All You Need to Know about Russian Politics Today

Jan 30, 2026

Alexandra Prokopenko, Carnegie fellow and former Kremlin adviser, offers perspective on Russia’s elite and institutions. Vladislav Gorin, Meduza journalist, brings on-the-ground reporting and analysis. They discuss how power was centralized under Putin. They explain mechanisms that silenced dissent and why elites stayed loyal. They consider mobilization, economic effects of the war, and possible post-Putin scenarios.

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INSIGHT

Decision-Making Is Centered On Putin

Political decisions in Russia are centralized and taken personally by Vladimir Putin.
Bureaucracy manages daily life but avoids political decision-making to stay safe.

INSIGHT

Parallel Formal And Informal Power Verticals

Russia has a dual power structure: formal institutions and an unofficial parallel network.
Informal actors like security-service appointees exert control across business, universities and parties.

INSIGHT

Early Moves Consolidated Kremlin Control

Putin built the vertical of power by removing regional autonomy and subordinating governors.
Early moves like canceling governor elections and targeting oligarchs consolidated Kremlin control.

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Host Licia Cianetti talks to two Russian experts, Vladislav Gorin and Alexandra Prokopenko, about the state of Russian domestic politics today. As Russia’s war of invasion in Ukraine rages on and Russians live under an ever more repressive authoritarian regime, we discuss how we got here: what made the invasion of Ukraine possible, what is keeping Putin in power, how both the regime’s relationship with both the elites and the people has evolved over Putin’s 26 years in power, and what a future Russia without Putin might look like. A transcript of the conversation is available here.

Guests:

Vladislav Gorin is a journalist at the Russian independent media company Meduza, which is based in Riga (Latvia) and has been designated as an “undesirable organisation” by the Russian government. Vladislav hosts a great podcast (in Russian) called Что случилось (What happened). You can find the English language reporting from Meduza here. As it is illegal and unsafe for people in Russia to contribute to Meduza and even share links from independent media sources, Meduza currently survives on donations from people outside of Russia. You can find their donations campaign here.

Alexandra Prokopenko is a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, and before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine she has worked as a journalist reporting from the Kremlin, as an adviser to the Central Bank of Russia, and at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow. Her book From Sovereigns to Servants. How the War Against Ukraine Reshaped Russia’s Elite will be out in English in summer 2026 (it is available to preorder) and it was already published in Russian (here).

Presenter:

Licia Cianetti is Associate Professor at the University of Birmingham and Founding Deputy Director of CEDAR.

The People, Power, Politics podcast brings you the latest insights into the factors that are shaping and re-shaping our political world. It is brought to you by the Centre for Elections, Democracy, Accountability and Representation (CEDAR) based at the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

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