European Commission spokesperson Arianna Podesta said that it depends on the citizens of Russia themselves whether they will have a government that supports the war against Ukraine or not. She said this in response to a question from «Vot Tak» about Yulia Navalnaya’s comment after the EU decision to lift sanctions on Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman.

#Azerbaijan #VladimirPutin #WarinUkraine #EuropeanCommission #EuropeanUnion #society #protests

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«The Battle of Algiers» has been considered the most influential political film for 60 years now. The resonance after the release of this film, shot in the traditions of Italian neorealism, sparked a wave of decolonial movements in different countries. Gillo Pontecorvo’s film with Ennio Morricone’s soundtrack is included in rankings of the greatest cinema of all time, and the methods of underground struggle are still used by activists around the world, including Russia.

#20thcentury #decoloniality #GilloPontecorvo #Italy #Italianneorealism #movie #leftandright #protests #revolution #France #EnnioMorricone

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August 19-21, 1991, with each passing year, become an increasingly mythologized distant past. The current authorities generally prefer not to recall them at all, even though many of their representatives would never have reached their current heights without those historic days. A whole generation has already grown up that simply does not remember. And those who do remember are increasingly critical of these events. They say, well, what was achieved? Was it worth it? Believe me – it was.

#1991 #Augustputsch #gkchp #Gorbachev #democracy #Yeltsin #History #personalexperience #society #aftertheUSSR #protests #revolution #Russia

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The opening of Europe’s main contemporary art exhibition this year was accompanied by noisy protest actions. But the Biennale will run through the end of November, and there is certainly plenty to see here besides the closed doors of the notoriously scandalous Russian pavilion.

#VeniceBiennale #Venice #WarinUkraine #europe #conflicts #protests #sentimentaltravel #art

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Forty years ago, the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. Belarus, which bore the brunt of the disaster, still lives with its consequences. Over the years, the annual «Chernobyl Way» rally has transformed from a mournful procession into a form of civic protest: first against the suppression of the truth, then against the construction of a new nuclear plant, and now — against a system where people's voices mean nothing.

#nuclearenergy #Belarus #catastrophe #Lithuania #society #protests #reportage #ChernobylNuclearPowerPlant #Emigration #nuclearexplosion

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Last week, few people remembered Vladimir Ulyanov’s (Lenin’s) birthday. Among those who did mark the date was the Turgenev Library in Paris: on April 22, the complete 55-volume collected works of the leader of the Russian Revolution were ceremoniously carried out from its shelves. In the past 30 years, not a single reader of the Turgenev Library had requested Lenin’s works—so the staff of the oldest Russian émigré library decided to bid a cheerful farewell to the Soviet past, making room for new books. Parisian supporters of Lenin tried to intervene in the process.

#Twoleggedbelt #europe #historicalmemory #lenin #society #Paris #aftertheUSSR #protests #reportage #Russia #TheTurgenevLibraryinParis #Emigration

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There should be only one entry point for consumers — Russian Post. All private marketplaces will also have to operate through it, and, according to the government's logic, they'll even have to pay for the privilege.

#Analytics #business #state #delivery #theInternet #communication #acrisis #mail #protests #Russia

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For the second week, Siberian farmers have been protesting against the destruction of animals on their farms. Despite public outrage, the slaughter continues and is now spreading to other regions. Slaughter teams arrive with the police, officials read out orders about a «dangerous disease» — but never say which one, and run away from farmers. Conspiracy theories are multiplying across the country.

#veterinarycontrol #state #animaldisease #conspiracytheories #associations #cattle #Miratorg #protests #Russia #Agriculture #scandal #Farmers

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Unprecedented mass anti-government protests continue in Iran—something never before seen in the history of the Islamic Republic. While Donald Trump makes vague promises to help the protesters and progressive Western public opinion remains silent, the number of Iranians killed by the regime may already be in the hundreds. Reliable information about the situation in the country is scarce: in Iran, it’s «tradition» to shut down the internet in such cases. Iran expert, Telegram channel author, and writer of «All Iran» Nikita Smagin (the Russian Ministry of Justice considers him a foreign agent) explains why the Islamic Revolution has erupted in mass protest, what the ayatollahs fear, and what lessons the Kremlin might draw from the situation in this eastern country.

#bigtalk #state #dictatorship #interview #Iran #IslamicRevolutionof1979 #NikitaSmagin #society #Internetshutdown #protests #repressions #Russia #sanctions #USA #Khamenei #censorship

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She was imprisoned for her beliefs, refused to perform in the USSR in solidarity with dissident Natalia Gorbanevskaya, donated most of her earnings to charity, sang Bob Dylan's songs better than he did himself, and this year plans a farewell tour with him.

#1960s #America #BobDylan #JoanBaez #dictatorship #culturalhero #leftandright #music #NataliaGorbanevskaya #politicalactivism #humanrights #protests #theUSSR #feminism #folkrock #hippie

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The new prime minister of the country, appointed by President Emmanuel Macron, suddenly turned out to be the very same person who resigned from the same position three days before the appointment.

#Analytics #democracy #pensionreform #governmentcrisis #rightandleft #protests #France #EmmanuelMacron

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The sad path of Venezuela: it could have been the American Qatar, but became a country-run criminal organization.

#Venezuela #state #dictatorship #History #cartels #LatinAmerica #drugs #neoliberalism #NicolasMaduro #society #crime #protests #rawmaterialseconomy #HugoChavez #benevolentreforms

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In September 2025, protesters from Nepal unexpectedly became the heroes of the global media. The ruling coalition of Marxist-Leninists, social democrats, and their allies attempted to block social networks, which sparked the «Generation Z Revolution.» Within days, the cabinet fell, and the interim prime minister — former Supreme Court judge Sushila Karki, the first woman in her position — was elected by protest activists in a Discord chat group.

#Asia #CivilWar #History #monarchy #Nepal #rightandleft #protests

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It's hard to believe that Vladimir Solovyov was once a respected journalist known for being a courageous interlocutor. Today, he is one of the main mouthpieces of the war that Russia unleashed in Ukraine. At one time, I personally witnessed and, to some extent, was a victim of this metamorphosis.

#PussyRiot #VladimirSolovyov #WarinUkraine #ideology #personalexperience #propaganda #propagandist #protests #Putinism #Russia #PussyRiottrial #TV

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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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Today, many representatives of national-regional movements in political exile have a clear disappointment in the Russian federal project, since it has repeatedly (both after 1918 and after 1991) led only to yet another revival of a centralist empire. Therefore, they find no common ground even with the new liberal opposition, which in its dreams of a beautiful future Russia sometimes oddly repeats Kremlin unitarist ideas.

#future #decoloniality #Yeltsin #Empire #History #nation #society #aftertheUSSR #protests #Putin #republics #Russia #federalism #language

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Since early 2022, thousands of opponents of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have tried to seek asylum in the US — only to face tightening immigration policies. With Donald Trump’s return to the presidency, those who hadn’t secured legal status in previous years found themselves in direct danger. Since early 2025, US authorities have deported two activists to Russia — Vladimir Mashinin and Leonid Melekhin. The first managed to escape; the second was placed in pre-trial detention last week for two months due to anti-war statements made in previous years. Julia Nikolaeva, a US immigration lawyer of Russian origin practicing in San Francisco for 15 years, confirms that the situation for asylum seekers in the States has significantly worsened, as has the overall attitude of authorities toward foreigners. We spoke with her about this.

#America #deportation #dictatorship #DonaldTrump #interview #personalexperience #society #petition #politicalasylum #protests #repressions #Russia #USA #Emigration

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«There is no crime I wouldn’t commit to realize myself,» Valery Gergiev liked to repeat the words of his idol, Herbert von Karajan. But the renowned German conductor, who became the face of the Third Reich for self-realization, never stooped to shoddy work. That can no longer be said about Gergiev.

#zpatriotism #BolshoiTheatre #ValeryGergiev #WarinUkraine #HerbertvonKarajan #dictatorship #Canada #classicalmusic #Latvia #MariinskyTheatre #Netherlands #propaganda #protests #Putin #SergeyNovikov #SergeiProkofiev #Ukraine #JuliaNavalnaya

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In Russia, they are preparing to punish people for searching for uncensored materials on the internet — including using VPNs. For Belarusian citizens, this has long been an everyday reality: for several years they have lived under a ban on access to independent information. In an interview with «Most,» Belarusian political scientist Artem Shraybman explains the difference between Russian and Belarusian censorship and what lessons from Belarusian digital resistance can be applied in Russia. He also discusses how the Lukashenko regime is evolving, what is happening with emigration, what to expect for political prisoners (including Maria Kolesnikova), and how the release of Sergey Tikhanovsky affects the Belarusian opposition in exile.

#AlexanderLukashenko #Belarus #Belarusianopposition #foreignpolicy #dictatorship #interview #KeithKellogg #personalitycult #MariaKolesnikova #massemigration #Minsk #independentmedia #politicalrepressions #protests #Russia #SergeiTikhanovsky #securityforces #censorship

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