Russia
Q. & A.
Will Ukraine’s Incursion Into Russia Change the Trajectory of the War?
Volodymyr Zelensky’s Western allies have worried that the surprise, cross-border attack will provoke Vladimir Putin to escalate.
By Isaac Chotiner
The Lede
The Russian Prisoner Who Didn’t Want to Be Freed
The opposition figure Ilya Yashin was part of the exchange that led to the release of Evan Gershkovich. Now, in Germany, he dreams of returning to his cell in Russia.
By Joshua Yaffa
Dispatch
A Summer of Hope and Despair in Tbilisi
Georgians are bracing for a crucial election this October. Will the opposition stave off the country’s turn to Russian-style authoritarianism?
By Nadia Beard
News Desk
Evan Gershkovich Is Finally Coming Home
In a multinational prisoner exchange, the Wall Street Journal reporter was freed, after being detained for more than a year in Russian jail.
By Joshua Yaffa
Poetry Podcast
Valzhyna Mort Reads Victoria Amelina and Wisława Szymborska
The poet joins Kevin Young to read and discuss her translation of “Testimonies,” by Amelina, and Clare Cavanaugh’s translation of “Map,” by Szymborska.
Q. & A.
Why the Summer Could Be Disastrous for Ukraine
Amid a new advance by Russian forces, Zelensky faces enormous challenges in marshalling the equipment and the manpower necessary to keep them at bay.
By Isaac Chotiner
The Political Scene Podcast
Why Vladimir Putin’s Family Is Learning Mandarin
During the last few weeks, American political discourse has been consumed by what’s happening inside a New York City courtroom. But the world outside it hasn’t stopped.
News Desk
How Will Putin Respond to the Terrorist Attack in Moscow?
The Russian President has a long history of spinning lapses in security for his own political gain.
By Joshua Yaffa
The Weekend Essay
Has Putin’s Invasion of Ukraine Improved His Standing in Russia?
As Russians go to the polls, the economy is booming and the public feels hopeful about the future. But the politics of Putinism still depend on the absence of any means to challenge it.
By Joshua Yaffa
Postscript
The Death of Alexei Navalny, Putin’s Most Formidable Opponent
The opposition leader, who died in prison, had been persecuted for years by the Russian state. He remained defiant, and consistently funny, to the very end.
By Masha Gessen
Essay
Can Ukraine Still Win?
As Congress continues to delay aid and Volodymyr Zelensky replaces his top commander, military experts debate the possible outcomes.
By Keith Gessen
Persons of Interest
The Artist Holding Valuable Art Hostage to Protect Julian Assange
Using a thirty-two-ton Swiss bank safe, Andrei Molodkin says he will destroy works by Picasso, Rembrandt, and Warhol if the WikiLeaks founder dies in prison.
By Nadia Beard
Annals of War
Was an Antiwar Russian Tricked Into Carrying Out an Assassination Plot?
Darya Trepova admits that a network of handlers in Ukraine recruited her to hand an explosive device to a far-right propagandist in St. Petersburg—but, she says, they never told her it was a bomb.
By Joshua Yaffa
Postscript
Lev Rubinstein, a Devoted and Defiant Lover of Language
The Russian poet and essayist was a founding member of the Moscow conceptualist movement, an “implausibly social” presence in Moscow, and a firm believer to the end in the possibility of living in Russia with dignity and decency.
By Masha Gessen
News Desk
What Could Tip the Balance in the War in Ukraine?
In 2024, the most decisive fight may also be the least visible: Russia and Ukraine will spend the next twelve months in a race to reconstitute and resupply their forces.
By Joshua Yaffa
Letter from the U.K.
The Disturbing Impact of the Cyberattack at the British Library
The library has been incapacitated since October, and the effects have spread beyond researchers and book lovers.
By Sam Knight
The Weekend Essay
In the Shadow of the Holocaust
How the politics of memory in Europe obscures what we see in Israel and Gaza today.
By Masha Gessen
Persons of Interest
A Russian Journalist’s Pained Love for Her Country
In a new book, Elena Kostyuchenko attempts to work through how she missed—or, rather, failed to adequately react to—Russia’s descent into fascism.
By Joshua Yaffa
Q. & A.
Should the West Threaten the Putin Regime Over Ukraine?
The historian Stephen Kotkin on the state of the war and the dangers of a Russian Tet Offensive.
By David Remnick
The Political Scene Podcast
Should Biden Push for Regime Change in Russia?
The Russia scholar Stephen Kotkin says that Ukraine must exchange Russia-held territory for security guarantees. But the U.S. must also threaten Putin’s hold on power.