«I see no reason why democratic, free, independent Karelia, Ingria, Smalandia, or Amberland (even if some of these names still sound fantastical to some) couldn’t become part of the European Union or NATO in the foreseeable future,» says Ukrainian politician Oleg Magaletsky. A participant in the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Pride, in 2022 he founded the Forum of Free States Post-Russia — an international discussion platform whose participants aim for the breakup of the Russian Federation into several independent states. Most.Media publishes his conversation with Vadim Shtepa, editor-in-chief of the magazine Region.Expert.

#future #WarinUkraine #state #dictatorship #discussion #Empire #independentstate #society #aftertheUSSR #republics #Russia #freedom #Ukraine #federalism #Emigration

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In the event of a shutdown, government agencies stop receiving funding, civil servants do not get paid, and consequently, most government institutions in the country cease to operate, except for those vital to life. The last time such an event occurred was six years ago—during Donald Trump's first presidential term.

#America #BarackObama #state #DemocraticPartyoftheUnitedStates #JoeBiden #DonaldTrump #healthcare #society #rightandleft #RepublicanPartyoftheUnitedStates #insurance #finance

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Today turns 73. He intends to live—that is, to rule—until the end of his days, though it’s not yet clear whether they will be his own or yours. And if you want to drink champagne to the repose of his soul (in which, admittedly, there are doubts), you’ll have to wait another twenty or thirty years. And I’m not being ironic. I’m talking about a sensible life strategy.

#VladimirPutin #state #dictatorship #DmitryKiselev #DmitryMedvedev #YevgenyPrigogine #kgb #MargaritaSimonyan #Bulk #society #aftertheUSSR #freedom #SergeyKiriyenko #Emigration

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«Most.Media,» in collaboration with the magazine «Region.Expert,» launches a regular weekly review of events occurring in the fields of regional politics, economy, and culture. For many Russian media, as well as for free Russian-language publications outside Russia, this topic often still seems secondary and provincial. But such a snobbish-centralist approach has repeatedly failed — throughout various historical changes, Russia’s geographical borders have shifted, and many former provinces of the empire became independent countries. If we aim to look to the future, some promising trends need to be tracked and analyzed today.

#future #state #imperialism #society #opposition #aftertheUSSR #Regions #Russia #JuliaNavalnaya

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At the highest level of Russian power, there is almost no renewal. Many elite members have been waiting for a major reshuffle for over 10 years, but it still hasn’t happened.

#AlexeyMiller #Analytics #VladimirPutin #WarinUkraine #state #DmitryKozak #IgorSechin #career #MikhailFradkov #NikolayPatrushev #Russia #SergeyKiriyenko #elites

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The Ministry of Finance announced the initial budget parameters for 2026 and 2027-28, as well as changes in tax legislation that will help implement this budget. And this is a wartime budget.

#business #budget #WarinUkraine #state #minfin #Taxation #society #Russia #finance

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Dictatorships have a tendency to completely distort the phenomenon of patriotism. Natural human sympathies for the nature and culture of their country are replaced by demands for unconditional loyalty to the ruling regime. Saltykov-Shchedrin already noted this, reflecting on those who confuse the concepts of «Fatherland» and «Your Excellency.» Later, a grim Soviet joke appeared: when the state needs something from its citizens, it calls itself the «Motherland.» And always with a capital letter. Under such conditions, patriotism turns into a form of Stockholm syndrome, where hostages begin to sympathize with their captors.

#AlexeiNavalny #Belarus #state #citizenship #west #IlyaYashin #society #opposition #Patriotism #politicalprisoners #aftertheUSSR #repressions #Russia #Emigration #essay

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Following the column by commentator Tatyana Rybakova «The War Won. Why Putin Decided to ‘Squeeze’ the Economy» on «Most,» a discussion arose with economist Nikolay Kulbaka. Their conversation quickly went beyond the text’s topic. Moreover, the interlocutors decided to continue the discussion after the publication of the Russian Federation’s draft budget. For now, they debated whether a course toward Stalin-type industrialization has been taken and whether such economic policy is possible in Russia’s current realities.

#AnnaTsivileva #business #VladimirPutin #war #militaryindustrialcomplex #state #discussion #capitalism #KirillDmitriev #nationalization #society #oligarchs #redistributionofproperty #Russia #LaborandCapital #Ukraine #chaebols #elites

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Of course, technologies are not yet capable of fully replacing the charisma and intellect of a real person. Even the richest and most powerful are mortal. But what seemed like science fiction in the 20th century (cryogenically frozen «leaders,» endless organ transplants, supercomputers making state decisions) is gradually taking shape as a scientific project in the 21st century. Authoritarian immortality is now not only a metaphor but also a goal that commands significant resources.

#autocrats #immortality #biotechnology #VladimirPutin #state #dictatorship #China #Nazis #Russia #XiJinping #aging #ThirdReich #futurology

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On the walls here, you can see gigantic portraits of Putin, icons, and vinyl records of Vysotsky and Okudzhava (all in one office), lower-level employees are scolded with quotes from Pasternak and Zabolotsky, and TV host Ekaterina Andreeva gives advice on how to properly cope with the anger of superiors at a «Znanie» society lecture.

#WarinUkraine #state #women #lifeinRussia #career #Crimea #Kurskregion #mincult #patriarchy #Patriotism #aftertheUSSR #propaganda #reportage #svo #Officials

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When the state promises to leave everything necessary for life, it almost always means that the «extra» will disappear. Russia is officially moving to a filtered communication regime: mobile internet is increasingly jammed regionally, and the window to the outside is narrowed to a «white list» of approved services — banks, marketplaces, loyal social networks, and government portals. At the same time, citizens are being forced to use the state messenger MAX — a «patriotic» replacement for WhatsApp/Telegram, built without end-to-end encryption and with direct access for law enforcement agencies. This is not a set of disparate measures but a coherent architecture of digital isolation. And it is already in operation.

#state #theInternet #China #society #Russia #censorship

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Two autocrats – and Chairman Xi – talked last week in Beijing about the perception of age (at 70, still boys) and eternal life, which will soon become possible thanks to organ transplants; in any case, living to 150 is not a problem at all. However, in the Russian case, the Constitution will have to be changed once again so that the presidential terms of the current head of state are not limited to 2036 but extend much further in time. But that is definitely not a problem.

#autocracy #future #VladimirPutin #WarinUkraine #gerontocracy #state #dictatorship #longevity #lifeinRussia #conformism #society #XiJinping #Utopia #futurology #essay

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Last week, during the Eastern Economic Forum, acknowledged problems with the slowdown of the Russian economy but added that victory over inflation is more important – supposedly, it's better for the people. However, the issue is not the welfare of the citizens. The continuation of the war requires increased spending on it. And here, strict monetary policy is unavoidable. This will result in the labor of the majority of Russian citizens becoming cheaper.

#Analytics #VladimirPutin #militaryKeynesianism #WarinUkraine #GermanGref #state #monetarypolicy #lifeinRussia #society #Economy #ElviraNabiullina

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Masha Moskalyova is a girl whose fate shocked even those familiar with political repression. After the 12-year-old drew an anti-war picture at school, she endured several FSB interrogations, searches, psychological pressure, long months in a shelter, separation from her father—who was imprisoned for a couple of anti-war posts on social media—and, finally, forced emigration. We spoke with Masha about what she went through and how her life is now.

#WarinUkraine #state #interview #personalexperience #society #protests #repressions #parentsandchildren #Russia #familyandschool #Emigration

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Centuries changed, but the old pattern remained. It was not so much dangerous criminals who ended up with the executioners, but rather random people and disgraced members of the elite.

#1937 #state #dictatorship #Empire #History #worldwideisolation #monarchy #society #executionersandvictims #PetertheGreat #Putin #torture #repressions #Russia #MiddleAges #theUSSR #Stalin

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The law establishing the national messenger was signed by Putin at the end of June 2025. Since yesterday, it has been fully operational in Moscow and three other regions: schoolchildren and first-year university students are required to switch to Max.

#state #dictatorship #theInternet #China #instantmessengers #Moscow #society #Orwell #Putin #Russia #freedom #Stalin #censorship #digitalsurveillance

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Yesterday, the human rights project «No to Gulag» reported, citing its sources, about the deportation of several dozen Russians from the USA to Russia via Cairo, among whom were political asylum seekers. Anna Shumova, an activist of the American nonprofit organization Russian Seattle for Freedom, is aware of the stories of several passengers on this flight. We spoke with her.

#America #state #deportation #immigrationzone #interview #society #politicalconclusions #Putin #repressions #Russia #Trump

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The twenty-fifth anniversary of the tragedy of the nuclear submarine cruiser K-141 Kursk in the Barents Sea passed unnoticed. No memorial ceremonies, solemn speeches, monument unveilings, or film premieres. On the anniversary of the explosion on the Kursk (August 12), if one believes his official website, the head of state only spoke by phone with Kim Jong Un and held a meeting on economic issues. The censored segment of Runet got away with a few concise publications, and some authors described what happened in August 2000 as an «accident».

#Berezovsky #Beslan #WarinUkraine #state #money #west #historicalmemory #catastrophe #NTV #society #ort #Pavlovsky #politicaltechnologies #aftertheUSSR #Putin #Russia #Kursk

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Let’s imagine for a moment that by some magical means Russia managed to get all sanctions lifted without exception, annexed all the territories Putin talks about, reduced the military budget, and began living as if nothing had happened. This is exactly what a huge number of people living in Russia dream of.

#1990s #Analytics #business #WarinUkraine #state #Donbass #west #greencrossing #investments #foreignersinRussia #China #oil #parallelimport #forecast #Russia #sanctions #rawmaterialseconomy #technology #LaborandCapital #coal

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There was social art, now there is social arch; there were oligarchs and patriarchs – now there are social archs. Putinism is a neo-totalitarian power plus the social archization of the entire country. They were engineers of human souls – now they are specialists in «reverse» social engineering. But let’s leave this Zamyatinism and Orwellianism aside – everything in order.

#state #dictatorship #Dostoevsky #ideology #KonstantinBogomolov #neototalitarianism #society #Orwell #politicaltechnologies #postmodernism #Putinism #Russia #technocrats #thick

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