The Naked Pravda

On November 8, 2023, the E.U. recommended that Georgia be granted candidate status, which it applied for in March 2022, just after Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The E.U. had previously only given Georgia what’s called a European Perspective, recognizing it as a potential candidate but stopping short of granting it candidate status, as it had for Ukraine and Moldova in June 2022. In recent years, the E.U. had criticized the ruling Georgian Dream party for its increasing restrictions on media freedom, crackdown on protests, and for developing closer relations with Moscow. Improving relations with Russia has been received negatively in Georgia not only because of Russia actively waging a war in Ukraine, but also due to the 2008 war over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgia’s two breakaway regions, which Moscow has since occupied. While the conflict is often described as “frozen,” people living along the so-called “separation line” between the breakaway regions and Georgia proper continue to experience the war’s lasting effects. At times, they have been deadly — in early November 2023, a Georgian man was killed by the Russian military when he was visiting a church located on the separation line. For insight on what life is like for people living along this line and the prospects for peace, Meduza spoke to Olesya Vartanyan, Crisis Group’s Senior Analyst for the South Caucasus region. Meduza then turned to Mariam Nikuradze, the co-founder and executive director of OC Media, to learn more about the recent Foreign Agents Draft Bill, the Georgian government’s crackdown on protests, and the challenges journalists in Georgia continue to face.Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

This week’s show spotlights the experiences of two comedians, “Dan the Stranger” (Denis Chuzhoi) and Sasha Dolgopolov, who emigrated last year after their opposition to the invasion of Ukraine made it unsafe to continue their careers in Russia. Despite the challenges of creating and performing comedy in a foreign language, they continue to ply their craft in Europe. Dan and Sasha told Meduza about the incidents and brushes with the police that drove them to leave their homeland, particularly in the aftermath of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The conversation touches on the adjustments needed to perform in English, the similarities of the comedy scene in Europe and the United States, and their commitment to expressing their individual experiences even when playing with Western stereotypes about Russians. Resources to follow these two performers: Dan the Stranger: website / upcoming shows in Munchen, Stuttgart, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisboa, Brussels, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, and Berlin Sasha Dolgopolov: website / upcoming show in Riga, Latvia, on November 24, 2023 Timestamps for this episode: 02:46 The Decision to Leave Russia 03:46 Controversy Surrounding Religious Jokes 06:54 The Impact of the War on Comedians' Freedom of Expression 07:19 The Journey to Berlin and the Start of a New Life 11:42 Challenges Performing Comedy in a Foreign Language 20:02 The Process of Building a Comedy Routine in English 33:26 The Influence of Russian Stereotypes on ComedyКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

This week, Meduza spoke to Dr. Sergey Radchenko about his next book, To Run the World: The Kremlin’s Cold War Bid for Global Power (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming in 2024), which explores the era’s diplomatic history, focusing on how narratives of legitimacy offer crucial insights for interpreting Moscow’s motivations and foreign policy. The conversation covers telling anecdotes about prominent world leaders like Richard Nixon, Nikita Khrushchev, and Leonid Brezhnev, their psychology, and how individual quirks shaped world events. Dr. Radchenko explains how resentment and the need for legitimacy and recognition drove Soviet decision-making in ways that past literature about communist ideology and imperialism fails to capture. Timestamps for this episode: 06:22 The Role of recognition and legitimacy in Soviet foreign policy 08:56 Raskolnikov on the global stage 12:24 The strange pursuit of greatness and global leadership 14:52 Soviet ambitions and Soviet means 17:02 Moscow's persistent resentment 21:34 The Berlin Crisis 28:30 The paradox of the USSR as a great power 31:08 China's role in Soviet self-perceptions 34:13 Autocrats and peace promotionКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

On the evening of October 29, a crowd of rioters stormed the Makhachkala airport and then flooded the tarmac after a flight landed from Tel Aviv. The angry men had assembled amid reports circulating on the social network Telegram about Israeli refugees allegedly coming to resettle in Dagestan, supposedly with a diabolical plan to oust the native population. Rioters waved Palestinian flags and chanted anti-Semitic slogans.  A day before the airport violence, locals in the city of Khasavyurt assembled outside a hotel amid rumors circulating online that it was accommodating Israeli refugees. When hotel guests refused to come to their windows to prove (somehow) that they weren’t Jews, people in the crowd started throwing rocks at the building. The mob didn’t disperse until the police showed up and allowed several demonstrators to enter the hotel to verify that it wasn’t “full of Jews.” That same day, unpermitted anti-Israeli rallies took place in Makhachkala’s Lenin Square and in Cherkessk, the capital of Karachay-Cherkessia. Demonstrators demanded that “Israeli refugees not be allowed to enter the region” and that ethnic Jews be expelled from the area. The following morning, on October 29, unknown individuals set fire to a Jewish cultural center in Nalchik that was still under construction. The assailants threw burning tires onto the property and wrote the phrase “death to Jews” on the wall. In the days after the Makhachkala Airport riot, Moscow settled on the explanation that foreign intelligence operatives — in Ukraine, orchestrated by the Americans, of course — are to blame for manipulating Dagestanis’ understandable outrage about Israel’s attack on civilians in Gaza. For a better grasp of what has fomented anti-Semitism in the North Caucasus, The Naked Pravda spoke to political and security analyst Harold Chambers and RFE/RL Caucasus Realities senior editor Zakir Magomedov. Timestamps for this episode: 02:51 Anti-Semitic Incidents in Russia's North Caucasus03:46 Putin’s Response04:34 The Supposed Role of ‘Foreign Intelligence’07:59 Incitements on Telegram11:20 The Israel-Palestine Conflict19:35 Protests Against Putin's Mobilization Orders23:24 The Aftermath: Arrests and Support from AthletesКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

A new investigation from journalists at iStories and researchers at the Conflict Intelligence Team accuses the Russian military of using so-called “torture pits” against unruly, often drunk soldiers. Journalists and researchers think they found two sites, one outside Volgograd and the other outside Orenburg. iStories collected testimony from soldiers at two training grounds in these areas and identified satellite images that appear to show the pits those soldiers described. iStories spoke to a soldier who trained at this facility this summer (the journalists gave him the pseudonym “Viktor”), who described a chaotic breakdown in military discipline. According to Viktor, roughly 80 percent of the soldiers undergoing training were prisoner recruits who were often drunk or high. In his comments to journalists, Viktor said repeatedly that these soldiers were only there for the money, signaling potentially severe problems with morale in Russia’s armed forces. The Naked Pravda spoke to the author of the iStories report, Sonya Savina, to learn more about the story. Timestamps for this episode: (0:04) The plight of billionaire Mikhail Fridman (1:53) Soviet basketball history (2:22) Hamas and Iran send delegations to Moscow (4:22) The hidden crimes and growing needs of Russia’s combat veterans (6:16) News from Russia’s neighbors (8:33) This week’s main story: The Russian military’s torture pits (16:00) Halloween epilogue: A tale of forbidden sweetsКак поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

If major events and cultural shifts are what elevate music, now is an excellent time to take stock of what’s happening in Russia, more than 600 days after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the imposition of militarized censorship, and the spread of wartime social norms. To learn about Russia’s contemporary music scene and how the invasion influences popular trends, Meduza spoke to music journalists Denis Boyarinov and Lev Gankin. For an insider’s perspective, The Naked Pravda also sat down with Kirill Ivanov, the leader of the band Самое Большое Простое Число (The Largest Prime Number). Timestamps for this episode: (3:42) Rating the level of freedom for musicians in Russia today (6:48) DDT and rock culture (9:22) Face and rap music (11:51) Censorship (16:14) The Safe Internet League (28:27) Kirill Ivanov, frontman of the band The Largest Prime Number (43:16) Ultra-patriotic musicians (54:07) “Recommended” Z-music listening Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

In August, a wave of police raids sent a chill through Russia’s migrant communities. By all appearances, the authorities were trying to track down draft-age men from Central Asia who had recently acquired Russian citizenship but failed to complete their mandatory military registration. Officers in multiple cities handed out military summonses on the spot and dragged migrant workers off to enlistment offices by force. There, they ran the risk of ending up like the hundreds of other Central Asians recruited to fight alongside Russian soldiers and work in occupied regions of Ukraine.  These police raids were at the center of a recent story published by Meduza’s weekly long-reads newsletter, The Beet. For more on Russia’s covert efforts to conscript newly naturalized citizens and migrant workers from Central Asia, The Beet editor Eilish Hart spoke to the story’s author, freelance journalist Sher Khashimov, and researcher Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin.  Timestamps for this episode: (2:25) What do we know about the recent police raids targeting migrant workers from Central Asia? (6:00) What Russian officials are saying about naturalized citizens (8:54) How do migrant workers view the recent police raids and shifts in official rhetoric? (11:33) Why is Russia such a popular destination for migrant workers from Central Asia, even in wartime? (19:19) Why might acquiring Russian citizenship appeal to migrant workers? (28:36) Are Russia’s recruitment efforts damaging ties with Central Asian countries?Как поддержать нашу редакцию — даже если вы в России и вам очень страшно

This episode of 'The Naked Pravda' discusses the economic war between Russia and the West in the conflict with Ukraine. Topics include Western advantages and miscalculations by Putin, the impact of Western sanctions on Russia, hopes for Ukraine to receive reparations, and securing peace on the ground.

The podcast discusses the exodus of Armenian population from Nagorno-Karabakh and the role of Russian peacekeepers. It explores Russia's reputation as a partner in the region, the tension between Yerevan and Moscow, and the challenges and failures of peacekeeping operations. The episode also addresses the concerns and challenges in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

The podcast explores Vladimir Putin's recent anti-Semitic statements and the historical context of anti-Semitism in Russia. It delves into Putin's perception of Jewish people influenced by Soviet state propaganda and the opportunistic use of anti-Semitic stereotypes for political gain.