Watching Russia

The Kremlin’s body of bad behavior – from election meddling to the annexation of Crimea to military involvement in Ukraine – has been widely covered in the media and, for many, news of Russia attempting to suborn Western institutions may begin to sound like background noise. But there is a systematic, often under-the-radar, attack on the rule of law and institutions underway and it is
no less alarming than the headlines. In the two chapters of this report, our esteemed authors demonstrate the attacks aimed at free societies, all intended to suborn Western
structures to the benefit of the Kremlin.

“Much of the Western media and many experts have rightly emphasized the brutality of the Alt Right, drawing its lineage to sectors of the U.S. far-right. However, there is far less understanding of the influential role played by National Bolshevism and the destructiveness it has ported into the left under the guise of prurient satire and hysterical chauvinism.

With horror, I watched this process unfold over the next decade, as so-called National Bolsheviks crossed over into American countercultures, drawing together left and right-wing tendencies that have influenced the US’s political spectrum contributing to the alt-right. The eXile’s alums played a critical role in cultivating these connections, joining with and influencing the inchoate alt-right in defense of Putin’s aggression and in opposition to Western liberalism.” Alexander Reid Ross

Aleksey Venediktov, editor-in-chief of Russia’s only remaining independent radio station, resigned from the board of directors of the radio company, citing a dispute with the general manager about funding from Gazprom.

President Trump calls it the “Fake Dirty Dossier.” We have been through every line of former MI6 agent Christopher Steele’s allegations to assess their accuracy

As one wise Baltic leader has put it, if the Russians come back this time, and with Putin’s program of the ethnic supremacy of Russians, Moscow will not be constrained by communism and the results will be truly tragic.

Many Western journalists are outraged that Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko cooperated with Ukrainian intelligence in a sting operation involving the faking of his murder to catch would-be Russian assassins.

The independent Russian publication The Bell has published their findings regarding a suspect in the assassination plot against Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko.

The only active political machine in the country consists of the regional…FSB, which control investigations, the courts, the criminal world, and officials including governors who control financial flows and major business.

Prof. Valery Solovey of MGIMO analyzes Russia’s five current major propaganda messages.

The Chechen people have only very recently emerged from two prolonged genocidal assaults inflicted on them by their Russian neighbour. These assaults having failed in their purpose, the Kremlin is now evidently keen to engage in a different kind of war, a war of smears and innuendo.