hungary, with pro-war Z-bloggers scrambling to spin the result and even blaming Donald Trump.

Then we shift to music and U.S. headlines: Massive Attack and Tom Waits have released a new song, Boots on the Ground, dedicated to the Minneapolis protests. We discuss why the release is surprising and why it carries so much meaning.

Plus, a note on the practical reality of following news from Russia: sometimes, you need a VPN just to access the original reporting.

In this episode, we examine a disturbing headline about children in southern Russia being taught war. What does the phrase “new meat” reveal about how militarized patriotism is shaping young people, and why does it matter beyond Russia’s borders?We discuss the broader ecosystem of military messaging in schools, youth organizations, camps, cadet programs, and public events, and how these experiences can normalize war for the next generation. This is a careful look at propaganda, patriotism, and the way children can be drawn into a culture of conflict.Note: This episode is based on a translated headline and context, so some specifics may be limited by translation. The goal is to understand the larger pattern and what it suggests about the direction of society.

In this episode of Refuge from Russia, Tami breaks down how fast-moving war headlines can ripple through oil markets, gas prices, and global energy security. From Trump’s decision to pause strikes on Iranian power infrastructure to Iran’s threats around the Strait of Hormuz, we look at why traders react immediately and how a five-day shift can move Brent crude, WTI, and European gas prices. The episode also explores the U.S. balancing act between sanctions and fuel costs, and why temporary policy changes can have outsized effects on global markets.

In this episode of Refuge from Russia, Tami covers two stories about public safety and accountability.In Rostov-on-Don, activist Evgeny Makovoz reportedly filed a request for a rally against internet blocks and later was visited by security officers executing a search warrant. Reports say he was beaten, suffered a concussion, and his whereabouts remain unknown. The episode also looks at broader restrictions on dissent, with many anti-blocking protest applications reportedly rejected across multiple regions.Then the focus shifts to New York, where an Air Canada plane collided with a vehicle on the runway at LaGuardia Airport after landing. While early reports suggest no major disaster, the incident raises serious questions about airport safety and ground operations.This episode examines protest rights, internet freedom, and transportation safety.

In this episode of Refuge from Russia, Tami and Praveen examine the case of Russian poets Artyom Kamardin, Egor Shtovba, and Nikolai Dayneko, whom Amnesty International has recognized as prisoners of conscience. Their alleged offense was reading anti-war poetry in public at the Vladimir Mayakovsky monument in Moscow in September 2022.The episode explains how peaceful expression was turned into a national security case under Russian laws on inciting hatred and public calls against state security. It also covers the harsh sentences imposed, allegations of torture and inhumane treatment, and Amnesty’s call to release the poets and overturn their convictions.This is a story about censorship, dissent, and the danger of criminalizing words.

In this episode of Refuge from Russia, Tami reports from the Siberian village of Kozikha, where residents say authorities suddenly blocked roads, set up checkpoints, and announced that local cattle would be killed because of a livestock disease.Families say they were left without clear paperwork or explanations, turning a disease response into a crisis of trust. One local woman, Daria, says her parents have spent 30 years raising cattle and making dairy products, and now fear there is no future left in the village.Officials say the outbreak is pasteurellosis, while some agricultural sources question whether a more serious disease could be involved. Russian authorities deny that and say the restrictions are tied to pasteurellosis and rabies.This episode explores how quickly rural anger can spread when people feel left in the dark.

In this episode, Tami connects four seemingly separate stories: a Russian deserter accused of spreading fake news after speaking about torture and battlefield losses, searches at relatives’ homes in Mallorca linked to a major Russian defense figure, a mobile internet blackout in St. Petersburg, and a political clash in Hungary over a Washington Post story involving Russian intelligence.At the center of all of them is one question: who controls information, and what happens when that control starts to slip? We break down how war, propaganda, censorship, and political pressure can turn an interview, a phone signal, or a news report into a major political event.If you’ve ever wondered how truth gets challenged in wartime and authoritarian systems, this episode explains it in plain English.

In this episode of Refuge from Russia, Tami and Praveen unpack a headline that mixes protest fears, internet control, and market anxiety. They discuss how Russia’s FSB fits into the country’s system of information suppression, why internet shutdowns are often political choices rather than technical problems, and what a falling gold price can signal about pressure in the system. The conversation looks at how governments try to stop unrest from spreading by limiting communication, and why that matters for anyone following politics, media, and financial signals in Russia.Key topics:- Protest messaging and state fear- FSB and internet shutdowns- Information control and coordination during unrest- Gold prices as a signal of broader uncertainty- Why internet blackouts are political, not accidental