Podcasts by In Moscow

In Moscow's Shadows 59: Imagining a Ukrainian peace deal from 2022-02-20T10:00

It may well be, as US/UK leaders are saying, that it is too late, that Putin is determined to wage war on Ukraine, but even as we assiduously wargame the potential routes of advance and attack, ...

In Moscow's Shadows 58: Ukrainian thoughts, welcome to stagnation, and more 2022 predictions from 2022-02-14T10:00

With Schrodinger's War both imminent and unthinkable there is, to be blunt, only so much that can usefully be said about Russia and Ukraine. I start with a few observations on whether insid...

In Moscow's Shadows 57: Who's Trapping Whom on Ukraine, and some 2022 Predictions for Russia from 2022-01-30T12:00

I spin a post on the Nezygar Telegram channel out to explore the current uncertain state of play over Ukraine, covering topics from the current US claims of what its intelligence says about both...

Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas 2021-22 (6): A Christmas Scandal from 2022-01-28T00:00

One of the short bonuses provided to Patrons over the 2021-22 Christmas and New Year season, released generally a month later.

A Christmas tale of villainy and corruption.

There a...

Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas: 24 December 2021: Dmitry Mironov from 2022-01-24T00:00

One of the short bonuses provided to Patrons over the 2021-22 Christmas and New Year season, released generally a month later.

Who is Lt. Gen. Dmitry Mironov? It may prove worth knowing...

In Moscow's Shadows 56: Jaw-Jaw so Far, not War-War (brief thoughts on the state of play) from 2022-01-22T11:00

After the Blinken-Lavrov talks, a brief one-segment podcast with a few thoughts on the current state of the dialogue, the risks of conflict, and the chances that Moscow will formally recognise t...

Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas 2021-22 (7): Russia’s Planet Business in 2022 from 2022-01-12T00:00

One of the short bonuses provided to Patrons over the 2021-22 Christmas and New Year season, released later: usually a month, in this case a fortnight, as I think it's worth hearing early i...

In Moscow's Shadows 55: Kazakhstan, through the Russian lens from 2022-01-09T10:00

A Russian-led force deploying into Kazakhstan has inevitably had some people talking invasion, some stabilisation. I make no claims to being a Kazakhstan expert and look forward to people who ar...

In Moscow's Shadows 54: Naughty or Nice? What 2022 May Hold For Russia's Rulers from 2022-01-01T16:00

To kick off the year, rather than making some grand predictions about Russia, instead I speculate as to what 2022 may offer Putin, Patrushev, Mishustin, Shoigu, Kirienko and Kadyrov. So much wil...

In Moscow's Shadows 53: Trick or Treaties - Russia's proposals to'resolve'the current crisis from 2021-12-19T14:00

A short, one-segment piece on Russia's proposed new treaties and how, despite what their deputy foreign minister may say, we have to treat them as the basis for some kind of negotiation, an...

In Moscow's Shadows 52: Nightmares before Christmas? Ukraine and the Russian underworld from 2021-12-12T13:00

Quite what is Russia's game plan over Ukraine? It seems hard to explain through common sense, so I conduct a thought experiment: what would Putin have to be thinking to believe that a war, ...

In Moscow's Shadows 51: Ukraine, Prisons, Legitimacy and Lombards... from 2021-11-28T16:00

Something of a miscellany. First of all, latest thoughts - that turn out to be disappointingly inconclusive - about what's going on with Ukraine.

Then reflections on the appointmen...

In Moscow's Shadows 50: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Belarus and Ukraine from 2021-11-21T21:00

In the first part, a little exploration of MID, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its decline - and yet why it still ought not to be taken lightly. Then in the second half I look at the current c...

In Moscow's Shadows 49: Survivalism in Russia. And cheese. from 2021-11-14T15:00

While still processing a month spent in Russia, I feel that the uniting leitmotif is survivalism, that every sector - from ordinary Russians through the liberal intelligentsia and the bureaucrac...

In Moscow's Shadows 48: What can you learn from Tula? On Russian provincial life and politics, Governor Dyumin, and busses from 2021-10-24T11:00

A trip to Tula, 200km south of Moscow, provides a chance to mix a little history and travelogue with some thoughts about what the city reveals about the nature of provincial life, regional polit...

In Moscow's Shadows 47: Postcards from Moscow from 2021-10-17T10:00

Just back to Russia, my first trip since February 2020, and for this podcast I try something different - a random collection of impressions, mainly recorded on the street (so apologies for the o...

In Moscow's Shadows 46: New'Foreign Agent'restrictions and'Hybrid Warfare' from 2021-10-02T15:00

Two quite big topics this episode. First of all, the restrictive new rules on 'Foreign Agent' status that, if applied, would make it almost impossible to discuss military, security and...

In Moscow's Shadows 45: Pretty much everything but the election: Lavrov's corruption, Team Navalny's strategy, Zapad-2021, Stories That Didn't Bark, and Shoigu's future from 2021-09-19T18:00

I confess at this stage I couldn't think of much to say about the Russian elections that wasn't obvious, or hadn't been said, so instead I recorded a 'magazine' episode ...

In Moscow's Shadows 44: As above, so below - a prison riot in Kamchatka and a society looking to a sanitised past for hope from 2021-09-06T17:00

A shorter episode that looks at a vicious criminal's end in a prison riot in Kamchatka, and after talking a little about prison realities in Russia, considers some possible lessons for Russ...

In Moscow's Shadows 43: Poklonskaya, Ethnic Rumbles and Naryshkin's Claims to be Putin's Mate from 2021-08-29T17:00

Sometimes it's worth digging into what look like less important stories, to see what lessons the offer about the big picture developments, so I tackle three - who's likely to be the ne...

In Moscow's Shadows 42: Moscow's Afghan Worries, and the Trouble with Predictions from 2021-08-21T21:00

There may be a little schadenfreude as America abandons Afghanistan and the Taliban sweep into Kabul, but Moscow is worried, above all about the country's three traditions exports: terror, ...

In Moscow's Shadows 41: The Communist Party Embattled...And Occultism and Russian Politics from 2021-08-04T20:00

Having long relied on it as a stalwart of the ‘systemic opposition’, the Kremlin now seems to be treating the Communist Party (KPRF) as if it were a real opposition party. Might this push it int...

In Moscow's Shadows 40:'Mishustinism'and'Kozakisation'- the adventures of technocrats in Moscow and the Donbas from 2021-07-27T17:00

Is PM Mikhail Mishustin thinking long-term? His vision for Russia seems to be technocratic, maybe even techno-authoritarian, but it is interesting - and maybe implicitly subversive.

In ...

In Moscow's Shadows 39: Putin's latest article on Ukraine and his attempt to place himself on the right side of history from 2021-07-13T18:00

Another short, single-segment episode, this time looking at 'On the Historical Unity of Russians and Ukrainians,' Putin's latest venture into the role of amateur historian (availa...

In Moscow's Shadows 38: The topic I never thought I'd address: Sport from 2021-07-12T15:00

A brief, single-segment podcast on the distinctive roles of sport for today's Kremlin. Not a topic that I'd usually expect to discuss...

The journal article I mentioned on RT ...

In Moscow's Shadows 37: Direct Line and the Politics behind Politics; and Wars in Afghanistan Compared from 2021-07-03T13:00

The main reasons for the annual ritual of Putin's Direct Line phone-in encounter with the Russian people is to allow him to present himself as the caring father of the nation, savvy chief e...

In Moscow's Shadows 36: Good News/Bad News: The Geneva Summit and Coronavirus on the Rise from 2021-06-18T20:00

The Geneva Summit: frankly, as good as one could expect, with Biden offering a shrewd carrot and stick - Russia can feel itself more like a great power, if it plays more by the rules. No step-ch...

In Moscow's Shadows 35: Crackdown, Belarus, HMS Defender and the Putin-Biden Summit from 2021-06-12T21:00

A bit of a grab-bag: what to make of the continuing crackdown in Russia, is there scope to undermine the cohesion of the security forces in Belarus, should HMS Defender be heading into the Black...

In Moscow's Shadows 34: Belarus, of course from 2021-05-27T10:00

A spur-of-the-moment, off-the-top-of-my-head take on what's going (wr)on(g) in Belarus: the Russian connection or rather the absence of any evidence of one, Lukashenko's motivations, a...

In Moscow's Shadows 33: The Russian Orthodox Church PLC; and No Country For Old Securocrats from 2021-05-23T14:00

Is the Russian Orthodox Church a spiritual community, a political institution, or a business empire? The truth of the matter is that it has become all three, and I toy with the idea that we shou...

In Moscow's Shadows 32: Victory Day and Memory Politics, and the Kremlin in WW2 from 2021-05-09T21:00

Today (9 May) is Victory Day, and the sad truth is that this also inevitably means claims and counter claims of 'memory wars' over the Great Patriotic War. So what can and should we do...

In Moscow's Shadows 31: Navalny, Patrushev, Orban, and more [RELOADED] from 2021-05-01T21:00

A mysterious glitch silenced the first, Navalny-related part of this podcast. This has now been fixed, and the full, uncensored version is now up - should now be up.
 
From why th...

In Moscow's Shadows 30: The (Czech) Lion that Roared from 2021-04-18T13:00

A personal and unpolished snap response to the news that the Czech government is expelling 18 Russian diplomat-spies after an investigation linked the GRU's Unit 29155 - and the infamous &a...

In Moscow's Shadows 29: Is Russia Declining, and Is Putin's Handsome? from 2021-04-13T21:00

Why is there this talk of Russia as a 'declining power' - and is it true? I'd suggest we ought to use the term with caution, not least as we are all declining...

The Sara...

In Moscow's Shadows 28: The LDPR: Paralunatic Wing of United Russia from 2021-04-02T12:00

Rumours that Zhirinovsky is going to step down from leadership of the Liberal Democratic Party look more credible these days, and oligarch Oleg Deripaska is even being mooted as a successor. So,...

In Moscow's Shadows 27: Men of Force and Forceful Language from 2021-03-24T19:00

Who are the main 'siloviki' or 'men of force,' the heads of Russia's security structures? In response to a request from a patron, I give a run-through of the people and ...

In Moscow's Shadows 26: Moscow's Marvels, and Mob Murder from 2021-03-14T14:00

All the Ms. First of all, as a counter to the understandable pessimism about Russia at the moment, I look at some of the aspects of Moscow that still make me marvel, and consider how they offer ...

In Moscow's Shadows 25: Navalny in Prison from 2021-02-27T21:00

A short. 'one act' special: with the news (still unconfirmed) that Navalny is being sent to IK-2 penal colony in Vladimir region, I look at the prison, and what that may mean for him.<...

In Moscow's Shadows 24: Scenarios for Russia after Navalny, and Dzerzhinsky vs Nevsky [reloaded] from 2021-02-21T20:00

With Navalny in prison, the opposition mobilising, and the state cracking down, what will happen next?

The only honest answer anyone can give is "no idea." So instead of tryin...

In Moscow's Shadows 23: Is Navalny the best thing that ever happened to Putinism? Russia's'Stolypin moment'? from 2021-02-06T19:00

It's a deliberately provocative title, I know, but how might the 'Navalny effect' impact late Putinism? A swing towards blunt and uncompromising authoritarianism? A genuine '...

In Moscow's Shadows 22: The Morning After A Hot Day in Russia from 2021-01-24T09:00

Yesterday saw major protests all across Russia, a genuine success for Team Navalny. But now what? My rough and uncurated first thoughts...

You can also follow my blog, from 2021-01-18T08:00

Another short 'cellcast', though given its timeliness, going public straightaway.

In this cellcast, recorded on 18 January 2021, I take a very speculative, un-thought-through ...

In Moscow's Shadows 21: The Federal Protection Service (FSO) and Russian security politics; and Three Stories About the Opposition from 2021-01-11T16:00

The FSO, the Federal Protection Service (or Federal Guard Service) is more that just Putin's dark-suited bodyguards, or the goose-stepping soldiers at the Eternal Flame. In my latest explor...

Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas: 4 January: Kulikovo, 1380 to 2021 from 2021-01-11T09:00

So Russia has a new laser system, called Peresvet. Pere-who? This gets me talking, for the last of the Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas cellcasts, about the battle of Kulikovo in 1380 - and why ...

Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas: 1 January: Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu from 2021-01-08T09:00

How did Defence Minister Shoigu make it from graduating from Krasnoyarsk Poly as a construction engineer to being discussed as a potential future president? In this third cellcast of the 2020-21...

Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas: 28 December: Directorate K and the FSB's dilemma from 2021-01-04T09:00

How might a scandal from 2019 affect who runs the FSB in 2021? And should we consider levels of elite embezzlement a good index of their confidence? In this second cellcast of the 2020-21 T...

Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas: 25 December: Afghan Christmas from 2021-01-01T09:00

Today in 1979, Afghanistan was waking up under Soviet domination. In this first cellcast of the 2020-21 Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas, I pull out three aspects of that conflict of relevance t...

In Moscow's Shadows 20: Spooks: more Navalny, will the FSB change tack, and did the SVR carry out a'cyberattack'? from 2020-12-22T14:00

More on the Navalny case, the story that keeps unfolding, following the publication of his conversation with one of his would-be killers, and a rumination on whether there will be implications f...

In Moscow's Shadows 19: The Navalny Hit (after the Bellingcat/Insider report) from 2020-12-15T17:00

An impressively detailed investigation by Bellingcat and The Insider meticulously details the Russian Federal Security Service operation against Alexei Navalny, so here is a short podcast episod...

In Moscow's Shadows 18: Life in the Communist Party? And Three Random Stories from 2020-12-06T20:00

Is there life in the Communist Party, and any chance of it again becoming an opposition party, maybe even in some kind of entente with Alexei Navalny? My thoughts.

And in the second par...

In Moscow's Shadows Cellcast: 24 November 2020: Konstantin Malofeev and his Tsargrad party - a potential threat to the Kremlin from the right? from 2020-12-01T00:00

Another short 'cellcast', going out directly to my Patrons, and to everyone else a week later.

In this cellcast, recorded on 24 November, I look at the Orthodox, nationalist busi...

In Moscow's Shadows 17: Russian Gangsters; and Kadyrov and Captain America from 2020-11-22T11:00

An introduction to the Russian underworld and, especially, three problematic concepts - the 'honest thief,' the 'thieves' world' and the 'mafia state' - to kic...

In Moscow's Shadows 16: The Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR): and Is Putin Ill? (Spoiler: Probably Not) from 2020-11-08T11:00

After a few very brief observations on the US elections and the implications of a Biden presidency, a look at the SVR, its operations, role, culture and political ambitions of its director, Serg...

In Moscow's Shadows Cellcast: 1 November 2020: Five Things Bugging Me in Western Russia Coverage from 2020-11-08T00:00

Another short 'cellcast', going out directly to my Patrons, and to everyone else a week later.

A rant, plain and simple. Sparked by the article 'The Narcissism of The New Yo...

In Moscow's Shadows 15: In conversation with Anna Arutunyan, on sanctions, calling Putin's bluff, and various bunches of guys from 2020-10-24T08:00

In the first In Moscow's Shadows to have a guest, I talk to Anna Arutunyan, analyst and writer on Russia (her The Putin's Mystique is well worth a read if you don&apo...

In Moscow's Shadows 14: The Kremlin, Will and Empire; and, A Fistful of Books #1 from 2020-10-10T17:00

Russia has long considered the so-called 'Near Abroad' of post-Soviet states to be its sphere of influence. But does it really have the will to assert hegemony? I'd suggest that i...

In Moscow's Shadows Cellcast: 29 September 2020: A Week in the life of Sergei Naryshkin from 2020-10-06T00:00

Sergei Naryshkin, the director of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and chair of the Russian Historical Society, has been a busy man this past week, involving himself in everything from Bel...

In Moscow's Shadows 13: The GRU, and why is it so hard to leave Putin? from 2020-09-26T15:00

I take a general look at Russian military intelligence, the fearsome GRU (OK, GU for purists), what it is and does and what it isn't and doesn't...

And in the second part, I c...

In Moscow's Shadows Cellcast: 19 September 2020: Questioning Less about Navalny from 2020-09-19T10:00

A short cellcast 'mini-podcast' released in this case simultaneously to Patrons and publicly. Recording this was, frankly, triggered by exasperation that so many were leaping aboard th...

In Moscow's Shadows 12: Drift in Russian Politics and the Decay of the'Hybrid Regime'; on Cheating, in dissertations, politics and the underworld from 2020-09-12T12:00

What is going on with Putin and his regime? Less of a distinct answer to that question, and more a pondering of what we can read into the mishandling of a series of recent events, from the Naval...

In Moscow's Shadows Cellcast: 6 September 2020: Belarus's Strongmen from 2020-09-12T00:00

Released on 6 September to Patrons, public release later. A snapshot of the three key figures within Belarus's security structures: the new head of the KGB, the Interior Minister and the (n...

In Moscow's Shadows 11: On Power and its perceived absence: the National Guard, the European Union from 2020-08-30T10:00

Trying (it turns out in vain) to avoid the present inevitable concentration on Navalny and Belarus, I discuss two forms of power. What the creation and current role, status and business activiti...

In Moscow's Shadows Cellcast: 22 August 2020: #Navalny from 2020-08-29T08:00

What makes Alexei Navalny so dangerous for Putin's regime? This short 'cellcast' was provided to patrons of the podcast (ht...

In Moscow's Shadows Cellcast: 19 August 2020: Belarus, Russia and the Information War from 2020-08-19T19:00

Rumours abound amidst the Belarusian revolution. Why do I think that's a particular problem now? Because, as it looks like the revolution is moving from its protest to politics phase, the s...

In Moscow's Shadows Cellcast: 11 August 2020: Russia and Belarus from 2020-08-13T13:00

Belarus is in turmoil. Why did Lukashenka award himself such an implausible 80% of the vote> How does Moscow see the current crisis, and what might it do about it? 

This is one of the s...

In Moscow's Shadows 10: Russian Influence, Soft Power and Dark Power from 2020-08-08T10:00

The release of a long-awaited report on Russian influence in the UK provides a chance to look at why Moscow tries - and often fails - to exert influence, and why the Kremlin seems to default to ...

In Moscow's Shadows 9: Thrones of Bayonets (and hacking coronavirus research) from 2020-07-20T13:00

There is more to Putin's regime than his capacity to threaten and unleash violence - but this is a crucial element, and as his legitimacy wanes, this may come to the fore. Thrones of bayone...

In Moscow's Shadows 8: Serebrennikov, Miniakhmetov and Set'and the'Three Russias' from 2020-07-05T10:00

The big story is the constitutional vote, but I honestly have nothing new to say about that, so instead I take three controversial court cases - Kirill Serebrennikov the director, Colonel Miniak...

In Moscow's Shadows 7: Technocrats and Cultural Warriors, and Why I'd Vote No In the Constitutional Plebiscite from 2020-06-22T11:00

Having talked about Security Council secretary Patrushev in the last podcast, he and most of the other heads of the security agency chiefs suddenly seem uncharacteristically newsworthy - and the...

In Moscow's Shadows 6: The Most Dangerous Man in Russia from 2020-06-14T20:00

Who could be the most dangerous man in Russia? A president? An ideologue? A kleptocrat? A gangster? None of those, in my opinion...

If anyone is interested in the Argumenty i Fakty<...