Cristian Nitoiu, London School of Economics and Political Science
Putin is superficially more popular than ever, but his extravagantly militaristic policy and Russia’s economic isolation mean he’s walking a tightrope.
Will Russian science return to the bad old days of Stalin?
Reuters photographer
Loren Graham, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Some Russians are looking back admiringly to a tyrannical scientist from Stalinist times – and using the new field of epigenetics to bolster their case.
Cristian Nitoiu, London School of Economics and Political Science
Vladimir Putin burned a lot of bridges in Ukraine, so he’s finding new sources of international support wherever he can.
Vladimir Putin appears on the Kremlin-backed news network Russia Today. The multi-platform channel has already garnered more than 2 billion views on YouTube, making it the most-watched news network on the video-sharing website.
Kremlin.ru/Wikimedia Commons
As tensions run high over Russia’s gas supplies to the Ukraine, and by extension parts of Europe, the reality for the EU is less than perfect: it will need Russian gas for the foreseeable future.
North Korean Workers’ Party Secretary Choe Ryong-hae in Moscow in November.
EPA
After all night talks in the Belarusian capital Minsk, the outcomes of the four party talks in the so-called Normandy format (Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany) have neither brought a major breakthrough…
When once Moscow and Beijing had much in common, now they may be diverging again.
Toa55
This week our series on Russia’s relations with its neighbours reaches China, Moscow’s one-time great communist rival with whom it found much in common in the opening years of the 21st century. Neil Munro…
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande are in Kiev to discuss a peace plan.
EPA/Roman Pilipey
Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande’s push for peace in Moscow has helped fuel optimism about the prospects for Russia’s spluttering economy. On the morning of the meeting, the rouble had strengthened…
Vladimir Putin with Mongolia president Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj in Ulaanbaataar in 2014.
EPA
This latest part of our series on Russia’s relations with its neighbours focuses on the huge empty land of Mongolia, Moscow’s original Soviet satellite state in the 1920s. These days it sits on the verge…
Putin is taking control of the Russian economy.
Sergei Ilnitsky
The Russian rouble started 2015 in much the same way it finished 2014: badly. After losing nearly 50% of its dollar value between July and the end of the year, the rouble lost a further 7% in January…