In Moscow's Shadows 98: Dogs of War (and Racoons)
News that gas corporation Gazprom appears to be sponsoring a mercenary unit in Ukraine prompts me to explore the complex ecosystem of Russian private military companies and mercenaries. Not so much th...
29 Apr 202354min
In Moscow's Shadows 97: Where Are They Now?
Even loyalists seem in some cases to be taking a step back, not for a moment standing against the Kremlin but less able or willing to be so vocal and visible supporting it. I look at four such figures...
22 Apr 202347min
In Moscow's Shadows 96: Of Leaks and Lengths
What can we learn from the massive trove of US secret documents recently and incautiously leaked? And what are the signs that Russia really is digging in, not for a 'Forever War,' but certainly a leng...
16 Apr 202349min
In Moscow's Shadows 95: Tatarsky, Gershkovich, Patrushev and Guns
Something for everyone? What we may conclude from the murder of milblogger 'Vladlen Tatarsky', thoughts on the hostage-taking of journalist Evan Gershkovich, the madness of Nikolai Patrushev and a new...
4 Apr 202356min
In Moscow's Shadows 94: What do you do with a problem like Medvedev?
Spinning off from a recent piece for the Spectator, I look at Dmitri Medvedev's decline and fall, from technocratic liberal hope to peddler of toxic anti-Western vitriol, and what this tells us about ...
26 Mar 202346min
In Moscow's Shadows 93: Oligarchs and Judges
Isn't it time to scrap the term 'oligarch'? In Russia - as perhaps, not in Ukraine - the time when rich people able to assert power because of their wealth (as opposed to getting wealthy because of th...
19 Mar 202344min
In Moscow's Shadows 92: Everyone's Got an Agenda: Hungary, China, Neo-Nazis, Kadyrov, Anime Fans...
Why did Budapest 2023 remind me of Moscow 2007? Are Hungary or China 'pro-Russia'? What can we read into pro-Ukrainian neo-Nazi incursions into Russia and Kadyrov's claims that he wants to set up a me...
5 Mar 202355min
In Moscow's Shadows 91: Russian Fantasies - Putin's address to the nation and the lessons from Russian science fiction
Putin has finally set a date for his annual address to the Federal Assembly, 21 February. He will likely try to tread the balance between scaring and reassuring his audience, but it takes place at a t...
11 Feb 202353min
