Public interest journalism on the post-Soviet space
@opendemocracy
. This project is now closed. Thanks to all our supporters - large and small - who backed it.
"I was not shocked to learn that many major media outlets have a long history of letting local experts down. What I was shocked by the cynicism with which international media outlets exploit Ukrainian producers and experts."
The children in the cinema had come from the village of Treshchevsky, which is 52km from Kemerovo. 700 people live there, there's one school (and one class). They were taken to Kemerovo to celebrate the start of the school holidays.
The international community is tired of Russia's war against Ukraine. But unless Russia is defeated, a return to peace will be temporary, writes
@sasha_weirdsley
.
The blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh has signalled Azerbaijan’s intent to force a settlement on the territory - and that there are few forms of international pressure on the country.
Ukraine's resistance against Russia needs to be framed as a common struggle for universal security - rather than protecting "European values", argues
@CNguyenEc
.
“While you are far away you can just turn off the news and go about your daily routine. Many people don’t have that option anymore.”
Together with Verstka and Deník N, we speak to
@avalaina
on investigating Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
“We have started seeing Azerbaijan using force to start contesting the red lines inside the region, but also to get what it wants.”
Experts explain the background to Azerbaijan's attack on Armenia to
@lucymartiros
.
“It’s like your film, ‘Don’t Look Up’. We’re looking up. We do understand what’s happening and we’re talking about this. We’re talking about this with our people.”
Read
@ChristopherJM
's retelling of how Volodymyr Zelenskyi prepared for Russia's invasion.
"The outcome of the standoff in Belarus is far from being decided. But in any case, the country will never be the same. The authoritarian model of power has entered the most serious crisis in its existence."
Read Yury Glushakov on Belarus.
“Azerbaijan wants to maximally reduce the involvement of third parties, particularly Western… as a matter of principle.”
@sammartirosyan9
and
@te_rowley
report on the blocks to international organisations gaining access to Nagorno-Karabakh.
"For a world that appears ready to move on, Ukraine’s resistance might slowly turn into an inconvenience. And Russia is banking on it," writes
@sasha_weirdsley
.
Why does Russian public opinion have such little sympathy with America's
#GeorgeFloyd
protests? Because they undermine deeply held visions of the West across the Russian political spectrum, argues Ilya Budraitskis.
The Russian government’s crackdown on independent media and civil society has reached a dangerous new peak, write
@TaMa_Le
and Yelena Litvinov. Russian journalists deserve our solidarity, they say.
This
#ValentinesDay
— we hope you're only annexed by those you truly love (and with prior consent and in accordance with all international laws and treaties).
"When I refused to answer or gave unsatisfactory responses, they shocked me in the thighs and around my knees.
When they started taking my trousers off, threatening to shock me in the groin, I agreed to give evidence against myself".
This is the Russian state before elections.
There are now claims that Svyatoslav Rechkalov, who has been detained as part of an investigation into an arson attack on a United Russia office in Moscow, has also been tortured.
The annexation of eastern Ukraine just made the whole of Russia into a "People's Republic" - where feudal lords and the security apparatus make decisions, and there is no longer any law, writes
@russophiliac
.
"There is nothing that would carry even a faint promise of reconciliation and co-existence. Victory has only deepened the antagonistic nature of Azerbaijani national identity."
@bahruz_samad
on Azerbaijan's victory in the Second Karabakh War.
Staff at the Kyiv Post lost their battle to maintain the paper's independence, but have now begun a new venture to promote a free press - the
@KyivIndependent
.
@AnnaMyroniuk
tells us why it's so important.
Blame 'free market' reforms that benefit the rich and powerful at the expense of the working class for Kazakhstan's recent protests, write Balihar Sanghera and Elmira Satybaldieva.
It has now been more than 100 days since the residents of Nagorno-Karabakh have lived under Azerbaijan's blockade.
A new film aims to profile Karabakh Armenians who chose to return to the disputed territory after the 2020 war.
"I'm shocked by Ukrainians’ steely acceptance of their fate."
Read
@StankoNastya
's account of the astonishing resilience Kyiv is showing in the face of Russia’s invasion.
In solidarity with Ivan Golunov, we republish his recent investigation for
@meduzaproject
into property owned by the deputy mayor of Moscow, Pyotr Biryukov, and his family.
Well deserved! Putting herself at significant risk, Milashina exposed the widespread abuse, detention, and disappearance of LGBT people in Ramzan Kadyrov’s Chechnya. She had to leave Russia, but the brave example she sets lives on.
We're proud to announce that Russian investigative journalist Elena Milashina from Novaya Gazeta has been selected as winner of the Louis Lyons Award For Conscience and Integrity in Journalism by the 2018 Nieman Fellows at
@Harvard
.
"The lack of international mechanisms to stop Azerbaijan’s escalation has demonstrated a dangerous example of coercive conflict management," writes
@bahruz_samad
.
Hi friends, we've been following events around Armenia's
#Amulsar
gold mine for a while.
Today, we've got two Freedom of Information releases that shine a new light on the controversial mine - and the UK Foreign Office's support for it. Thread.
Radiation engineer Vyacheslav Yakushev started his shift at Chernobyl on 24 February like any other.
He went home only 600 hours later.
@Graty_me
reports what went down at Chernobyl power plant under Russian occupation.
“All of us have been living here for a very long time and feel we are a part of these people.”
Iranians living in Kyiv speak about Russia's war on Ukraine - and the Kremlin's deadly use of Iranian drones.
Evidence suggests a former investigative journalist, and former openDemocracy contributor, ran a secret Facebook campaign in support of a powerful family in the Central Asian state.
Read our story here:
Kostiatyn Velychko was a computer programme before the war.
After being captured by Russian forces, he used his skills to create a database of every prisoner in Olenivka, the prison he was held in outside Donetsk.
30 years ago Ukraine gave up nuclear weapons in return for security assurances. Now, it wants ironclad protection – so it doesn't get sold out again by the big powers
Comments from
@general_ben
,
@DrRadchenko
,
@AndriyYermak
and
@FabricePothier
.
In recent weeks, we've been investigating several of the foreign and domestic investors in Tashkent City, the flagship $1.3bn property development for the new and open Uzbekistan.
But we found some troubling details when looking at the "British investor".
Thread.
So, another Russian anarchist has now been tortured by the security services. That makes 8 clear cases, it seems:
Petersburg:
Viktor Filinkov
Ilya Kapustin
Penza:
Ilya Shakursky
Dmitry Pchelintsev
Chelyabinsk:
Maxim Anfalov
Dmitry Tsbikukovsky
Crimea:
Alexey Shestakovich
"When I refused to answer or gave unsatisfactory responses, they shocked me in the thighs and around my knees.
When they started taking my trousers off, threatening to shock me in the groin, I agreed to give evidence against myself".
This is the Russian state before elections.
With repression reaching fever pitch in Belarus and Russia, researchers call on European institutions to set up a new free university for young people fleeing repressive states.
Independent media have a crucial role to play in Russia – it must offer an alternative vision of what the country can be, write
@faridaily_
,
@theo_tindall
and
@sdiep
.
The UN needs to consider a demilitarised zone and peacekeeping mission for Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
For a world fractured over Russia's war, a 'small' action like this could unite reluctant or neutral states, writes
@ahatanhel
.
One of the biggest rallies in Moscow in recent years shows that in Russia protest is alive, well and unpredictable, reports Dmitry Sidorov - who takes us through yesterday's events in the Russian capital blow-by-blow.
Great to see Maria Zakharova congratulating Armenia on its revolution. Does that mean public organising and freedom of assembly are important to the Russian state? (No, but great to see Russia's Foreign Ministry call this one, with no public interference.)
We have two articles on the aftermath of Kazakhstan's Bloody January today, with our colleagues at
@Vlastkz
.
1)
@Mazorenko
and Almas Kaisar give a detailed account of how peaceful protests in Almaty started to give way to violence.
Revealed: How the UK government helped the boss of Russia’s murderous mercenary army to circumvent its own sanctions and launch a targeted legal attack on a British journalist.
New research shows that eight Scottish shell companies hold sizeable commercial interests in an Uzbek business conglomerate linked to the country’s president, writes
@LeaskyHT
.
Announcement: we will close this month due to fundraising difficulties.
To our readers: thank you for being the best readers we could have ever hoped for!
Dear friends. I regret to announce that
@opendemocracyru
will close this month due to fundraising difficulties.
It’s been a wild ride, and I’m hugely grateful to all of our readers for joining us on it.
When a young man blew himself up in a bomb attack against the FSB in northern Russia in 2018, journalist Svetlana Prokopyeva tried to understand why he did it.
Tomorrow she finds out whether she's going to prison for 6 years. Read her open letter here:
The last opposition politician in Transnistria, Moldova's pro-Russian breakaway region, is dead.
We profile Oleg Khorzhan - who called for dialogue with Moldova, and to fight against Transnistria's shadowy ruling group.