The Power Vertical

On this week’s Power Vertical Briefing, we discuss the fallout from Russia’s track-and-field athletes being banned from the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in August.

On this week’s Power Vertical Briefing, Brian Whitmore discusses an Australian law suit over MH17 and Russian state media manipulation of French interviewees’ comments with Pavel Butorin, the managing editor of RFE/RL’s Russian-language television program Current Time.

On this week’s Power Vertical Briefing, Brian Whitmore discusses the Kremlin’s move towards cruder authoritarianism with senior RFE/RL editor Steve Gutterman.

On this week’s Power Vertical Briefing, Brian Whitmore discusses how the Kremlin uses the memory of World War II with Pavel Butorin, managing editor of RFE/RL’s Russian-language television program Current Time.

On this week’s Power Vertical Briefing, Brian Whitmore discusses the rising tensions in usually jovial Odesa with Pavel Butorin, managing editor of RFE/RL’s Russian-language television program Current Time.

Ukrainian military pilot Nadia Savchenko reportedly slips into critical condition. And Ukraine prepares to sentence two Russian soldiers to long prison terms. Is a long-awaited prisoner exchange finally on the horizon? On this week’s Power Vertical Briefing, I discuss the issue with Pavel Butorin, managing editor of RFE/RL’s Russian-language television program Current Time. Also on The […]

Corruption isn’t just a matter of good governance anymore. It’s now a national security issue and needs to be treated as such.

Vladimir Putin has learned that being a global troublemaker pays dividends. He’s discovered that being a big part of the problem assures that you are treated as a big part of the solution. He understands that the politics of blackmail and geopolitical extortion can work wonders. Before Putin intervened in Syria’s civil war nearly six […]

The actors change, but the stage always looks the same. The wood-paneled courtroom. The officious judge robed in black. The stern prosecutor. That creepy cage for the accused and the stone-faced cops guarding it. And the defendant in the dock — sometimes somber, sometimes defiant. The script changes, but it always follows the same template: […]

A surprising name is floated to head Russia’s electoral commission. The Kremlin cuts defense spending by the largest amount in over a decade. And Russia and Ukraine brace for the conclusion of the trial of Nadia Savchenko. On this week’s Power Vertical Briefing, we look at three developing stories: human rights ombudsman Ella Pamfilova’s potential […]