Putin and his cronies, as well as Biden and an array of Kremlin foes and the odd pop singer, make up most discussion on Russia’s social media sites.
Foregone conclusion: a Russian soldier casts his vote at a polling station in a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, March 2024.
Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP
Vladimir Putin faces token opposition in the polls this weekend after his regime has viciously cracked down on opposition figures. He’s likely to be even more repressive in his next term.
Vladimir Putin isn’t waving goodbye just yet.
Pavel Bednyakov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images
While Putin is all but guaranteed to win, war fatigue, electoral engineering and extreme risk-aversion suggest that the Kremlin is anxious to get these elections over and done with.
A makeshift memorial in honour of Alexei Navalny at the monument to the victims of political repression in Saint Petersburg on 16 February 2024.
Olga Maltseva/AFP
Most of Vladimir Putin’s opponents are either dead, in jail or in exile. But it might just be ordinary people who can take over the battle for democracy in Russia.
Donald Trump says he’s being politically persecuted, like Russian democracy martyr Alexei Navalny, who died while in a Russian prison on Feb. 16. A scholar says there’s no comparison between the men.
Women lay flowers to pay last respects to Alexei Navalny at a monument in Moscow on Feb. 20, 2024.
(AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)
Alexei Navalny’s successors — not western leaders — are best placed to carry on the fight for Russia’s future. But they’ll only succeed if Navalny’s cause isn’t seen as anchored to western ideals.
Sergei Guriev, one of the main minds behind western sanctions on Russia, is adamant about their restraining power on the Kremlin.
Florian David/AFP
One of the main minds behind sanctions on Russia, Russian economist and political refugee Sergei Guriev is adamant about their restraining power on the Kremlin.
These new sanctions target individuals and entities rather than whole countries, in the hope of punishing the true perpetrators and avoiding the incidental suffering of innocent people.