Russian anti-war activists Maxim Novichkov and Ekaterina Novichkova are raising their son David, who has had a severe form of cerebral palsy since birth. In 2023, they were forced to leave Montenegro, where they were persecuted by local far-right groups for public speeches against Putin, applied for political asylum in the USA, and settled in California. Last year, an incredible story happened to them here: thanks to the intervention of a stranger, David underwent a complex neurosurgical operation free of charge at a California clinic, which in the long term gives him a chance to move independently. The Novichkovs still do not know this person's name — and for the first time decided to tell how it all happened in order to thank the people involved in their son's treatment.

#America #children #cerebralpalsy #disability #California #personalexperience #science #neurosurgery #society #robotics #UnitedStates #futuretechnologies #emigration

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After Russia’s Supreme Court declared the «international LGBT public movement» an extremist organization in 2023, queer people have had to look for new ways to protect themselves. For some women, that way has been marriage to a man: it allows them to look «like everyone else» in the eyes of others and enjoy the corresponding social privileges. But safety comes at the cost of hiding oneself and new psychological trauma. «Most» tells four such stories.

#state #lifeinRussia #queerwomen #LGBTQ #personalexperience #society #humanrights #repressionsinRussia #stigma #survivalstrategies #feminism

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On the morning of September 19, 2023, Azerbaijani troops launched an offensive against the remnants of Karabakh, where Armenians were still living. Over the next couple of weeks, almost all of them left for Armenia along the long serpentine road known as the Lachin Corridor. And like almost everything in the Karabakh conflict, this event got two names. «Ethnic cleansing», according to the Armenian side, and «voluntary resettlement», according to the Azerbaijani side. The spectacle of a hundred thousand people leaving their homes forever shocked many. But for outside audiences, the shock was short-lived. Azerbaijan managed to convince everyone so quickly that what was happening was normal and inevitable that the topic disappeared from the agenda. It was also in Russia’s interest to sweep everything under the rug so that no one would ask an awkward question. The only thing left now is to make sense of what happened and not allow propaganda myths to take root.

#Azerbaijan #Analytics #Armenia #ArmenianAzerbaijaniconflict #lifeinexile #personalexperience #NagornoKarabakh #aftertheUSSR #Russia #RubenVardanyan #ethnicconflicts

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In early September 2002, the fashionable New York restaurant Cipriani threw a party for widows who had given birth to children by their husbands killed on September 11, after their deaths. Among the 60 mothers with babies in their arms was one man: his wife gave birth a few days before the attack that killed her. There was barely any chance to have lunch properly: the little ones, who a year earlier had not yet been born, were screaming, being fussy, demanding attention. Today these children are already 25 years old. Just think. In this quarter of a century, an incredible amount has happened. But September 11 is not forgotten. I remember that day in every tiny detail.

#America #security #historicalmemory #personalexperience #society #freedom #USA #theterroristattacksofSeptember112001

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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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Artyom Prozhoga’s life followed a typical path: school, a prestigious university in Moscow, a translator’s diploma in English and Spanish. But then he suddenly founded an Eibar fan club, returned to his hometown of Kurgan—and found happiness.

#IsraelandPalestine #Spain #KurganOblast #personalexperience #millennials #loneliness #provinces #Regions #RussiaandtheWest #sanctions #socialnetwork #BasqueCountry #football

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Interest in AI companions in Russia is growing rapidly. In 2025, the number of users of such services doubled, and the average traffic quadrupled. Especially actively, people in the country communicate with virtual bots that help them cope with stress and anxiety. To understand how this works, science journalist and psychologist Denis Yakovlev created an understanding companion for himself using a neural network.

#ArtificialIntelligence #personalexperience #neuralnetworks #psychology #chatbots

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Multi-level marketing has been known in Russia since the early 1990s, when major international players like Herbalife entered the market. In the early 2000s, local equivalents emerged. The Novosibirsk-based NL stands out from competitors due to its significant reputation: some employees say they encountered aggression and manipulation, while others say this is the only company where they found understanding and a source of income. To understand this phenomenon, a Most journalist tried to infiltrate the NL sellers’ community.

#herbalife #business #women #lifeinRussia #personalexperience #Multilevelmarketing #Regions #Siberia #LaborandCapital #financialpyramids #Ethics

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The author of «The Bridge» spent the day under sirens and shelling. A personal account

#security #Israel #Iran #IranIsraelwar #personalexperience #society #Haifa #Emigration

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In the four years since the start of the Special Military Operation, military funerals in Russia have become entirely routine. Funeral brigade workers do not openly condemn the war, but their negative attitude toward what is happening becomes clear in conversation.

#WarinUkraine #lifeinRussia #everydayculture #personalexperience #MinistryofDefense #society #thefuneral #deathinRussia

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Khovanskoye Cemetery, January 27, two o'clock in the afternoon. A group of four people stands by a black minivan. They are dressed in identical black jackets and hats. Next to them, on metal trestles, is a four-sided coffin with no handles. People in work uniforms are nailing the base of the coffin. About 5 meters from the coffin—just one grave away—stand several gravediggers, ready to take the coffin in their hands and lower it into the grave. We only need to cover those 5 meters. But three out of the four people in black take turns falling, bumping the bottoms of the coffin into the grave fences. Only the fourth one managed to stay on his feet. That was me.

#WarinUkraine #lifeinRussia #everydayculture #personalexperience #Moscow #society #precariat #reportage #deathinRussia #LaborandCapital

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Exactly 60 years ago, the USSR began the trial of writers Andrei Sinyavsky and Yuli Daniel, which marked the beginning of the Soviet dissident movement. One of the prosecution witnesses at this trial was the Orientalist Sergei Khmelnitsky — the father of historian of Soviet secret services and «Most» columnist Dmitry Khmelnitsky. Dmitry himself was 12 years old at the time. A couple of years later, Dmitry learned that his father had been a secret NKVD informant, whose denunciation in the late 1940s led to the arrest and imprisonment of two of his friends. After being released during the Khrushchev Thaw, they publicly exposed Sergei Khmelnitsky, and all his close friends turned away from him. Among them was Andrei Sinyavsky. However, few people know that the famous writer himself was recruited by the NKVD at the same time as Khmelnitsky and continued to cooperate with the KGB. Dmitry tells how it all happened in his forthcoming book «Khmelnitsky, Sinyavsky, and the KGB.»

#dissidents #denunciations #interview #historicalmemory #kgb #personalexperience #thaw #SinyavskyandDaniel #repressionsintheUSSR #parentsandchildren #specialservices #France #Emigration

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I wandered through neighborhoods of new developments, trying to at least convince myself that selling such a future to living, thinking people, with a 30-year mortgage, wasn’t a crime. I honestly tried to break myself and become a successful person against my own nature. Here’s how it went—and here’s how it ended.

#lifeinRussia #mortgage #acrisis #personalexperience #violence #theproperty #newbuildings #punks #realtors #StPetersburg #Ethics

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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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Few people know about the possibility of getting a deferral from military service for registered candidates for deputy. In practice, only a handful use this method, since electoral commissions easily weed out all non-party and unaffiliated candidates using the signature barrier. However, with the right legal preparation, it is still possible to dodge the draft using election laws. A student from a Moscow university, who asked to remain anonymous, shares his successful personal experience.

#army #elections #lifeinRussia #personalexperience #politicaltechnologies #Regions #WedBageno #Students #tatarstan

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How can political émigrés who end up in American immigration jails be saved from extradition to Russia? What do FSB psychologists ask passengers on deportation flights during interrogations? And why don’t Western governments help Russian antiwar refugees? A wide-ranging conversation with Dmitry Valuev, president of the human rights organization Russian America for Democracy in Russia (RADR).

#refugees #bigtalk #WarinUkraine #state #deportation #interview #personalexperience #Bulk #opposition #rightandleft #Putin #USA #Trump #Emigration

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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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Two years ago, the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation declared the «international LGBT social movement» an extremist organization. Since then, simply having a certain sexual orientation or gender identity can be used as grounds to accuse anyone who draws the state’s attention of extremism. LGBT people are afraid to go to the police or court, even if they themselves are the victims of crimes. Here are the stories of three people who have gone through such experiences.

#state #lifeinRussia #LGBT #personalexperience #violence #intolerance #society #humanrights #thatone #repressions

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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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