Russia Archive

In early March, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov embarked on a five-country tour of sub-Saharan Africa. During his trip, Lavrov signed new trade agreements with Russia’s two long-standing partners in southern Africa, Angola and Mozambique. He also strengthened Moscow’s diplomatic ties to Zimbabwe’s new government and highlighted the role Russia could play providing security to several countries facing political unrest at home. Even though Russia’s power projection capabilities on the continent remain limited, the broad range of deals signed by Lavrov suggests that Russia is actively seeking to expand its economic and security influence in Africa, and perhaps reassert some […]

On Monday, over 20 European countries collectively expelled almost 60 Russian diplomats suspected of being intelligence operatives. The move signaled a significant escalation in Europe’s collective response to Moscow’s alleged role in a nerve agent attack in southern England in early March that left a former Russian spy and his daughter in a coma, and the British police officer who responded to the scene hospitalized. That the United States joined the European response, by expelling another 60 Russian operatives and closing the Russian consulate in Seattle, underscored Western solidarity against the latest of repeated Russian provocations. Until last week, British […]

When Vladimir Putin won a landslide victory to a fourth term as Russia’s president on Sunday, it came as a surprise to no one. Still, his re-election was noteworthy for many reasons, including how apparent it is that as democracy loses ground around the world, Putin embodies the model for the 21st-century descent into authoritarianism—a model that is being emulated by other aspiring autocrats. That Putin’s re-election has repercussions far beyond Russia was evident in the headlines that dominated the news in the days leading up to the vote. A former Russian spy and his daughter were found slumped on […]

Ksenia Sobchak, the highest-profile candidate to challenge Vladimir Putin in Russia’s presidential election Sunday, already knew before the voting that she had no chance of winning. “In a casino, the house always wins,” she told an American audience on a recent visit to Washington. “In Russia, Putin always wins.” Surprising no one, Putin easily won re-election to another six years in office in a ballot that few would call free and fair. Putin has heavy-handedly restricted freedom of dissent through control of the media and constrained Russia’s political opposition through intimidation and legal harassment. The election may have paid little […]

In this week’s Trend Lines podcast, WPR’s editor-in-chief, Judah Grunstein, managing editor, Frederick Deknatel, and associate editor, Omar H. Rahman, discuss the week’s big news, including the firing of U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the escalating tensions between London and Moscow after a former Russian spy was poisoned with a lethal nerve agent in the United Kingdom. For the Report, Natalie Rouland talks with Peter Dörrie about Ksenia Sobchak, the celebrity-turned-politician challenging Vladimir Putin in Russia’s presidential election. Is Sobchak an opportunistic stalking horse for the Kremlin, or a rising force for Russia’s beleaguered opposition? If you like […]

Like most figures who have undergone significant transformations in the public eye, Ksenia Sobchak, the most prominent candidate running against Vladimir Putin in Russia’s presidential election Sunday, means different things to different people. Her detractors see a campy celebrity-turned-politician—a puppet who is merely playing the role of substantive challenger. Her supporters, on the other hand, see a skillful operator capable of effectively manipulating the media—a new kind of political personality putting forth an alternative vision for the country. Just a decade ago, she was known exclusively as a socialite and entertainer. Despite coming from a political family, she had launched […]

Late last week, during his annual speech to the nation, Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a raft of new and exotic military weapons systems that were in development, and in some cases ready to be deployed. Putin’s inventory included an enormous, new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile known as “Sarmat”; new maneuverable re-entry vehicles that will, in theory, be fitted onto Russian ballistic missiles to help them overwhelm American missile defenses; a nuclear-powered cruise missile apparently able to fly for thousands of miles just feet above the surface of the earth; and a nuclear-armed underwater drone potentially able to lay dormant […]