Russia on the Record

Amid Russia's isolation from the Western world, Central Asia remains one of the few places where President Vladimir Putin continues to travel regularly. The leaders of these countries are some of the few with whom the Russian president still seems to find common ground. In this episode, we look at how Moscow’s relations with each of the countries in this region are developing, how the war in Ukrai...

The Soviet Union was the first country in the world to allow abortion. Until this year, modern Russia has had some of the world’s most liberal abortion legislation. But in recent months, several Russian regions have pursued anti-abortion policies ranging from outlawing the so-called act of “coercing women” into having an abortion — which could also be interpreted as banning any information about s...

Street artist Philippenzo , or Philipp Kozlov, has used his political graffiti to oppose the war in Ukraine. He was arrested at a Moscow airport this summer, and in October, he was added to the wanted list on criminal charges. His example shows how Russian authorities are closely monitoring contemporary artists, leaving them with two main choices: to emigrate or to silence their views on the war....

This week, Russia’s North Caucasus made global headlines when an anti-Israeli riot broke out in Dagestan. Another recent story from this region that has been widely discussed in the Russian media is that of Marina Yandieva, 28, from the republic of Ingushetia, who fled her home after years of domestic violence. To help her escape, Magomed Alamov, a Chechen lawyer working with the human rights orga...

In the nearly two years since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a common criticism of Russians by outside observers has been that they largely continue to live their lives as if nothing serious is happening. In this episode, we take a closer look at how Russians are living amid the war. We speak with residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg who share how their lives have been changed by the war...

Russia, one of the world's top emitters of greenhouse gases, is already feeling the impacts of climate change. But compared to Western countries, where concerns about the climate crisis are widespread, this topic is nearly invisible in Russian media, politics and education. In this episode, we decided to find out how Russian society views climate change and the factors that cause many Russians to...

The latest hostilities in the decades-long Israel-Palestine conflict have dominated news headlines and overshadowed the war in Ukraine. In Russia, the conflict is also at the center of attention. State propaganda has criticized the actions of the Israeli authorities, blamed the United States for failing to secure peace and mocked Russians who moved to Israel in opposition to the invasion of Ukrain...

For decades, Russia has been an important political player in the South Caucasus and was perceived as a mediator between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. However, after the Nagorno-Karabakh war of 2020, Armenia began to lose faith in Russia as an ally and protector. With the latest Azerbaijani escalation and the dissolution of Nagorno-Karabakh's Armenian separat...

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, a small fraction of independent foreign journalists in Russia have stayed there to continue reporting on what is happening on the ground. Faced with both administrative difficulties and editorial pressure,  their work becomes more dangerous every day, especially after the arrest of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. This year, Russia has refused t...

Over the past year, Russia has managed to withstand unprecedented Western sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine. Part of this success has been the war itself — increased military spending has helped boost the economy, as Moscow produces more tanks, missiles, guns and ammo. But how sustainable is the militarization of Russia’s economy? In this episode, we are joined by business and economics repor...

Russia on the Record is a new podcast from The Moscow Times where we reflect, analyze and explain what’s going on in Russia right now. In this week’s episode, we discuss Russia’s regional and local elections — and how they have unofficially kicked off a new election cycle that will culminate with the presidential elections next March. While President Vladimir Putin has said he will not announce hi...