THE PLAY’S THE THING
The works of Kirill Serebrennikov offended many Russian conservatives, including the Orthodox Church. The state cooked up a prosecution. But the country's artists fought back.
Anna Nemtsova is a correspondent for Newsweek and The Daily Beast based in Moscow. Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, Politico, PRI, Foreign Policy, nbcnews.com, Marie Claire, and The Guardian. She is the winner of the 2012 Persephone Miel Fellowship and a 2015 recipient of the prestigious IWMF Courage in Journalism award. Follow her @annanemtsova.
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WHAT’S THE DEAL?
Now after 18 months of arrest, solitary confinement, and brutal surgery, Whelan is told he’s being sent away for 16 years. His lawyer says only a trade can get him out. But who?
ONLY THE LONELY
With the pandemic as a pretext, the Kremlin banned mass marches. But “solo pickets” social distanced by 50 feet went on. Then the police cracked down on those, too.
THE BILLION-DOLLAR QUESTION
Why has Iryna Venediktova opened high treason proceedings against a former Ukrainian president based on his phone calls with then-Vice President Biden? It looks like pure politics.
BRAVE
On his popular YouTube talk show, Karèn Shainyan interviews celebrities like Cynthia Nixon and Billy Porter. He hopes their experiences help inspire LGBTQ Russians to come out.
A PERFECT STORM
The COVID-19 disaster has brought into focus for much of the public the poverty, oppression, and excesses that already were eroding the Russian president's popularity.
ROCKING THE CRADLE
Right now there are more than 50 babies born of surrogate mothers waiting for their parents in a Kyiv hotel. By the end of the pandemic, there will be hundreds.
NOWHERE TO RUN TO
Violence inside the home is reaching unprecedented levels, especially against trapped women and children. The situation in Russia was desperate already. Now it’s horrific.
BAD PRESCRIPTION
“All signs indicate that a common flu is a much more severe infection” than COVID-19, Malysheva told her television viewers as late as March 13.
WET WORKS
The evidence is thin but the precedents are many after a report that a Russian diplomat brought a murderous toxin into the Czech Republic to try to kill two prominent politicians.