Russia teeters on brink of recession PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexander Kolyandr and Alexandra Prokopenko and brought to you by The Bell. This week our top story is a look at data suggesting Russia is very close to entering a recession. We also analyze Russia’s embrace of
Repression set to tighten PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we analyze how Russia is preparing to tighten the screws on domestic critics and why a ceasefire in Ukraine would only lead to yet more repression on the home front. Russia steps up campaign against the ‘enemy within’ ahead of possible ceasefire Amid a thaw in relations
War is twisting Russia’s demographics PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexander Kolyandr and Alexandra Prokopenko and brought to you by The Bell. This week our top story is an analysis of Russian wartime budget and demographic paradoxes. We also look at why new Western sanctions are less and
Istanbul talks: Russia’s impossible demands PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we look in detail at what Russia put on the table at the first direct peace talks with Ukraine in more than three years. We also talk a bit about our dear colleague Irina Pankratova, The Bell’s investigative correspondent who recently passed away. Russia comes to
Spending, spending, spending PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr and brought to you by The Bell. This week, our top story is about why Russian spending levels remain high even as the economic slowdown gathers pace. We also look at why recent
How Apple and Google enable Russian censorship PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we take a detailed look into the removal of VPNs from the Russian app stores of Apple and Google, exploring how the US tech giants are effectively enabling Moscow’s sweeping internet censorship. US tech compliant in Russia’s VPN crackdown Russian authorities are waging a serious
Trump’s trade war with China is a gift for the Kremlin PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr and brought to you by The Bell. This week, our top story is a look at how the warming relationship between Moscow and Beijing amid the war in Ukraine and China-U.S. tensions.
THE BELL WEEKLY: How May 9 became a symbol of the ongoing war PRO Members Public
Hello! This week we look at Russia’s celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, and how they have been hijacked by Putin’s political agenda and inextricably tied to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s Victory Day celebrations tie WW2 to attack
Russian business frets over possibility of sanctions relief PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy, written by Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr and brought to you by The Bell. This week we have a deep dive piece on how opinion in Russia is split over the desirability of sanctions relief—perhaps surprisingly, there are many
THE BELL WEEKLY: Can Trump bring peace to Ukraine? PRO Members Public
This week we take a detailed look at Donald Trump’s attempts to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, outline what each side wants, what we’ve learnt from the various plans on the table, and how likely an end to the war might be. This is the last free
We are working for you
The Bell was founded in 2017 by journalists Elizaveta Osetinskaya, Irina Malkova and Peter Mironenko as a news outlet independent from the Russian authorities, after its founders have been sacked as top editors at the largest Russian news website RBC because of pressure from the Kremlin.
Read about us
