Russia on the Record

This month, several senior officials in Russia's republic of Chechnya have been reshuffled or replaced. Meanwhile, strongman ruler Ramzan Kadyrov's children have been appointed to a number of government posts. Overshadowing all this are reports that Kadyrov, 47, is gravely ill, fueling rumors about his ability to rule and the future of the republic, which fought two separatist wars against Moscow in the 1990s and 2000s.

Harold Chambers, an analyst focusing on nationalism, conflict and security in the North Caucasus, joins us to explain what it all means.

This week in Russia, a man was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to trying to persuade his friend to surrender to the Ukrainian army. Cases like this are on the rise, with over 5,500 desertion cases prosecuted in Russia in 2023 alone.

Idite Lesom (Get Lost), an NGO founded in Georgia after Russia declared its "partial" mobilization in fall 2022, helps Russians escape from mobilization or from the front lines. In almost two years, Get Lost has helped over 500 conscientious objectors evade service.

Its founder, Grigory Sverdlin, formerly director of the Nochlezhka homeless aid charity, spoke to The Moscow Times about the organization's work.

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As Russia opens a new front in its invasion of Ukraine, the country has a new defense minister. Sergei Shoigu has been replaced with the economist Andrei Belousov. Who is he, and what does his appointment mean for Russia’s war machine?

This week we talked with Ruben Enikolopov, a political economist and professor at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, about what to expect from Belousov’s new role.

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This week, we spoke with Georgian experts about why the ruling party is trying to pass the "foreign influence” bill, the protests against it, and what negative consequences the country might face if it is adopted.

Feminist activist Zalina Marshenkulova joins us to discuss the Kremlin’s increasing pressure on women’s rights campaigners, the feminist movement’s influence, and her addition to Russia’s federal wanted list.

April 26 marks 38 years since Chernobyl, the world's worst nuclear disaster. In this episode, we discuss the legacy of this tragedy on modern-day Russia, how nuclear energy is used in Russia today, and its underexamined role as a Russian foreign policy tool.

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Joining us is Vladimir Slivyak, co-chair of the Russian Environmental Group Eco-Defense and winner of the 2021 Right Livelihood Award.

We discuss Russia's place in the region with Rajan Menon, director of the Grand Strategy Program at the U.S. think tank Defense Priorities, and Israeli journalist Milan Czerny.

The Russian city of Orenburg is famous for its elegant lace shawls, which are so fine they can be folded up to be so small that they can fit in a goose's egg. But the city and its surrounding regions have hit the headlines for a different reason this week, as historic flooding from the Ural River has forced thousands of people to be evacuated.

In this episode, we read out a dispatch from Orenburg by one of our reporters who went this week.

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Russia has seen a resurgence in xenophobic sentiment since the suspected gunmen in the Crocus City Hall attack were identified as Tajikistan citizens. Moscow police have established special units to carry out document checks on motorways and in migrant hostels, and police raids targeting migrants have been seen in several Russian cities. This rise in migrant-phobia and xenophobia has drawn concern from NGOs and activists defending the rights of migrants and ethnic minorities in Russia.

For this episode, we asked Alexander Verkhovsky, head of the Sova Center think tank which researches nationalism and racism in Russia, about the dangerous rise in these sentiments. We then speak with Vika Maladaeva, the co-founder of Free Buryatia and president of the Indigenous of Russia Foundation, about Russia’s problems with xenophobia.

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The attack on Crocus City Hall has become the deadliest attack in Russia’s modern history. Its repercussions for Russian society are already being felt, with a spike in xenophobic sentiment against people from Central Asia.

For this episode, we talked to Ruslan Suleymanov, an expert on Central Asia, about how the attack was possible in Moscow, despite the city’s heightened security measures.

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