Putin
#StraightFromTheFrontline
Sunday March 20th, FC projected the Ukrainian flag onto the Russian embassy to launch its SFTF campaign, Nina Kropotkine-Watson Straight From The Frontline (#SFTF) is a new initiative aiming to provide urgent practical help to support freelance journalists on the frontline in Ukraine. It’s a development from the Frontline Club Freelance Registry ‘FFR’ which […]
Kleptoscope- What next for Putin? And what next for Russia?
In 2020, Vladimir Putin had hoped to alter the Russian constitution, secure his tenure as President and ensure any future transition would maintain his effective power. The Covid-19 pandemic and its resulting global recession has put this long-term strategy in jeopardy. Russia now faces its most uncertain period since Putin returned to the Presidency in 2012.
Russian Elections: What’s Next for Putin
Vladimir Putin seeks re-election on March 18 and there isn’t much doubt about the outcome. The question now is what he’ll do in his fourth term as Russian president.
Screening: Icarus + Q&A
Filmmaker Bryan Fogel sets out on a mission to learn about performance-enhancing drugs in sports. What he ends up discovering is far bigger than anyone could have even imagined.
The Rise of Russia’s New Nationalism
From the rise of anti-Western paranoia and imperialist rhetoric to the intervention in Syria and the annexation of Crimea, a distinct theory of Russian national identity based on ethnicity and geography, Eurasianism, has moved from the fringes of political discourse to become official state policy.
Power, Politics and Performance in Russia: Collective Memory and the Cult of Stalin
By Elliot Goat “It took me years to make sense of my own history, and Russian society will take a similar time.”– Vladimir Ashurkov, Russian opposition politician In collaboration with Theatre Royal Plymouth and the Sputnik Theatre, on Thursday 14 January the Frontline Club presented a staged reading of Grandchildren: The Second Act by Alexandra Polivanova […]
The Red Web: Digital Surveillance in Russia
By Elliot Goat “This is not a phone conversation…” – Soviet saying Introducing his new book The Red Web: The […]
Al Jazeera Preview Screening: Chechnya, War Without Trace + Q&A
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Manon Loizeau.
Award-winning journalist Manon Loizeau has spent the past 20 years covering the Chechen conflict. In Chechnya, War Without Trace she returns to the places she knew well, filming undercover, to examine the lasting effects of conflict with Russia.
Media censorship, broadcast funding, and The World According to Russia Today
By Josie Le Blond Who shot down MH17? For international TV channel Russia Today (RT), whose tag line is “Question More,” the truth has many faces. But is the Kremlin-backed channel’s post-modernist approach to news threatening to undermine empirical journalism? That was the subject of a panel Q&A following the UK premiere of Misja Pekel‘s […]
Screening: The Term + Q&A
The Term tells the unique inside story of the Russian opposition movement as Vladimir Putin settles into the Kremlin for his third term, through exclusive access to anti-corruption blogger Aleksei Navalny and other key opposition figures, including Putin’s god-daughter, Ksenia Sobchak, and Solidarnost leader, Ilya Yashin. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with with producer Max Tuula via Skype.
Vested Interest: In Hock to Oligarchs?
By Elliott Goat Opening the debate organised by Standpoint magazine, which took place at the Frontline Club on May 1, Standpoint Editor Daniel Johnson began by restating the motion: This house believes that Britain is more interested in doing business with Russian Oligarchs than standing up to Vladimir Putin.
First Wednesday: Crisis in Ukraine
By Phoebe Hall As news of the build-up of Russian forces in Crimea dominated the headlines, a distinguished panel convened at the Frontline Club on 5 March for a First Wednesday event examining the current crisis in Ukraine. The insightful discussion, chaired by Paddy O’Connell of BBC 4’s Broadcasting House, largely focused on Russian motivation […]
Pussy Riot: Punk Rock, Orthodox Christianity, and the Russian Courts
By Daniel Alan Kennedy Less than two weeks after Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova ended her hunger strike against the conditions in her Mordovian prison, on 14 October 2013, filmmakers Maxim Pozdorovkin and Mike Lerner held a Q&A following the screening of their documentary, Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer. The film tracks the journeys of […]
Screening: Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer + Q&A
On 21 February 2012 Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot performed a 40 second ‘punk prayer’ on the altar of Moscow’s most esteemed cathedral. Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer closely follows the trial that followed, where three members stand accused of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred”. Through incredible access to the legal system, they show the courtroom where Nadia, Masha and Katia sit incarcerated in a small booth, articulately defending their actions. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with directors Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin.
Syria and the future of the euro set to dominate world affairs next week
A round up of world news in the week ahead from journalist resource ForesightNews. By Jasper Wenban-Smith, international editor of ForesightNews.
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 26 June to 1 July
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 26 June to Sunday 1 July from Foresight News By Nicole Hunt Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Israel on Monday, where he’s scheduled to attend the unveiling of a national memorial to Red Army soldiers killed during World War II. Putin is also due to meet […]
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 7 – 13 May
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 7 to Sunday, 13 May from Foresight News By Nicole Hunt Given the ongoing violence and international concern over Syria, it’s hard to believe (‘ridiculous’, even) that parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place on Monday, but President Bashar al Assad has insisted they will go […]
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 27 February – 4 March
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 27 February to Sunday, 4 March from Foresight News By Nicole Hunt This week’s roundup includes no fewer than eight elections at all levels of government, beginning with a leadership ballot for Australia’s Labor Party on Monday. Prime Minister Julia Gillard called the snap ballot on […]
Who killed Politkovskaya?
The case against those accused of killing Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya outside her Moscow apartment in October 2006 collapsed this Thursday as the jury aquitted all three suspects. One day later the presiding judge, Yevgeni Zubo, ordered the Russian Investigative Committee reopen the case, “The fact that no one at all has been held accountable […]
The Age of Assassins: The Rise and Rise of Vladimir Putin
Since Dimitri Medvedev’s predictable triumph in Russia’s presidential elections, the future of the Kremlin’s internal power balance has fascinated those who scrutinize events in Moscow. As ever, questions outstrip answers. The central issue is whether the latest choreographed ballot signified a true shift of power away from Vladimir Putin. Since 2000, when Putin came to […]
A journey through Putin’s Russia part 4
We arrived in Tyumen early morning after another overnight train ride and were greeted by our next guide, a BP interpreter who on first impressions appears to be a bit of a snob, but we warmed to her slowly, first impressions after a rather sleepless journey can mess with your judgement skills. After checking into […]
A Journey through Putin’s Russia Part 3
For the next stage of our trip we took another train to Yekaterinburg for about 24 hours in second class where we had to share a compartment with an elderly couple Konstantin and Galia on their way to the oil town of Nizhnevartovsk for a wedding. They shared with us their food for journey including […]
A Journey through Putin’s Russia Part 2
Our drive to Samara is helped along grandly by our miserable second Tatar translator Ilnur who drones on continuously about Tatar self determination, the Golden Hordes (heard that before), how immorally behaved his other housemates were when he studied in a university in the UK , Islam , and why don’t British Tourists visit his […]
Heathcliff O’Malley is blogging
And what’s that new name at the top of the page? Frontline club member Heathcliff O’Malley joins the From the frontline blog ranks today. He’s a photographer, often found within the pages of the Daily Telegraph. He’s on the road in Russia, following President Vladimir Putin across the steppes. Go read his blog. If you […]
A journey Through Putin’s Russia Part 1
My trip to Russia started with a phone call from the picture desk, saying that they might want me to go to Russia in the next few days . It all becomes clear the following morning , if I want to go I have only a couple of hours to apply for a Visa and […]
The End of Democracy
A decade ago Russia was on its knees. Today it is an energy giant in a world with an apparently unslakeable thirst for oil. As its wealth grows, so does Moscow’s desire to re-establish itself on the world stage. Overtures to Hamas, nuclear co-operation with Iran, and a sharing of Serbia’s concerns over Kosovo are […]