Worldcrunch
Alexey Sokolov is being tried for showing the logo of Facebook, which Russia has classified as an extremist organization. But his human rights activism and opposition to the regime show how the social media is used by the regime to persecute opponents.
In Kazakhstan, prison sentences are regularly handed down for separatist activity. Yet the defendants in such cases are overwhelmingly “online separatists” — people far removed from politics and activism. Who are they and why does the state consider them such a threat?
Disappointed by poor gains over the past three years in Ukraine, Russia’s pro-war Z community is blaming a new scapegoat. Russian writer and historian Ivan Philippov explains why a society that just wants to live and to work is now their main enemy.
Updated July 17, 2024 at 12:35 p.m. Czar Nicholas II, along with his wife Alexandra and their five children, was executed on this day in 1918. The execution took place in the basement of the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Why were Czar Nicholas II and his family executed? The execution of the Russian royal […]
Fearing Europe’s shift to the right and a second Trump term, Tehran has dusted off its reformist credentials — with president-elect Masoud Pezeshkian and veteran diplomat Mohammed Javad Zarif — to show the West it is willing to talk. But this ploy will not work again.
After more than two years of war, Russia’s bombing of a children’s hospital in Kyiv on Monday was among the most violent. What does Vladimir Putin aim to achieve with this escalation of horror — which came just 48 hours before the NATO Summit in Washington in the presence of Volodymyr Zelensky?
Having gained notoriety for his Male State movement, which was deemed too radical, even for Putin, Vladislav Pozdnyakov came up last year in connection with brutal videos being shared online, as well as a more recent attack against an ally of late Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
At just 18-years-old, Daria Kozyreva sits in a pre-trial detention center. She is facing five years for “repeatedly discrediting the Russian army.” Here is her letter to all Russians, trying to convince people of good will to denounce the Kremlin regime.
The canceled rapper who’s praised Hitler and Putin’s Russia are a perfect match, writes music critic Nikolay Ovchinnikov
Through quiet diplomacy, Russia may be courting the rising star of Latin American populism, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. In time, he must decide between international respectability and a bear hug from Vladimir Putin.
The production of wheat, a staple food in Syria, fell dramatically this year due to the effects of climate change. The poor harvest has left wheat farmers, already suffering from decades of conflict, struggling to rebuild their lives.
Aggressive lending is undermining Russia’s economy, and citizens’ incomes are not keeping up with expenses. It’s the clear sign of a looming economic crisis.
In matters of foreign policy, whether the war in Ukraine or in Gaza, the rejection of extremes should appear as an obvious fact of reason and ethics. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Russia announced a ban on 81 European media — in retaliation to the EU’s ban of Russian state media. The move is indicative of the prevailing Cold War climate, which limits the exchange of information between hostile worlds.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s declaration labeling Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as “extreme right-wing” is a politically charged move. But is this assessment fair, given Meloni’s strong support for Ukraine and responsible economic decisions — or is there some demonizing and distracting at play?
As the U.S. presidential election draws closer, independent Russian-language media Vazhnye Istorii spoke with American politics specialists about the possibility of a second Trump term and what it would mean for the Russia-Ukraine war, traditional U.S. allies and China.
Hamas attack on Oct. 7 created a deep rift in the confidence of Israel’s citizens, in their country’s security, military and moral superiority. The Zionist project may never recover.
From Trump in the U.S., Eurosceptics in the UK, the Catalan independence movement or the growing rejection of immigration in much of the developed world shows that a century after the founding of fascism, the darker instincts of humans are always lurking just below the surface.
Under pressure from Arab states and Russia, which calls the shots in Syria, President Bashar al-Assad is tiptoeing away from the Iranian regime, a troublesome ally that has nevertheless spent billions of dollars to help keep him in power.
Comparisons between the wars in Europe and the Middle East tell us a lot about the standpoint of those who compare. They also signal to a new world order that has yet to be shaped.
From Ukraine to the South China Sea, images of war are highly reminiscent of the horrors of the past. As the world marks 80 years since the Normandy landings of World War II, geopolitical analyst Dominique Moïsi wonders if history is bound to repeat itself.
Literary scholar and fiction writer Mykhailo Nazarenko discusses the would-be cast of characters of fantasy writer JRR Tolkien in Ukraine’s war against the Russian invaders.
Ahead of the June’s EU elections, Europeans are deeply divided between fears of migration and of the Ukraine war, between emotion and reason. How can the EU respond in the most united and credible manner to the Russian threat?
Inside the activism of a prominent Ukrainian Protestant trying to show Republicans in the U.S. that Kyiv is the real defender of Christian values.
Boris Yeltsin had a technique for not stopping certain top Russian officials from eliminating their opponents. Vladimir Putin refined the practice. So ingrained in the country’s politics, it’s a formula for murder borrowed from mafia dons.
By visiting Serbia and Hungary, two countries that will soon be linked by a railroad built and financed by China, Xi Jinping is showing that he has not given up on cultivating special friendships on the continent, even if it undermines relations with Europe’s more influential leaders.
Russia’s investment in the Arctic continues with reports of a new joint project with India. This comes with the development of a Siberian station called Snezhinka (Snowflake), at the center of both scientific and economic development of the Northern territories in the times of global warming.
The French president has voiced France’s readiness to “contribute more to the defense of Europe” through its nuclear arsenal. It’s a message fro European allies and for Putin’s Russia — and another reminder of how much hangs on November’s U.S. elections.
When the U.S. and other Western countries recently defended Israel against Iran’s drones and missiles, Ukrainians began to blame themselves for not receiving similar protection against Russia’s attacks. But the reality is very different.
Governments spent 2.3 trilllion euros on the military, a 6% increase over 2022, the highest growth recorded in over a decade. This is the first time spending jumps were registered on all five continents, and not just countries at war. What does it say about this inflection point in history?
What are the links between Iran and the two powers challenging the Western order, Russia and China? And how do their relations affect the international climate? This is a key question at a time when the logic of war is at work in several regions of the world.
The election of the new president of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, paves the way for a period of deep uncertainty between Paris and Dakar, amidst the spread of an “anti-French sentiment” in West Africa.
Seeing the near-perfect effectiveness of Israel’s defense against Iranian drones and missiles, Ukrainians are bitterly wondering why the West is denying them life-saving assistance. Fear of confrontation with a nuclear Russia remains the main reason.
How the women’s partisan movement rose up from the southeastern city of Melitopol to carry out undercover operations in the occupied territories of Ukraine that undermine every step of the Russian troops.
The UN and the international criminal justice system are failing to prevent and punish brazen aggressions and killings around the world. When this period of turmoil ends, states must find new rules and tools to prevent the return of totalitarian violence.
Russia’s semantic war against Ukraine aims to create a discourse and future in which Ukraine never was and never will be. Ukraine — and its Western allies — must take this war as seriously as the military war.
Geopolitical analysts who view Russia as an unpredictable force tend to understand Moscow’s actions in purely worldly, political terms. German Professor of Theology Hubertus Lutterbach has uncovered a different message hidden in Putin’s religiosity — an implicit threat to his neighbors and the world.
New drones near the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, in the wake of attacks that killed at least three in the area in southeastern Ukraine, have once again raised fears of a Chernobyl scenario. Threatening nuclear disaster is a tool Putin has used before.
NATO this week unveiled new plans to massively expand its support for Ukraine. A plan by Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg includes an additional 100 billion euros in military aid to be coordinated by the Alliance — together with weapons delivery and military training. The plan is meant to reverse the momentum in the defensive campaign against Russia. But it carries several major risks.
Moscow “killed” the body charged with overseeing the sanctions regime against North Korea — now Putin’s ally against Ukraine — dealing yet another blow to the edifice of global governance inherited from the post-war era.