Archive of Russia

Perspectives on Russia's history and the wider geopolitical landscape, featuring Tony Wood, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Ilya Budraitskis, and more.

David Harvey on the long-term causes of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we spoke with Ilya Budraitskis about the political context of the attack, Putin’s military and political goals in the short and long term, and the response so far from the Russian citizenry. Why were so many on the Left surprised by the extent of the military action, and, finally, how might we express solidarity right now?

Ilyia Budraitskis on the turning points in the development of the left dissident movement and the various streams and faces of the left in post-Soviet Russia.

As Vladimir Putin attempts to extend his grip on power into the future, Tony Wood, author of new-in-paperback Russia Without Putin, picks out five books that will help us think about how Russia works, and where Putin's power came from in the first place.

HBO's new miniseries Chernobyl, a gloomy and lyrical historical drama that tells the story of the catastrophic explosion of a nuclear power plant in Soviet Ukraine in 1986, has taken the unusual decision to cast a nearly all British cast of actors. Why does Stalinism seem so plausible in a British accent, and what does that say about the parallels between contemporary Britain and the USSR?

Ten years ago this month, Russian human rights advocate and journalist Stanislav Markelov was shot and killed by a Russian ultranationalist Nikita Tikhonov on a busy Moscow street. The aftermath of the murder helped to bring to light the collusion between the Russian state and the nexus of ultranationalist groups responsible for Stanislav Markelov's killing. In this article Thomas Rowley and Guiliano Vivaldi analyse the events that lead up to the murder, and Markelov's incredible work fighting for the oppressed in Russia.