Politique

Russia puts the brakes on YouTube, WhatsApp PRO Members Public
After abandoning plans to block popular Western internet services, the Russian authorities have now moved to trying to slow them down. This week it emerged that YouTube was being throttled — a platform where millions of Russians watch reports and interviews from independent journalists undermining the Kremlin’s case for its

Award-winning director and playwright sentenced to six years PRO Members Public
A Russian military court on Monday put a grim end to one of the most high-profile political cases of the last year. Director Yevgenia Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk were sentenced to six years in prison on charges of “justifying terrorism.” The case is designed to become a demonstrative example

Online voting, electronic manipulation PRO Members Public
Russia’s electoral system is moving closer to the Kremlin’s idea of perfection. For the first time in history, an upcoming poll for elections to the Moscow City Duma will be fully online. Electronic voting makes it much easier for the authorities to manipulate the results and has the

Russia’s propagandists on the Biden-Trump debate PRO Members Public
A presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was always going to be too tasty an affair to pass up for Russia’s hoard of propagandists. While the coverage on state TV was surprisingly calm, focused mainly on Biden’s health, columns published on pro-Kremlin sites were far more

Moscow goes crazy for Kanye West PRO Members Public
Il y a moins de six mois, le journaliste américain Tucker Carlson s'est rendu à Moscou pour un voyage qui a sans doute été le point culminant de l'année pour les propagandistes russes qui dénigrent l'Occident. Aujourd'hui, une autre célébrité américaine, le rappeur Ye (Kanye West), serait en ville. Et une fois de plus, Moscou s'est emparé de cette visite

A string of hardline proposals from Russia’s chief investigator PRO Members Public
Russia is never short of outrageous proposals from officials looking to grab the headlines. But last week was impressive even by those standards, with Russia’s Chief Investigator Alexander Bastrykin rafting off a string of ultra-hardline initiatives he wants the country to adopt. In the space of just three days

Russia’s anti-Olympics turns into Soviet-style joke PRO Members Public
Around the world sports fans are tucking into a summer of top-quality competitions. The Euro 2024 and Copa America football tournaments are underway, to be followed by the Paris Olympics which kicks off next month. Russia is not competing in any of them, banned from both Uefa football competitions and

Will Ukraine be blamed for the latest Russian terror attack? PRO Members Public
A shock attack in Russia’s southern Dagestan region, the largest there in many years, killed at least 15 police officers. It is the third terrorist attack carried out by Islamist groups in Russia this year, and officials have already tried to draw some connections to Ukraine, despite an obvious

Controversial ‘theater case’ moved into closed court hearings PRO Members Public
A Moscow military court has ordered a highly controversial court case in which a playwright and director are accused of justifying terrorism to proceed behind closed doors, shutting off public scrutiny. The move came a month into the trial and after prosecution witnesses had finished testifying. * Director Evgenia Berkovich and

Russian “Trolls” turn to Western AI for their disinformation campaigns PRO Members Public
Des trolls russes ont été surpris en train d'utiliser l'IA occidentale pour générer et diffuser de la désinformation sur l'invasion de l'Ukraine par Moscou. Les services russes alimentés par l'IA ne sont pas à la hauteur de la tâche, car ils sont codés pour refuser de répondre à des questions liées à la guerre afin d'éviter d'enfreindre la loi.