Alya Ponomaryova is a correspondent for RFE/RL's Russian Service.
Ukraine’s invasion of Russia’s Kursk region is the largest invasion of Russian territory by a foreign military since World War II. The Kremlin is struggling to keep the narrative under control.
Jailed Kremlin opponent Aleksei Navalny's claims that prison authorities are deliberately harming him instead of healing him have focused attention on health care -- or the lack thereof -- in Russian penitentiaries.
Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, who has been recuperating in Germany after being poisoned by a nerve agent, hsaid he will return to Russia to continue opposing President Vladimir Putin on January 17. Russians flocked to social media to weigh in on the decision and the looming showdown.
Journalists at Russia's respected business daily Vedomosti have warned that the paper's new acting editor in chief aims to undermine its independence. Activists fear the paper -- which began two decades ago as a partnership of Dow Jones, the Financial Times, and The Moscow Times -- will go the way of other influential independent media voices in Vladimir Putin's Russia.