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
Russia mulls fiscal belt-tightening 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 a suggestion by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov that there could be a change to fiscal rules that
Russia legalizes the Taliban PRO Members Public
The Taliban, banned as a “terrorist organization” in Russia for more than 20 years, has been legalized and had the label expunged by Russia’s Supreme Court, in another sign of warming ties between Russia and the Islamist group. The development is not surprising. Over recent years, the Russian authorities
More than five years in jail for being a journalist PRO Members Public
Journalism continues to be a dangerous profession in Russia. Last week, a Moscow court sentenced four journalists to five and a half years in prison on charges of collaborating with the Anti-Corruption Foundation (FBK), an organisation founded by Alexei Navalny and outlawed as “extremist” in Russia. * The journalists — Antonina Favorskaya,
Soaring ruble set to come back down to earth PRO Members Public
To the surprise of many, the first four months of 2025 have turned out to be one of the best periods for the Russian currency in recent years. The ruble, which ended 2024 with its worst performance since 2022, has suddenly started to strengthen, boosted by a host of factors.
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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.
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