Moscow (Russia)
Griner’s Sentence Renews Pressure on President Biden
WASHINGTON — Immediately after a Moscow judge handed down Brittney Griner’s nine-year prison sentence on Thursday, calls grew louder for President Biden to find a way to bring her home. “We call on President Biden and the United States government to redouble their efforts to do whatever is necessary and possible,” the Rev. Al Sharpton […]
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Looming Question for Putin Opponents: Can You Change Russia From Jail?
Shortly after Russia shocked the world by attacking Ukraine on Feb. 24, Ilya V. Yashin, a local Moscow councilman and prominent opposition figure, decided it was time to see a dentist. The Kremlin was in the process of criminalizing criticism of the war, and Mr. Yashin, a very vocal critic, had decided to stay in […]
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Putin’s War in Ukraine Shatters an Illusion in Russia
The last time I was in Russia, the summer of 2015, I came face to face with a contradiction. What if a place was unfree, but also happy? How long could it stay that way? Moscow had blossomed into a beautiful, European city, full of meticulously planted parks, bike lanes and parking spaces. Income for […]
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Spurred by Putin, Russians Turn on One Another Over the War
Marina Dubrova, an English teacher on the Russian island of Sakhalin in the Pacific, showed an uplifting YouTube video to her eighth-grade class last month in which children, in Russian and Ukrainian, sing about a “world without war.” After she played it, a group of girls stayed behind during recess and quizzed her on her […]
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Shaken at First, Many Russians Now Rally Behind Putin’s Invasion
The stream of antiwar letters to a St. Petersburg lawmaker has dried up. Some Russians who had criticized the Kremlin have turned into cheerleaders for the war. Those who publicly oppose it have found the word “traitor” scrawled on their apartment door. Five weeks into President Vladimir V. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, there are signs […]
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Russia Is Losing Tens of Thousands of Outward-Looking Young Professionals
YEREVAN, Armenia — At the Lumen cafe in the Armenian capital, Russians arrive as soon as the doors open, ordering specialty coffees, opening up their sleek Apple laptops and trying to navigate a dwindling array of options for starting their lives over. The background music and the sunlit interior are calming counterpoints to the frantic […]
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China Becomes a Paralympic Sled Hockey Power Behind Russian Coach
BEIJING — All the Russian athletes were kicked out of the Paralympics before the Games began last week, but there is still a Russian here, and he has a chance to win a medal. Nikolay Sharshukov, the little-known Russian coach of China’s national para ice hockey team, has transformed the fledgling squad into a contender […]
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Xi and Putin’s ‘No Limits’ Bond Leaves China Few Options on Ukraine
On a frigid day in Beijing last month as the Winter Olympics were set to open, China’s leader, Xi Jinping, celebrated a diplomatic triumph with a banquet for his honored guest, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. They had just finalized a statement declaring their vision of a new international order with Moscow and Beijing […]
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Republicans Sharpen Their Message on Ukraine
Immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the political debate in the U.S. was a free-for-all. Democrats and some Republicans aligned behind President Biden exhibiting what was once considered a traditional show of unity in a crisis. Other Republicans blasted Biden as weak and insufficiently tough on Russia. In perhaps the strangest twist, still other Republicans, […]
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