Andrey Zheluk, University of Sydney et Peter Meylakhs, Russian National Research University The Higher School of Economics
Reports of a “flesh-eating zombie drug” called krokodil, accompanied by lurid images first appeared in English during 2010. The drug serves as an excellent illustration of the havoc bad drug policies can…
On May 26, the day after Ukraine elected Petro Poroshenko its president, a meme surfaced on the Russian Internet (or RuNet, as it’s colloquially known) depicting Ukraine as a chocolate bar. A reference…
SpaceX’s Dragon capsule docked with the ISS in 2012, the first commercial flight to do so.
SpaceX
It is three years since the final flight of the US space shuttle programme, during which time NASA has had to rely on the Russians, its allies, in space at least, to ferry astronauts and supplies between…
Signed, sealed, delivered: Ukrainian president Poroshenko.
EPA/Sergey Dolzhenko
On the same day that it finally voted to ratify the EU Association Agreement that helped spark the Euromaidan protests in 2013, Ukraine’s parliament also voted to give self-rule to the rebels holding major…
There is at last perhaps some cause for optimism in the Ukraine crisis. A ceasefire agreement has so far held, and the Kiev government has announced that the bulk of Russian forces in Ukraine appear to…
If you are a Russian journalist on a trip abroad, the first question you’re asked once your companion finds out about your profession is: “How come you’re still alive?” Then comes something about how all…
EU in the room: failed high-level diplomacy in Minsk.
Alexey Druzhinin/Ria Novosti/KRE/EPA
As a fragile ceasefire just about holds in Ukraine, with shelling reported in the pivotal port city of Mariupol, the EU has announced a new round of sanctions against Russia. Targeted at state-owned firms…
We’ll keep selling if you keep buying.
EPA/Lindsey Parnaby
Ever since the first New Labour administration of 1997, successive British governments have declared their commitment to so-called “ethical” arms sales. But recent decisions about which countries should…
NATO’s secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen is fond of saying that the alliance must now transform from a “deployed NATO to a prepared NATO”. But given the current crisis to its eastern flank, many…
Charting new waters.
EPA/Alexey Druginyn/RIA Novosti/KREM
While Western nations beef up economic sanctions and Nato discusses what stance to take toward Russia, the BRICS are maintaining tacit support for Moscow despite the Ukraine crisis. This is not entirely…
Peace in our time? Poroshenko and Putin shake hands in Minsk.
EPA/Sergei Bondarenko
It has been reported that the Ukrainian government and pro-Russian insurgents have signed a ceasefire agreement at the meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine in Minsk. This had hardly looked assured in…
With Islamic State lopping off heads and the Russian state lopping off parts of other sovereign states, America suddenly has its enemies back. For a quarter century, the presumption of a creeping, perpetual…
People just aren’t that bothered.
EPA/Olivier Hoslet
World leaders are congregating in Wales this week for the 2014 NATO summit, where some of the most pressing political issues of the day will be on the agenda. Despite the high stakes, a survey of the general…
NATO Baltic air policing mission highlights rising tensions north of Ukraine.
EPA
Anxiety over the crisis in eastern Ukraine has ratcheted in recent days amid claims of an effective Russian invasion, and warnings of NATO making a 4000-troop reaction force available to the region. As…
David Cameron and Anders Fogh Rasmussen have a plan.
Luke MacGregor/PA Wire/Press Association Images
NATO member states are meeting this week in Wales at what could prove a milestone summit. Since the 2012 Chicago meeting, the security landscape has changed dramatically and important questions about NATO’s…
Yes…but is it war? Inspecting weapons seized in east Ukraine.
EPA/Tatyana Zenkovich
Is the conflict in Ukraine a war? This question has been raised in recent reports about a Russian invasion in Ukraine on the Caspian Sea. The USA and other NATO powers call it an “incursion”; the Baltic…
Maria Alyokhina (L) and Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot – part of a long Russian tradition.
Michael Reynolds/EPA
In the heart of Moscow, a group of young artists prepares to stage a new kind of artistic performance. They paint their faces and don flamboyant outfits of lurid colour. Their performance will be a march…
With France remaining economically stagnant, Italy falling back into recession, and Greece and Portugal still struggling to stand on their feet, the international community often looks to Germany, not…
Mariupol residents protest against the rebel advance.
PHOTOMIG/EPA
Not long ago, it seemed that pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine were fighting a losing war – but recent events have changed the status quo dramatically. Russia’s delivery of reinforcements to anti-Kiev insurgents…
‘I wouldn’t call it a miracle, I’d call it an accident’ – Gessen on Putin’s formative experience with the KGB.
Christchurch City Libraries
Russian-American writer and LGBT activist, Masha Gessen has covered every major development in Russian politics and culture of the past two decades. She is the author of Words Will Break Cement: The Passion…