In Moscow's Shadows

In Moscow's Shadows 151: From Switzerland to SMERSH

16 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ukraine's Ten Point Peace Plan, which received only limited endorsement at the recent Swiss Peace Summit, is essentially a demand for Russia&apos...

In Moscow's Shadows 150: An Unfunny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Putin's lengthy Q&A at the St Petersburg International Forum (SPIEF), in conversation with hawkish academic Sergei Karaganov, provided a usef...

In Moscow's Shadows 149: Dyumin, Deterrence and a Deputy

02 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An episode of various bits and pieces: what (if anything) can we read into Alexei Dyumin's appointment to be secretary of the State Council, what...

In Moscow's Shadows 148: 'Purging' the Military; the politics of anti-corruption in a corrupt system

26 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What is behind the current spate of corruption-related arrests within the Russian military? Fears of a coup, an FSB takeover, punishing the generals f...

In Moscow's Shadows 147: The Reshuffle, Or Change To Preserve Things As They Are

19 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There has been an unexpectedly interesting and extensive reshuffle of the Russian government, but what does it mean? I suggest it is about creating an...

In Moscow's Shadows 146: Britain and Russia, Eternal Frenemies

12 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Reading Barbara Emerson's excellent The First Cold War: Anglo-Russian Relations in the 19th Century got me thinking more about the nature of Brit...

In Moscow's Shadows 145: How Corruption Works Under Putin

05 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The case of Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov, long known as 'king of the kickback,' but only now arrested and charged, provides a good o...

In Moscow's Shadows 144: Of Talks and Thugs

21 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

In the first part, I talk about some of the issues raised by a recent article in Foreign Affairs by Sam Charap and Sergei Radchenko for negotiations b...

In Moscow's Shadows 143: Of MICE and Man

14 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why are some individuals, parties, even countries still so willing to believe (or at least affect to believe) Putin's nonsense? As a way of tryin...

In Moscow's Shadows 142: Heresies and Revolutions

07 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is Putin's Russia becoming a revolutionary state? A recent article on RT by Dmitry Trenin, once one of the doyens of Russian foreign policy analy...

In Moscow's Shadows 141: Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll (kinda)

31 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

After a sham election and a ghastly terrorist attack (and a pretty ghastly official response), time to talk about something else: sex, drugs and rock ...

In Moscow's Shadows 140: Terrorism and Totalitarianism

24 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

What a week it has been. I give my initial thoughts on the awful terrorist attack on the outskirts of Moscow, and then pivot to some further lessons o...

In Moscow's Shadows 139: Why Even Sham Elections Can Matter

17 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Russia's presidential elections are coming to a close, and while Putin's landslide victory is a foregone conclusion in light of the manipula...

In Moscow's Shadows 138: Gangster Geopolitics

09 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are we failing properly to consider the danger as the Kremlin turns to Russian-based organised crime groups abroad to make up for the expulsion of so ...

In Moscow's Shadows 137: They Pretend To Lead Us, We Pretend To Believe

02 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An episode, I admit, on the nerdier end of the spectrum, as I dig into Putin's latest State of the Union, both for the detail and also for three ...

In Moscow's Shadows 136: Avenging Navalny

25 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Avenging may not be quite the right word, but what can the West do to punish the Kremlin for Navalny's death and furthering his cause in ways wor...

In Moscow's Shadows 135: Navalny in the late Soviet Union

18 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Well, not really, but how Navalny's awful death helps illustrate how late Putinism in its 'banana republic' phase comes to resemble the...

In Moscow's Shadows 134: Kaliningrad still at the Crossroads

11 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad a dangerous Russian bastion threatening the West, a point of vulnerability for Moscow, or a potential point of r...

In Moscow's Shadows 133: Books on Russia, Books on Ukraine

04 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As I'm travelling this weekend, this episode is a compilation of two sets of comparative book reviews already provided to my Patrons.First up, th...

In Moscow's Shadows 132: A View from the Provinces

28 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Barring particularly high-profile developments, we tend to look at Russia through the prism of Moscow (and maybe St Petersburg). How good a picture do...

In Moscow's Shadows 131: European Strategy and Vorobyov's Prospects

21 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A podcast of two halves. First of all, I look at the dilemmas and limitations facing European (EU and UK) strategy over Ukraine. Why is it so hard?Aft...

In Moscow's Shadows 130: Questions I Can't Answer

14 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The essence of podcasting and punditry may be to peddle confident certainties, but often we don’t really know. So today I raise some important quest...

In Moscow's Shadows 129: It's All About Putin's Eggs

07 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Russia is still gripped by an egg crisis, after prices rose 46% last year. Now the security apparatus is investigating hoarding and profiteering, the ...

In Moscow's Shadows 128: Politics, War and Lunacy - a look forward to 2024

29 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Less whimsical than the last one, the final episode of 2023 looks ahead to the coming year:  the candidates for the presidential elections, the prosp...

In Moscow's Shadows 127: When Napoleon was Nuked and Other Russian Conspiracy Theories

23 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Was Moscow nuked in 1812? Have a thousand years of history been made up to conceal the power of the 'Russian Horde'? Was Lenin a mushroom? A...

In Moscow's Shadows 126: Truth and Tedium in Putin's Marathon Town Hall and the Russian Press

17 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

I felt I ought to cover Putin's combined press conference and online town hall, but it was just so, so boring. And maybe that's the point: t...

In Moscow's Shadows 125: Putin's Coming Back! And So's the Cold War?

10 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

So, surprise, surprise, Putin's standing for re-election. A few thoughts on how it was announced and the vibe around it, before I look at 'P...

In Moscow's Shadows 124: Putin's Performative Politics

03 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There's a myth that authoritarian leaders don't have to worry about public politics: arguably they have to worry all the more. Spinning off ...

In Moscow's Shadows 123: Russia's 'Red-Brown' Leftists, and How I Became A Voice of the West

19 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Has hell frozen over? Left Front leading light Leonid Razvozzhaev is backing the inclusion of ultra-nationalist Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin in un...

In Moscow's Shadows 122: Taking on Conventional Wisdom About Putin

12 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After looking at a few recent news stories that caught my eye, on everything from the Ministry of Happiness to a surprisingly subversive economic plan...

In Moscow's Shadows 121: Making Sense of Makhachkala

04 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What can we learn from the ugly anti-Semitic riot at Makhachkala airport? Officially sanctioned, foreign-inspired subversion, a symptom of state failu...

In Moscow's Shadows 120: Putin is Dead! (well, probably not)

29 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In what sounds more like a scene from Armando Ianucci's Death of Stalin, an anonymous Telegram channel tells us Putin is dead, his body stuffed i...

In Moscow's Shadows 119: Manifestos to the Left of me, Manifestos to the Right

22 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Alexei Navalny has posted a list of 10 questions he thinks all movers and shakers in the Russian (opposition) political scene ought to be asked ahead ...

In Moscow's Shadows 118: Clueless in Gaza - Russia and the current Middle East crisis

14 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A quick and early episode looking at what roles and goals - if any - Russia has in the current Hamas-Israel war. The bottom line is that Russia was no...

In Moscow's Shadows 117: Security Politics and the President Who Can't Change His Spots

08 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The Russian police are increasingly under pressure. The National Guard is getting into the mercenary game. There is talk (probably empty) of Wagner be...

In Moscow's Shadows 116: Putin's "Forever War" (which isn't)

01 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The easy cliche that the Ukraine conflict may become a 'forever war' is a convenient notion for Putin - it may help dismay his enemies, and ...

In Moscow's Shadows 115: Kadyrov and the Conflict Entrepreneurs

24 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is Kadyrov dying? If so, who might replace him - and what may this mean for Russia. If Chechnya again becomes unstable, will Putin be faced with a cho...

In Moscow's Shadows 114: Six of the Best (?)

10 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As a way of getting away from the perennial talk of Wagner and the Ukrainian counter-offensive, I look at current stories relating to six individuals ...

In Moscow's Shadows 113: And Goodnight Wagner?

03 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After looking at Prigozhin last time, this episode I focus on Wagner. Will it survive in Africa (I suspect not), what this may mean for Russia's ...

In Moscow's Shadows 112: Goodbye Prigozhin

27 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What can we say about the death of Prigozhin (beyond good riddance?). At the risk of overstating the case, I feel this is a watershed moment, and Puti...

In Moscow's Shadows 111: A Nervous Kremlin and a Neglected Police Force

20 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Marking the anniversary of the second day of the 1991 August Coup, the day when momentum began to shift away from the hardliners behind the seizure of...

In Moscow's Shadows 110: Why Navalny Doesn't Hate The Goat

12 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

He may have just been sentenced to another 19 years, now in a 'special regime colony', but the indomitable Alexei Navalny has just produced ...

In Moscow's Shadows 109: A Tale of Two Last Wars, Afghanistan and Ukraine

26 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Can one draw meaningful parallels between the Soviets' 1979-88 war in Afghanistan, and the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine? The wars may have ...

In Moscow's Shadows 108: Where Have All The Generals Gone?

16 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Is there a post-mutiny purge of the military going on? What can we learn from the apparent dismissal or detention of figures such as Generals Suroviki...

In Moscow's Shadows 107: Where Are We Now On Prigozhin's Mutiny?

09 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

There still seems no escaping the fallout from Prigozhin's mutiny, whether we're talking about the fate of Wagner in Africa or those bizarre...

In Moscow's Shadows 106: The Spooky Side of Prigozhin's Mutiny

02 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A shorter episode, because there is still so much about the causes, course and consequences of Prigozhin's mutiny that we still don't know. ...

In Moscow's Shadows 105: Prigozhin's Mutiny

25 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Prigozhin's mutiny... or, 36 hours of what-the-hell? It's too close for a really judicious take on this weekend's hijinks, but first th...

In Moscow's Shadows 104: Paranormal Putinism

20 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After the usual quick run-through of war-related news, I consider the rise of mysticism and occultism not just in Putin's circle, but Russia as a...

In Moscow's Shadows 103: The Rise of the Princeling Patrushev, the Grey Cardigan

11 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After the inevitable quick look at the Ukrainian counter-offensive (too little to say really about the operation on the ground, but some points to mak...

In Moscow's Shadows 102: The Wolf that Only Howls: the Chechens in Ukraine

04 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A spat between Wagner's Prigozhin and Chechnya's Kadyrov provides a good opportunity to look at the role of the Chechens in the Ukraine War ...

In Moscow's Shadows 101: Phoney Wars and Rising Stars

28 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Bakhmut has (probably, kinda) fallen and Belgorod raided. The first is hardly a real defeat for Ukraine nor a real victory for Moscow. The latter may ...

In Moscow's Shadows 100: All the News That's Fit to Print (in Rossiiskaya Gazeta)

14 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

As a change from the usual, I look through the top six news items currently on the website of Rossiiskaya Gazeta, the main government newspaper of rec...

In Moscow's Shadows 99: All Hail the Tsar? Why Putinism has suffered from becoming monarchical

07 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

It's an easy journalistic shorthand to hall Putin a new tsar (I've done it myself), but what might it mean? Coronation weekend in the UK see...

In Moscow's Shadows 98: Dogs of War (and Racoons)

29 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

News that gas corporation Gazprom appears to be sponsoring a mercenary unit in Ukraine prompts me to explore the complex ecosystem of Russian private ...

In Moscow's Shadows 97: Where Are They Now?

22 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Even loyalists seem in some cases to be taking a step back, not for a moment standing against the Kremlin but less able or willing to be so vocal and ...

In Moscow's Shadows 96: Of Leaks and Lengths

16 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What can we learn from the massive trove of US secret documents recently and incautiously leaked? And what are the signs that Russia really is digging...

In Moscow's Shadows 95: Tatarsky, Gershkovich, Patrushev and Guns

04 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Something for everyone? What we may conclude from the murder of milblogger 'Vladlen Tatarsky', thoughts on the hostage-taking of journalist ...

In Moscow's Shadows 94: What do you do with a problem like Medvedev?

26 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Spinning off from a recent piece for the Spectator, I look at Dmitri Medvedev's decline and fall, from technocratic liberal hope to peddler of to...

In Moscow's Shadows 93: Oligarchs and Judges

19 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Isn't it time to scrap the term 'oligarch'? In Russia - as perhaps, not in Ukraine - the time when rich people able to assert power bec...

In Moscow's Shadows 92: Everyone's Got an Agenda: Hungary, China, Neo-Nazis, Kadyrov, Anime Fans...

05 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why did Budapest 2023 remind me of Moscow 2007? Are Hungary or China 'pro-Russia'? What can we read into pro-Ukrainian neo-Nazi incursions i...

In Moscow's Shadows 91: Russian Fantasies - Putin's address to the nation and the lessons from Russian science fiction

11 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Putin has finally set a date for his annual address to the Federal Assembly, 21 February. He will likely try to tread the balance between scaring and ...

In Moscow's Shadows 90: A Murder in Donbas Evokes the 90s and Putin Cosplays the 40s

05 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

The apparent hit on a Russian rightist, propagandist, and self-styled "swindler and  mercenary" raises a range of questions about coordinat...

In Moscow's Shadows 89: Tanks, the New Patriotic War and the Strelkov-Prigozhin Spat

29 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What does it mean that Western-designed tanks will now be supplied to Ukraine, and what - if any - potential responses does Putin have? At the very le...

In Moscow's Shadows 88: Enter Gerasimov

12 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

So what might it mean for Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov to be made the new overall commander of Russian operations in Ukraine? I suspect Putin ...

In Moscow's Shadows 87: War, Politics and Putin's New Year's Address

01 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

A collection of topics: Putin's rather bellicose New Year Address and what to make of it, the limits of Russian politics, what to make of Medvede...

In Moscow's Shadows 86: Russian Rumours and Cognitive Biases

10 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Is Putin contemplating fleeing to Venezuela? Is Medvedev more powerful than Patrushev? Does it make sense to decolonise Russia? Is a maverick spook sp...

In Moscow's Shadows 85: War and Peace (and how both are changing)

04 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What broader lessons about the changing nature of war, peace and power can we draw from the Russo-Ukrainian conflict? A more conceptual and rambling e...

In Moscow's Shadows 84: Putin the History (Abuse) Man

20 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

My own contribution to the current discussion about how Putin tries to use and abuse history, and how he doesn't even get Russian history right.A...

In Moscow's Shadows 83: Putin's decision-making; and Russian organised crime after the invasion

13 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A fresh batch of Patrons' questions, clustered around Putin, his influences (no, Ivan Ilyin is not his guru) and decision-making; and then in the...

In Moscow's Shadows 82: What Prigozhin Wants, What Putin Believes, and Why Russia Might Create its own Bureau 39

06 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the first part of the podcast, I address the first batch of questions put to me by my Patrons, including Prigozhin's authority and whether Put...

In Moscow's Shadows 81: A Sampling of the Latest News; and the Russo-Chinese Intelligence Relationship

30 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the first segment, I touch on some of the latest news stories: Ukraine's drone attack on Sevastopol and the ending of the grain deal; will Rus...

In Moscow's Shadows 80: Annexations, Mobilisations, Martial Law and More

22 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I'm back after a month of travels, and what a month it's been. In this longer-than-usual catch-up episode, I look at its main developments, ...

In Moscow's Shadows 79: Putin's Dilemmas, on and off the battlefield

16 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Military analysts often talk about the way forces seek to 'impose dilemmas' in their enemy on the battlefield. The extraordinary Ukrainian a...

In Moscow's Shadows 78: Organised Labour in a Neoliberal and Authoritarian Russia

05 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It's Labo(u)r Day here in DC, so I look at the - pretty poor - state of organised labour in Russia, but also the hints that coming economic press...

In Moscow's Shadows 77: Gorbachev's Hope vs Putin's Victimhood, a short rumination

01 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A short, one-segment piece in which I consider one of the less widely-discussed aspects of Gorbachev's legacy (and quite why he sat so uncomforta...

In Moscow's Shadows 76: The Impotence of Power and Giving Liz Truss some options for Narrative Warfare

28 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

How far is the Kremlin grappling with the problem of power and relevance: it has made promises, it issues decree, but is it really able to achieve any...

In Moscow's Shadows 75: Shoigu and Power under Putinism-Patrushevism

15 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Continuing from last episode, in which I postulate that Russia is now in the grip of 'Putinism-Patrushevism,' I look at what this has meant ...

In Moscow's Shadows 74: Putinism-Patrushevism

31 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I play around with the concept of Putinism-Patrushevism, that while Putin's broad ambitions may be pretty consistent over time, quite how they ar...

In Moscow's Shadows 73: From Liberal Politics to Boris Johnson's Departure, answers to more listener questions

17 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The final batch of patrons' and listeners' questions answered - sometimes better than others - on everything from Ekaterina Schulmann's...

In Moscow's Shadows 72: A Tale of Two Colonels, Strelkov and Putin

10 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I look at the career of Igor Girkin, better known as Strelkov, the ultra-nationalist who has turned against Putin - but gets away with it. What does i...

In Moscow's Shadows 71: Russia, Ukraine and beyond - another miscellany

02 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After tackling three of recent developments worth noting - the evolving military command structure of the war, Sergei Kirienko's role and the eme...

In Moscow's Shadows 70: A Miscellany - Being Banned, Putin and Lavrov Speak Out, Divisions in the Elite and Listeners' Questions

18 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Something of a magazine episode. In the first half I talk about my being banned from Russia (here's the Foreign Ministry announcement), Putin at ...

In Moscow's Shadows 69: A Bargain-Basement Empire in the Offing, and Who Is Sergei Kirienko?

13 Jun 2022

Contributed by Lukas

In the first part of this slightly rambling episode, I develop on a theme I covered for the Sunday Times (here) on whether Moscow will move beyond ann...

In Moscow's Shadows 68: No, Russia isn't winning in Ukraine, and no, there's no coup imminent...

29 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Good news and bad news? Anyway, in the first part I explore what's happening in the Donbas, why it is far too soon to talk of Russia 'winnin...

In Moscow's Shadows 67: Why September is the Month to Watch, and 'Putin, Ukraine and the Revenge of History'

18 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

When are Russians really going to start feeling the pressure of the shooting war in Ukraine and the economic/political one with the West? I explain wh...

In Moscow's Shadows 66: Silovik, Nuclear, Criminal and Religious - a Choice of Victories

01 May 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A week before Victory Day,  I consider some different constituencies' notions of victories. For Patrushev and the hard-liners, they could win po...

In Moscow's Shadows 65: Fabian Burkhardt on Russia's Elites, Coups and Rumours

22 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

For an experimental change in format, this episode is given over to a long conversation with Fabian Burkhardt of IOS-Regensburg, who works on Russian ...

In Moscow's Shadows 64: Dvornikov, Mishustin, Scenarios and Traitors - more about Ukraine

16 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Who is General Dvornikov, the new Russian operational commander for the war in Ukraine? Will Prime Minister Mishustin and the other technocrats be abl...

In Moscow's Shadows 63: Terrible Crimes, Terrible Rulers, Terrible Dilemmas

03 Apr 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Another brief and unedited podcast trying to track some of the latest Ukraine-related Russian stories, all distinctly depressing:- the war crimes of B...

In Moscow's Shadows 62: Ukraine: A New Strategy, An Absent Shoigu, An Angry National Guard and a Medieval Lithuanian Comparison

26 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A brief and thoroughly unedited look at four particular issues relating to Ukraine:- the 'new strategy' of concentrating on the Donbas- wher...

In Moscow's Shadows 61: Ukraine: When Autocracy meets Technocracy - Putin's War, Info War, Spook War

12 Mar 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rather than try and follow the day-by-day, I tackle one of the tricky conundra: not just why the Russians have done so badly, but why the Ukraine war ...

In Moscow's Shadows 60: Ukraine: Nuclear Options, National Morale, and How Kyiv Can Save Moscow

27 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What can one say about the unfolding horror in Ukraine. In this podcast I alight on a few specific issues: Putin's nuclear signalling (at least I...

In Moscow's Shadows 59: Imagining a Ukrainian peace deal

20 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

It may well be, as US/UK leaders are saying, that it is too late, that Putin is determined to wage war on Ukraine, but even as we assiduously wargame ...

In Moscow's Shadows 58: Ukrainian thoughts, welcome to stagnation, and more 2022 predictions

14 Feb 2022

Contributed by Lukas

With Schrodinger's War both imminent and unthinkable there is, to be blunt, only so much that can usefully be said about Russia and Ukraine. I st...

In Moscow's Shadows 57: Who's Trapping Whom on Ukraine, and some 2022 Predictions for Russia

30 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

I spin a post on the Nezygar Telegram channel out to explore the current uncertain state of play over Ukraine, covering topics from the current US cla...

Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas 2021-22 (6): A Christmas Scandal

28 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

One of the short bonuses provided to Patrons over the 2021-22 Christmas and New Year season, released generally a month later.A Christmas tale of vill...

Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas: 24 December 2021: Dmitry Mironov

24 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

One of the short bonuses provided to Patrons over the 2021-22 Christmas and New Year season, released generally a month later.Who is Lt. Gen. Dmitry M...

In Moscow's Shadows 56: Jaw-Jaw so Far, not War-War (brief thoughts on the state of play)

22 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

After the Blinken-Lavrov talks, a brief one-segment podcast with a few thoughts on the current state of the dialogue, the risks of conflict, and the c...

Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas 2021-22 (7): Russia’s Planet Business in 2022

12 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

One of the short bonuses provided to Patrons over the 2021-22 Christmas and New Year season, released later: usually a month, in this case a fortnight...

In Moscow's Shadows 55: Kazakhstan, through the Russian lens

09 Jan 2022

Contributed by Lukas

A Russian-led force deploying into Kazakhstan has inevitably had some people talking invasion, some stabilisation. I make no claims to being a Kazakhs...