The Russia File
The Russia File podcast explores Russia: its history, politics, culture and society, and its relations with the surrounding countries, the United States and beyond. It is a companion podcast of the Kennan Institute’s Russia File blog. Hosted by Maxim Trudolyubov and Izabella Tabarovsky.
info_outline
Russia’s Battle around Reproductive Health and Women’s Rights
04/01/2024
Russia’s Battle around Reproductive Health and Women’s Rights
Russian authorities are taking tentative steps to limit access to abortion and other aspects of reproductive health, ostensibly to combat the demographic crisis, which has been amplified by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In this episode of The Russia File, Victoria Pardini and Nina Rozhanovskaya talk with two scholars of Russian reproductive politics and health, Michele Rivkin-Fish and Nataliya Shok, about the country’s long history of reproductive rights, the current rhetoric regarding family values, and what restrictions might lie ahead. They also discuss the debates surrounding alternative ways of giving birth and what this all means for women’s rights amid Russia’s conservative turn. For more information and show notes, please visit:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/30628878
info_outline
Russia on the Second Anniversary of the Invasion of Ukraine
02/20/2024
Russia on the Second Anniversary of the Invasion of Ukraine
Two years after Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine, Izabella Tabarovsky sat down with Maxim Trudolyubov, editor in chief of the Kennan Institute’s Russia File blog, to discuss where Russia is today. They discussed new trends in Russian emigration and the brain drain that never was, how the Russian economy has managed to defy predictions of immediate collapse, and who is actually running Russia. This is part 2 of our conversation about the second anniversary of the invasion. It was recorded on February 6. For show notes and relevant links please visit:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/30040238
info_outline
Ukraine on the Second Anniversary of the Russian Invasion
02/20/2024
Ukraine on the Second Anniversary of the Russian Invasion
Two years after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, Izabella Tabarovsky sat down with Mykhailo Minakov, the Kennan Institute’s senior advisor on Ukraine and editor in chief of its Focus Ukraine blog, to discuss where Ukraine is today militarily, politically, socially and economically; Ukrainians’ sources of resilience; and why bipartisan support for Ukraine is in the national interest of the United States. This is part 1 of our conversation about the second anniversary of the invasion. It was recorded on February 6. For show notes and relevant links please visit:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/30040213
info_outline
Buryatia and the High Toll of Russia’s War in Ukraine on Ethnic Minorities
01/24/2024
Buryatia and the High Toll of Russia’s War in Ukraine on Ethnic Minorities
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has highlighted some of its own domestic problems. One of them is the uneven economic development of Russian regions and another is the unfair treatment of ethnic minorities. The Republic of Buryatia, a region in East Siberia, has been under the spotlight since February 2022, because of what looks like disproportionate representation of Buryats among the ranks of Russian soldiers. In this episode of The Russia File, Nina Rozhanovskaya talks with Buryat activist and research scientist Mariya Vyushkova about Buryat history and identity, Russia’s discriminatory mobilization policies, and the effects of the war in Ukraine on indigenous groups and ethnic minorities. For show notes, please visit:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/29629348
info_outline
Belarus Three Years After Protest
10/30/2023
Belarus Three Years After Protest
In August 2020, Aleksandr Lukashenko, authoritarian leader of Belarus, denied electoral fraud and claimed landslide victory in his sixth presidential election. The regime’s violent crackdown on the mass pro-democracy protests signaled a new era of political repression in the country and triggered a major emigration wave. In this episode of The Russia File, Nina Rozhanovskaya talks with political analyst Artyom Shraibman about how the situation in Belarus has changed over the past three years, the effects of the war in Ukraine on Belarusian state and society, the regime’s new repressive tools, its growing dependence on Russia, the shared values of Belarusians, and the democratic future of Belarus. For show notes and episode transcript please visit:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/28461680
info_outline
Berlin as a Home of New Russian Political Exiles
08/03/2023
Berlin as a Home of New Russian Political Exiles
Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Berlin has emerged as a crucial center of activity for both Ukrainian refugees and Russian political exiles. It is here that many known and emerging leaders of the Russian opposition, political activists, human rights defenders, and independent journalists live, work, and gather to meet and discuss Russia’s future. Izabella Tabarovsky visited Berlin to meet with some of the people who are involved in Berlin’s emerging Russian political diaspora culture. In this episode of The Russia File, she talks to Alexey Yusupov of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Jennifer Gaspar of Araminta about Berlin as a city and a home for new Russian political exiles; what makes Germany in general and Berlin in particular such a welcome place for this group; and about organizations that have emerged to help them escape Putin’s regime and find safety abroad. For show notes and episode transcript please visit:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/27650676
info_outline
Israeli Military Experts on the Enabling Factors of Russian War Crimes in Ukraine
06/29/2023
Israeli Military Experts on the Enabling Factors of Russian War Crimes in Ukraine
The 2022 invasion of Ukraine was supposed to illustrate the Russian army’s ability to conduct a “contactless,” “surgical” military operation with minimal civilian casualties and damage to critical national infrastructure. Yet troops began committing war crimes in Ukraine virtually from the first days of the invasion. Did the Russian military anticipate applying such a level of brutality to civilians? If not, how did it become so widespread so quickly? What role has Russia’s early operational and tactical failures, its doctrinal causes, and its general military culture played in enabling such shocking violence? Izabella Tabarovsky speaks to Israeli military analysts Sarah-Masha Fainberg and Daniel Rakov to uncover the enabling factors of Russian culture of violence against Ukrainian civilians. The conversation was recorded on May 16. For more information including show notes and relevant timestamps, visit our site:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/27294627
info_outline
Russian Culture as a Casualty (and Accomplice) of Putin’s War in Ukraine
04/18/2023
Russian Culture as a Casualty (and Accomplice) of Putin’s War in Ukraine
The relationship between the artist and the state has always been fraught in Putin’s Russia, where government remains the primary funder of cultural institutions and censorship of cultural production has been on the rise for at least a decade. But Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has posed new existential questions for those members of the artistic community who do not align themselves with the Kremlin’s agenda. In a wide-ranging conversation, Nina Rozhanovskaya and journalist Sophia Kishkovsky discuss the impact of the war and the growing domestic pressure on the Russian arts and culture scene. What changes have been on view in Russian museums? Why does the state target theaters in particular? Which anti-war voices manage to break through the prohibitions? And what does the emerging “Z culture” look like? Since the conversation was recorded on March 17, 2023, a number of individuals mentioned in it have faced new repercussions for their anti-war stance. For more details on that, as well as institutions and individuals mentioned, please see show notes at
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/26565420
info_outline
Lessons from "Cold War Radio": A Conversation with Mark Pomar
03/20/2023
Lessons from "Cold War Radio": A Conversation with Mark Pomar
When in 1991 Boris Yeltsin invited Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty to open a news bureau in Russia, the move was hailed as the clearest sign yet that the Cold War was ending. Last year, Vladimir Putin’s regime forced RFE/RL to shut down its operations, causing staff to leave the country along with other Russian independent journalists, dissidents, and human rights defenders. With the current exodus from Russia reaching levels comparable to those following the 1917 revolution, the experience of “Cold War radio” has suddenly become relevant again. What lessons does American international broadcasting, widely acknowledged as one of the United States’ Cold War triumphs, hold for the current moment? What practices could today’s political exiles from Russia emulate to connect to their compatriots inside the country? Izabella Tabarovsky explores these questions in her conversation with Mark Pomar, author of Cold War Radio: The Russian Broadcasts of the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty. For show notes, please visit:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/26286078
info_outline
The Kremlin's Favorite Scapegoat: The Latest Attack on LGBTQ+ Rights in Russia
01/23/2023
The Kremlin's Favorite Scapegoat: The Latest Attack on LGBTQ+ Rights in Russia
In November 2022, the Russian parliament passed a new bill banning any activity that can be interpreted as the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations and/or preferences.” In December, President Vladimir Putin signed it into law. This legislation is an expansion of the notorious 2013 bill, which prohibited so-called “gay propaganda” among minors. Nina Rozhanovskaya spoke with Dr. Alexander Sasha Kondakov about the repercussions of this discriminatory legislation, the rationale behind Russia’s crackdown on the LGBTQ+ community, and what its timing can tell us about Russian politics. The conversation was recorded on November 30, 2022. For show notes and more information, visit our website here:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/25702767
info_outline
Polish-Russian Relations Move from Reset to Ruin
11/01/2022
Polish-Russian Relations Move from Reset to Ruin
Poland and Russia share a long history that has been full of grievances and unresolved traumas. And while 2007 saw a positive shift in the relationship, the annexation of Crimea in 2014 put an end to this “reset.” Since February, Poland has been a steadfast ally of Ukraine and a fierce opponent of Russia. Nina Rozhanovskaya talked with Polish political scientist Iwona Reichardt, deputy editor of New Eastern Europe magazine, about Poland’s fears and hopes vis-à-vis Russia and the effects of the war in Ukraine on Polish politics, economy, and society. Find more information and show notes here:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/24872379
info_outline
Life under the Russian Occupation: A Conversation with Katerina Sergatskova
09/30/2022
Life under the Russian Occupation: A Conversation with Katerina Sergatskova
For those living under the Russian occupation in Ukraine, life has turned into a daily struggle and search for food, water, and medicine. Izabella Tabarovsky talked with the Ukrainian war reporter and editor in chief of Zaborona Ekaterina Sergatskova, about the skills needed to survive the occupation, Russian war crimes, and what Ukrainian journalists need the most to do their work. The conversation was recorded on September 20, 2022. Find more information and show notes here:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/24547899
info_outline
The Successor: The Story of Boris Nemtsov and the Country Where He Didn’t Become President - Part 2
07/29/2022
The Successor: The Story of Boris Nemtsov and the Country Where He Didn’t Become President - Part 2
The story of Boris Nemtsov, Russia's prominent opposition politician assassinated in 2015, is deeply intertwined with pivotal moments of contemporary Russian history. It is also strikingly relevant today, as the world grapples with Vladimir Putin’s disastrous war in Ukraine and Russia’s dramatic loss of freedom. In Part 2 of our conversation with journalist Mikhail Fishman, we discuss Nemtsov’s relationship with Putin, the roots of Putin’s obsession with Ukraine, and Nemtsov’s legacy. Find more information and show notes here:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/23903883
info_outline
The Successor: The Story of Boris Nemtsov and the Country Where He Didn’t Become President - Part 1
07/13/2022
The Successor: The Story of Boris Nemtsov and the Country Where He Didn’t Become President - Part 1
The story of Boris Nemtsov, Russia's prominent opposition politician assassinated in 2015, is deeply intertwined with pivotal moments of contemporary Russian history. It is also strikingly relevant today, as the world grapples with Vladimir Putin’s disastrous war in Ukraine and Russia’s dramatic loss of freedom. We discuss it with the journalist Mikhail Fishman, author of The Successor: The Story of Boris Nemtsov and the Country Where He Didn’t Become President. Find more information and show notes here:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/23735528
info_outline
Crumbling Memory: Russian Propaganda, World War II, and the Invasion of Ukraine
05/31/2022
Crumbling Memory: Russian Propaganda, World War II, and the Invasion of Ukraine
The war in Ukraine has highlighted Russian propaganda and the way it weaponizes the memory of World War II for political purposes—in this case, to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In this episode, Izabella Tabarovsky digs deep into Russia’s myths about the war and considers how the invasion of Ukraine is causing that entire symbolic universe to crumble. Guest: Dr. David Hoffmann. Commentators: Dr. Ivan Kurilla and Maxim Trudolyubov. For show notes and additional information, visit our website here:
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/23282972
info_outline
Russia and the West: Highs and Lows
12/16/2021
Russia and the West: Highs and Lows
Over the past 10 years, Russia’s relations with the West have reached new lows. No other relationship has been more indicative of that trajectory than the one with Great Britain. The story of Russian-British ties, partnership, and animosity is essential to explore. David Owen, a veteran British politician active in Britain’s Russian politics both in Soviet and post-Soviet Russian times, joins the Russia File to discuss this following the publication of his new book, book Riddle, Mystery, and Enigma.
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/21508415
info_outline
The Autocrats’ Playbook: Putin’s Russia and Erdogan’s Turkey
07/22/2021
The Autocrats’ Playbook: Putin’s Russia and Erdogan’s Turkey
Despite constant geopolitical infighting, Russia and Turkey display striking similarities in the stance they take toward the West. Moscow and Ankara's crackdown on media, political opponents, the non-governmental sector and even independent universities inevitably call for comparisons between the two. Maxim Trudolyubov discusses novel authoritarian trends with Ayşe Zarakol and Sergei Guriev.
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/19897994
info_outline
The Contemporary Relevance of Andrei Sakharov's Message
06/07/2021
The Contemporary Relevance of Andrei Sakharov's Message
A Soviet nuclear physicist and Nobel laureate, Andrei Sakharov fought for disarmament, world peace, and human rights. To what extent is his legacy relevant for today’s Russia and the world? Maxim Trudolyubov discusses Sakharov's legacy with Cecile Vaissie, a professor of Russian and Soviet studies at the University of Rennes 2, and Arkady Ostrovsky, Russia and Eastern Europe editor for The Economist.
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/19387658
info_outline
Rethinking the Space Race
04/23/2021
Rethinking the Space Race
The Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin made his pioneering spaceflight 60 years ago. In the USSR, it marked a time of optimistic, forward-looking modernization, of which the Soviet space program was the hallmark.
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/18839576
info_outline
Weak Strongman: Discussing the Limits of Putin's Power with Timothy Frye
04/09/2021
Weak Strongman: Discussing the Limits of Putin's Power with Timothy Frye
Russia is often seen as a country that was led astray by a former KGB officer, Vladimir Putin. Informed by his training and character, it is often implied, he turned himself into an all-powerful ruler and turned Russia into the autocracy it is today. But what if he simply was helpless to do any better?
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/18668825
info_outline
Sputnik V: International Success, Domestic Problems
03/15/2021
Sputnik V: International Success, Domestic Problems
Sputnik V, Russia's COVID-19 vaccine, is not just a scientific achievement but a golden moment for vaccine diplomacy. Despite the initial distrust—some of which persists to this day—dozens of countries have granted Sputnik V emergency use authorization. Why is Russia falling behind in its domestic vaccination campaign, and will Russia be able to maintain its international vaccine leadership?
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/18334169
info_outline
Beyond Electoral Politics: Social Change, Not Political Awakening
01/24/2021
Beyond Electoral Politics: Social Change, Not Political Awakening
Most Russians have long stopped expecting that any real change may come from electoral politics. And yet, a slew of recent, successful popular movements from Moscow to Khabarovsk are proving that, even without real elections, Russians can stand up for their interests.
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/17663267
info_outline
A Poisonous History: The Kremlin's Fear of an Imported Revolution
12/16/2020
A Poisonous History: The Kremlin's Fear of an Imported Revolution
For years journalists Irina Borogan and Andrei Soldatov have reported on Russia’s security services. This time, they decided to look at the agencies’ history and wrote The Compatriots: The Brutal and Chaotic History of Russia's Exiles, Émigrés, and Agents Abroad. With the poisoning of the Russian opposition figure Alexei Navalny and its aftermath, the book is suddenly more topical than one is comfortable to admit. Borogan and Soldatov discuss the KGB of old and Russia’s existing security organizatio
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/17226386
info_outline
Russian-Speaking Israelis and How They Changed Israel
12/07/2020
Russian-Speaking Israelis and How They Changed Israel
Thirty years ago, a million Russian-speaking immigrants arrived in Israel. Overnight, they became one of the largest Russian-speaking communities in the world outside the former Soviet Union. Who are the Russian-speaking Israelis? What did their arrival signify for the country? We discuss these questions with Ksenia Svetlova, Matti Friedman, and Yossi Klein Halevi. Matti Friedman’s piece in Mosaic: https://bit.ly/3qBd40k Yossi Klein Halevi’s piece in Mosaic: https://bit.ly/3owVkkK
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/17094413
info_outline
Electoral Politics and the Role of the Media
11/12/2020
Electoral Politics and the Role of the Media
The media environments in Russia and the US are almost mirror opposites. In the US, mainstream media can cut away from the sitting president on live television or poke fun at him in their opinion pages. In Russia, independent media are happy just to stay alive. The internet and social media, often seen as sources of polarization in the US, are a lifeline for the embattled journalists in Russia as well as Belarus. Yet, we have a lot to learn from each other—and to disagree upon.
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/16788656
info_outline
Why Study Russia?
10/16/2020
Why Study Russia?
America’s universities and think tanks produce first-rate studies of Russia’s history, culture, and politics. And yet, the way Russia features on the U.S. political stage and in the American media is not particularly nuanced. Jill Dougherty, a long-time CNN journalist and an expert on Russia and Kevin Rothrock, Senior Editor at the English-language edition of Meduza, join Maxim Trudolyubov to discuss the state of Russia studies and Russia stereotypes in American political language.
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/16428308
info_outline
Vladimir Putin’s Version of World War II
09/25/2020
Vladimir Putin’s Version of World War II
Earlier this year, Vladimir Putin published an article in a Washington, DC think tank publication seeking to explain to American audiences the “real” lessons of World War II. Why is so much of Vladimir Putin’s attention devoted to WWII? In what ways does it serve his political interests at home and abroad? What messages was he trying to communicate, and to whom? Historians Ivan Kurilla and Dariusz Stola help Izabella Tabarovsky unpack these questions—and to fact-check the piece in the process.
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/16160129
info_outline
Russia’s Military and the World’s Post-Arms Control Future
07/31/2020
Russia’s Military and the World’s Post-Arms Control Future
While everyone is preoccupied with the COVID-19, public protests, and electoral politics, the world’s three largest nuclear powers are busy modernizing their arsenals. They are doing this in a world that will soon be left without any strategic arms control treaties. Is nuclear still the world’s most powerful deterrent? What do Russian and all other major military forces want? The Russia File discusses this and other questions with Michael Kofman, Director of the Russia Studies Program at CNA.
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/15430286
info_outline
Limited Violence, Unlimited Manipulation: How Informational Dictatorships Work
07/13/2020
Limited Violence, Unlimited Manipulation: How Informational Dictatorships Work
With presidential term limits for Vladimir Putin nullified, has Russia become more authoritarian? What is the difference between "overt" and "informational" dictatorships? Do democracies – or the West as a political and cultural concept - still have the appeal they once had for the countries that emerged from the former Soviet Union? Does the left-right divide still make sense in today’s world? Maxim Trudolyubov discusses this and more with Daniel Treisman (Professor of Political Science, UCLA).
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/15190391
info_outline
Searching for Hidden Narratives of World War II in Russia
06/19/2020
Searching for Hidden Narratives of World War II in Russia
For the Kremlin, the memory of World War II is fodder for a national myth of military glory and sacrifice. But for ordinary Russians, the story is more complex. Izabella Tabarovsky, Maxim Trudolyubov and Masha Lipman delve into the myths and explore stories that never became part of the national narrative.
/episode/index/show/therussiafile/id/14894807