The Naked Pravda

Over the past few weeks, many in the think-tank community have argued about the negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv in the first two months of the full-scale invasion, following an article published on April 16 in Foreign Affairs, titled “The Talks That Could Have Ended the War in Ukraine: A Hidden History of Diplomacy That Came Up Short — but Holds Lessons for Future Negotiations,” by Samuel Charap, a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation, and Sergey Radchenko, a professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Europe. In their article, Charap and Radchenko acknowledge that today’s prospects for negotiations “appear dim and relations between the parties are nearly nonexistent,” but they argue that the “mutual willingness” of both Putin and Zelensky in March and April 2022 “to consider far-reaching concessions to end the war” suggest that these two leaders “might well surprise everyone again in the future.” Charap and Radchenko joined The Naked Pravda to talk about this largely forgotten diplomacy, as well as the reactions to their research and what it might reveal in the years ahead. Timestamps for this episode: (2:27) Summary of the Foreign Affairs article (4:46) Entertaining the idea that Russia negotiated in good faith (7:41) If Putin was open to concessions during early setbacks, could the West hope for leverage again? (12:51) Criticism from Poland’s think-tank community (15:13) Lessons and recommendations for tomorrow’s parallel-track diplomacy? (20:40) The biggest surprises in this research (26:46) The shape of a possible peace to comeКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

An investigation reveals Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov's deteriorating health due to pancreatic necrosis and COVID-19. Speculations on his failing health, surgeries, and weight loss. Potential successors and power dynamics in Chechnya discussed. Controversial incidents and PR stunts to protect Kadyrov's family. Lack of viable successors, declining health, and PR tactics to maintain a strong image examined.

The podcast explores the economic impact of labor migration from Central Asian countries to Russia, highlighting the discrimination faced by migrant workers. It discusses Russia's dependency on migrant labor, the complexities of migration policies under Putin, and the relationship between migration and extremism. The implications of a recent terror attack in Russia on migration laws and the challenges faced by migrants in Russia are also examined.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich discusses the Russian FSB's involvement in recent events like failed terror prevention and crackdowns on dissent. The FSB's ties to Putin and its role in shaping policies in Russia and beyond are explored. The evolution of corruption within Russian intelligence agencies post-Soviet collapse is also highlighted, along with Russia's technological capabilities and counter-terrorism dynamics with the US.

It’s been seven weeks since a local branch of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service published a brief news post about the death of opposition leader Alexey Navalny. “He went for a walk, felt sick, collapsed unconscious, and couldn’t be resuscitated.” Russian officials would later insist that Navalny died of natural causes — his mother was told that he succumbed to “sudden death syndrome.” In mid-March, while celebrating his claim on a fifth presidential term, Vladimir Putin finally uttered Navalny’s name in public but only to dance on his grave, claiming that he was ready to trade him off to the West, provided he never came back. “But unfortunately, what happened happened. What can you do? That’s life,” said Putin. This week, The Naked Pravda looks back at Navalny’s career in politics and ahead to the political future of his widow, Yulia Navalnaya, by speaking to two of the people most responsible for educating the English-speaking world about his work: filmmaker Daniel Roher, whose documentary on Navalny won an Oscar last year, and journalist Julia Ioffe, who was one of the first Western reporters to write about Navalny and who’s tracked him and his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, in numerous articles for more a decade, profiling them in stories for The New Yorker and Vanity Fair. Ioffe is also the author of the forthcoming book “Motherland: A Feminist History of Modern Russia, from Revolution to Autocracy,” now available for preorder. Timestamps for this episode: (1:55) How Daniel Roher started filming Team Navalny (10:15) Roher’s goals when making the “Navalny” documentary (11:51) Choosing a literary trope for the Navalny story (15:02) Did anyone try to talk Navalny out of returning to Moscow? (19:39) Filming Navalny’s nationalism (22:37) Rethinking the film after Navalny’s death (24:21) Julia Ioffe remembers meeting Alexey Navalny for the first time (29:47) Ioffe reviews Navalny’s views on nationalism and Ukraine (36:15) Looking ahead to Yulia Navalnaya and back at past revolutionary womenКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

A devastating terrorist attack in Moscow has sparked debates over responsibility, with IS-K claiming involvement while Russian authorities blame enemies in Kyiv, Washington, and London. The arrest of Tajikistani nationals as suspects and allegations of torture have raised questions. The podcast delves into IS-K's potential role, counterterrorism tactics, ISIS-K's motives for targeting Russia, and the challenges of combating extremism fueled by weapons flowing back into the country.

European officials and military analysts discuss the risk of a wider Russian war. Baltic states prepare to deter a Russian invasion. US presidential candidate's stance on NATO raises concerns. Baltic defense expert and political scientist provide insights on NATO readiness. Street interviews in Latvia reveal public sentiments towards Russian aggression. Baltic Defense Line project examines fortification plans and offensive risks from Russia.

U.S. President Joe Biden took less than two minutes to bring up Russia in his 2024 State of the Union address. “If anybody in this room thinks Putin will stop at Ukraine, I assure you, he will not,” Biden said, prompting a standing ovation. “But Ukraine can stop Putin if we stand with Ukraine and provide the weapons it needs to defend itself.”  An unwavering commitment to supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia has been at the center of the Biden administration’s foreign policy for more than two years now. But Washington’s relations with Moscow and Kyiv looked very different when Biden took office back in 2021. For the inside scoop on team Biden’s Russia and Ukraine policy, and how Moscow’s 2022 invasion turned all their plans upside down, Meduza turns to Politico national security reporter Alex Ward, the author of The Internationalists: The Fight To Restore American Foreign Policy After Trump.  Timestamps for this episode: (5:07) How did team Biden originally plan to handle relations with Moscow and Kyiv? (11:40) How did the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal influence the response to Russia’s looming Ukraine invasion? (15:46) Why did U.S. intelligence get Russia’s invasion plan right but its military capabilities wrong?  (23:40) What did the first two years tell us about team Biden’s approach to foreign policy? (26:52) What will the Biden administration be remembered for?Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

Last month, there was a sudden panic in the United States when House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner issued a statement warning of a “serious national security threat” and demanded that President Biden declassify related information. The American media subsequently reported that Turner was referring to alleged Russian plans to deploy nuclear weapons in space, though U.S. National Security Council Spokesperson John Kirby later clarified that the matter concerns anti-satellite weapons that cannot be used to attack people or to strike targets on Earth. He explained that Russia’s development of the technology is concerning but does not pose an immediate threat. To make sense of these reports and to respond to the panic that this situation provokes, The Naked Pravda welcomes back nuclear arms expert Pavel Podvig, a senior researcher at the U.N. Institute for Disarmament Research. Timestamps for this episode: (3:20) The (im)practicality of nuclear weapons in space (5:31) Imagining a nuclear blast in orbit (9:59) The feasibility of nuclear-powered space weapons (28:02) The 1967 Outer Space Treaty and its modern-day implications (31:26) Common misconceptions about space in moviesКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

To mark the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s ongoing campaign to seize more territory, Meduza sat down with the author of The War Came To Us: Life and Death in Ukraine, Christopher Miller, the Ukraine correspondent for The Financial Times and a foremost journalist covering the country who was there on the ground when the first Russian missiles struck and troops stormed over the border. In the book, Miller recounts how his life became intertwined with Ukraine and then Russia’s brutal invasion. Find The War Came To Us at Amazon and wherever books are sold. Timestamps for this episode: (3:03) How did you decide which stories to include in the book? (11:18) When did you realize you were witnessing world history, and what did it feel like? (16:53) What kind of people have been on the ground working as journalists during the most pivotal moments of Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution and the fight against the Russian invasion? (23:08) How has the war changed the nature and critical spirit of journalism in Ukraine? (32:01) What would you say to potential international readers experiencing war fatigue who hesitate to pick up a book about Ukraine?Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно