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Belarus has an identity crisis
After two decades of russification, the Belarusian government is rethinking its identity politics. In the last days of the Soviet Union, Belarus was the most russified of all its republics, and there...
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Can feminist art free women from patriarchy in Eastern Europe?
As post-Soviet states continue their 'conservative turn', feminist artists stand up to address gender injustice in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine. I first became acquainted with feminist art in Kyiv in...
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Happy Independence Day, Georgia!
Since 1991, Georgia has celebrated Independence Day annually on 26 May. But this national holiday only exposes the gap between elites and the people. As a rule, Georgians love to bring out the booze...
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The elephant in the room at Riga
Russia was everywhere and nowhere at the recent Eastern Partnership summit in Riga. The Eastern Partnership summit, which took place last week in Riga, confirmed the expectation that the EU would not...
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How to bid goodbye to Lenin in Ukraine
When talking about present day Ukraine and its new 'historical' laws, we need to think beyond ‘identity’ and ‘history’. During Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency, Ukraine was systematically presented with...
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Yelena Mizulina: the creation of a conservative
Today, the name Yelena Mizulina is a byword for Russian ultra-conservatism. But her ‘patriotic’ policies have a surprisingly liberal backstory.Yelena Mizulina, head of the Russian State Duma's...
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A dissident’s tale
One of the grey cardinals of modern Russian politics, Gleb Pavlovsky talks dissent, history and politics in the late-Soviet era. Born in Odessa in 1951, Gleb Pavlovsky is famed for being one of the...
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Slavery in modern Russia
Slavery flourishes in Russian regions where a weak state, low salaries, and corrupt police make it profitable. Every day hundreds of people arrive in Moscow from Russia’s regions and neighbouring...
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Ukraine’s labour reforms threaten workers' rights
The oligarchs have joined forces to railroad a new labour code that strips Ukrainian workers of their already modest rights. Neoliberal modernisation in Ukraine is nothing new. The processes and forces...
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The ‘parasite law’ in Belarus
In the Soviet Union, anyone without an official job could be charged with ‘parasitism’ and sentenced to internal exile. Now Belarus has revived the idea. на русском языкеThis year the Belarusian...
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The unlikely return of Yulia Tymoshenko
The success of post-Maidan Ukraine depends on the effectiveness of the ruling coalition. Does Yulia Tymoshenko want to join the party or spoil it? A long-time rival to Petro Poroshenko and critical...
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Book review: Mikhail Shishkin, 'Calligraphy Lesson'
‘Only art is capable of creating moments where our “unreal”, mortal time intersects with its “real” counterpart,’ says Shishkin. ‘Literature in modern Russia,’ writes historian Orlando Figes in A...
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Anarchism, Russian-style
The village of Kolionovo has a reputation for independent mindedness and upsetting the authorities. Now they’ve created their own currency - the koliony. The story of Russian farmer Mikhail Shlyapnikov...
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What Armenians are protesting (and what they’re not)
Fresh protests in Yerevan have their roots in a number of deep-rooted domestic issues in Armenian politics. But we make comparisons to other protest movements at our peril. Last night, some 6,000...
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Kadyrov and Putin: parallel lives
While Vladimir Putin has given Ramzan Kadyrov a free hand in Chechnya, the relationship between Moscow and Grozny is far more complicated than it first appears. On 3 June, a group of masked men...
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I was on a Russian nationalist hit list
In Moscow City Court, the suspected leader of a far-right terror group with links to the Kremlin stands accused of five murders. I was on their hit list. на русском языке In Moscow City Court, Ilya...
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The power of Electric Yerevan
Strong-arm tactics and cynical compromises are yet to send Yerevan's protesters home. Is this the beginning of the end for the politics of old in Armenia? On 22 June, roughly 2,000 protesters gathered...
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Russia’s last independent mayor is going down fighting
In Petrozavodsk, Karelia, the conflict between Russia’s last independent mayor and the governor has turned nasty. The political fallout could reach the Kremlin.In Russia's North West, the struggle...
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Unpaid wages halt progress at Russia’s flagship space project
The Russian government is throwing money at its new cosmodrome in the Far East. Its workers, however, have seen very little of it. Located near the Chinese border, the Vostochnyi cosmodrome was meant...
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The ‘Switzerland of Central Asia’ is not looking very Swiss
Kyrgyzstan, the ‘Switzerland of Central Asia’, has been moving closer to Russia, with perhaps predictable results. In recent years, Kyrgyzstan has been repeatedly labeled as the ‘Switzerland of Central...
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