In January 1986, the newly elected General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Mikhail Gorbachev, proposed that all countries in the world give up nuclear weapons. In 1988, in his book, he directly stated that universal human values are more important than class values. These ideas gave rise to the concept of «new thinking,» which changed much in international politics. Why didn’t these changes work, and why, forty years later, have we fallen into a historical abyss?

#DonaldTrump #europe #west #imperialism #Internationalpolitics #MikhailGorbachev #moussesilence #aftertheUSSR #Russia #USA #ColdWar

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In the winter of 1996, nearly twice as many hostages were taken in Kizlyar as in Budyonnovsk just six months earlier; in terms of sheer numbers, the terrorist attack in Dagestan remains the largest in Russian (and apparently world) history to this day. This crisis taught Russian ministers and generals that force is preferable to words, and any loss of life is better than losing face.

#1990s #BorisYeltsin #warinChechnya #Dagestan #hostagetaking #historicalmemory #Caucasus #regimentalcommanders #Russia #separatism #hillup #terrorism #FSB

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Old New Year has passed, the Christmas holidays are over, and 2026 has fully come into its own. The wild start to the new calendar stretch—Nicolás Maduro’s nighttime flight, the resurgence of piracy in the Atlantic Ocean, and blood-soaked Iran—may have pushed into the background the fact that we have now been living for four years in the largest war in Europe in the last 80 years.

#Analytics #WarinUkraine #state #europe #Zelensky #violence #society #forecasts #Putin #Russia #USA #Trump

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If you still retain Russian citizenship but are critical of its authorities, be careful using PayPal as a payment network. Be prepared for your account to be blocked overnight, with no chance to withdraw whatever funds you have left there.

#ArtificialIntelligence #personalfinancing #personalexperience #politicalrepressions #Russia #Rosfinmonitoring #Emigration

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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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First came the nighttime abduction of the friendly Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, then the boarding of two «shadow» tankers in the Atlantic, and now the announcement of «bone-crushing» sanctions that Congress had postponed all of last year. It seems incredible that less than two weeks ago, pro-government media in Russia were seriously anticipating a rapprochement between Moscow and Washington and predicting diplomatic isolation for Kyiv. The «spirit of Anchorage,» which Kremlin propaganda so eagerly inhaled last autumn, has completely dissipated by winter.

#Analytics #Venezuela #VladimirPutin #WarinUkraine #DonaldTrump #acrisis #NicolasMaduro #Russia #USA #shadowfleet

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The Ukrainian city of Sumy is located 30 km from the Russian border and 20 km from the front line. A correspondent from «Most» visited there before the New Year holidays

#WarinUkraine #lifeinUkraine #FreedomofRussiaLegion #newYear #society #celebration #reportage #Russia

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Until the early 2020s, Abbas Gallyamov was integrated into the Russian power structure: he worked as a speechwriter for Vladimir Putin when he was prime minister, as a political consultant in regional elections, and as deputy head of the administration of the president of Bashkortostan. But after the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Gallyamov left for Israel, was labeled a foreign agent by the Russian Ministry of Justice, and last year was sentenced in absentia to eight years for «discrediting the Russian army.» We spoke with Abbas about the changing world order after Trump’s election, the prospects of a Russian invasion of an EU neighbor, and how friends of Putin’s younger daughter are quietly preparing to take power into their own hands.

#AbbasGallyamov #authoritarianism #WarinUkraine #Hitler #EuropeanUnion #interview #resultsfor2025 #KaterinaTikhonova #Lithuania #Moldova #Mussolini #forecasts #Putin #Russia #Trump #WorldWarIII #futurology #Economy #Estonia

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Sociologist Lev Gudkov has been studying public attitudes in Russia since the time of Perestroika. In the late 1980s, he worked at the All-Union Center for the Study of Public Opinion, from which he left in the early 2000s along with Yuri Levada’s team. From 2006 to 2021, Gudkov headed the Levada Center—the largest independent organization conducting sociological surveys in Russia—and then became its scientific director. Both the Levada Center and Gudkov himself have been designated as foreign agents by the Russian Ministry of Justice. Drawing on years of sociological surveys of post-Soviet society and the historical experience of countries that went through fascism in the 20th century, we spoke with the renowned researcher about the most likely scenario for Russia’s future.

#future #WarinUkraine #state #degradation #democracy #dictatorship #europe #lifeintheUSSR #west #interview #LevadaCenter #society #afterPutin #forecast #reforms #Russia #socialsphere #sociology #futurology #Economy

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The fewer economic, cultural, and simply human ties between Russia and European countries, the more conflict stories there are, the easier it will be to turn toward a possible military clash. No one in Europe wants such a development, but a peaceful Russian-Ukrainian agreement as imposed by the American administration looks like a respite for the aggressor. Therefore, Europe and Ukraine need to build a new structure to deter Russia together, without wasting time.

#Analytics #security #WarinUkraine #weapons #Germany #EuropeanUnion #NATO #truce #Putin #Russia #USA #Trump #Athreat #France

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One of the main economic news stories this week for Russian citizens is the European Commission’s decision to include Russia in the list of high-risk jurisdictions. Officially, it is set to take effect at the beginning of January 2026. We speak with anti-corruption expert and founder of the NGO «Arktida,» Ilya Shumanov, about what problems to prepare for after the New Year holidays—and what his own plan is.

#bankingsystem #EuropeanUnion #west #IlyaShumanov #interview #corruption #personalexperience #moneylaundering #Russia #sanctions #finance #blacklist #Emigration

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On December 5, 1994, Ukraine signed the Budapest Memorandum with three nuclear powers who guaranteed its security and independence in exchange for giving up its stockpile of nuclear weapons. This agreement was supposed to prevent any conflict between Ukraine and Russia. But it turned out to be a useless piece of paper.

#America #BillClinton #BorisYeltsin #BudapestMemorandum #UnitedKingdom #WarinUkraine #diplomacy #west #Crimea #LeonidKuchma #MikhailGorbachev #Independence #aftertheUSSR #Russia #sovereignty #USA #Ukraine #Economy #nuclearweapons

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After Donald Trump returned to power, many Russian political emigrants found themselves facing the threat of deportation from the US. In the summer of 2025, one of them, Leonid Melekhin, was denied political asylum and deported to Perm, where he was detained right at the airport. For six months now, he has been awaiting trial in a local pre-trial detention center on criminal charges of justifying terrorism. Under Russian law, Melekhin faces two to five years in prison. To prevent more cases like this, «Most.Media» launched a petition to the US authorities in late July, which has been signed by more than 31,000 people. Among them are many political activists who, if deported from the US, face repression in Russia. We are beginning to publish their stories.

#America #state #deportation #personalexperience #Bulk #politicalrepressions #Putin #repressions #Russia #Trump #Emigration

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On Monday, the Montenegrin government approved amendments to the law on foreigners. The innovations not only significantly tighten the conditions for obtaining a residence permit but also apply even to those who have long lived in the country. In other words, the law has retroactive effect. Now the only hope is that the country's parliament will fix this.

#Balkans #business #residentcard #state #EuropeanUnion #legislation #personalexperience #theproperty #society #Russia #scandal #Turkey #Montenegro #Emigration

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«15 months of work and a thousand hours of audio recordings. The activities of a high-level criminal organization have been documented. Its members built a large-scale corruption scheme influencing strategic state-sector enterprises, particularly JSC »National Nuclear Energy Generating Company «Energoatom».« Last week, this press release from Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) about the results of Operation »Midas« was quoted worldwide. Tomorrow, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine is scheduled to vote on the dismissal of Justice Minister Herman Halushchenko and Energy Minister Svetlana Hrynchuk, who were involved in corruption schemes. Investigators from NABU also proved that a close friend of Ukraine’s president, Timur Mindich, participated in these schemes. How they managed this is explained by anti-money laundering expert and board member of Transparency International Russia, Ilya Shumanov.

#Zelensky #corruption #NABU #oligarchy #Putin #Russia #Ukraine #expertise #Yanukovych

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Moscow's persistent attempts to demonstrate the unshakable nature of its partnership with Astana are the best evidence that, in reality, many things are changing there.

#Analytics #WarinUkraine #Kazakhstan #aftertheUSSR #Putin #Russia #Tokayev #Trump #CentralAsia

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This fall, the 16-episode series «Chronicles of the Russian Revolution» by Andrei Konchalovsky was released on the Start online cinema platform. The creators of the series openly claim: all freedoms in Russia are only harmful. Which, however, is the norm for Russian historical series.

#AndreiKonchalovsky #state #dictatorship #historicalmemory #medina #society #aftertheUSSR #revolution #Russia #freedom #series #Stalin #TV #FSB

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The trial began in Paris two weeks ago, accusing 10 people of online harassment of the First Lady of France. The accused — bloggers and internet publications prone to conspiracy theories — have for years spread rumors that Brigitte Macron was born a man and underwent gender transition. Neither the fact that the woman has three children from her first marriage, nor other obvious circumstances of her life, disproving such extravagant versions from the standpoint of common sense, stopped these claims.

#MAGICIAN #Analytics #BrigitteMacron #theInternet #influencers #informationsociety #conspiracytheories #newethics #Russia #socialnetwork #USA #transphobia #France #haters

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The European Commission's decision to stop issuing Schengen multiple-entry visas to Russian citizens caused a lot of noise and once again divided the opposition. It would be good to calmly look at what happened and why. And the main question is — what happens next. Even a complete ban on Russians visiting Europe will not stop the war in Ukraine

#visas #WarinUkraine #EuropeanUnion #personalexperience #opposition #Putin #Russia #sanctions #Trump #Schengenarea

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In early November, many EU residents of Russian origin faced account blocks in the neobank Revolut. This issue affected holders of type D visas and residence permits, as well as those awaiting documents in EU countries, with Revolut citing the recently adopted 19th EU sanctions package against Russia. The anti-war Russian community Kovcheg stepped up for those affected: its founder Anastasia Burakova sent a letter to European Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Maria Luís Albuquerque and European Commissioner for Justice Michael McGrath. We spoke with Anastasia about this and other human rights initiatives of Kovcheg.

#advocacy #europe #ark #personalexperience #humanrightsprotection #Russia #sanctions #Emigration

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