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Articles by Eva Hartog

The Women Ambassadors Club

A small group of women diplomats is paving the way to Moscow.

The Evolution of Homo Sovieticus to Putin’s Man

The tumultuous decades have left their mark on Russians' inner life

Road Rage: How a New Tax Has Turned Dagestan's Truckers Into Russia's Most Stoic Protesters

A road tax that could cut truckers’ salaries by half is escalating one of Russia’s most enduring protests.

Airbnb Checks Out of Russia

The San Francisco rental site Airbnb came to Russia in 2012. It promised to usher in the era of the sharing economy—replacing Soviet-era kommunalkas...

How a New Law Is Making It Difficult for Russia’s Aggregators to Tell What's New(s)

A new law that came into effect this year might have turned Russian news aggregators' algorithms accomplices of state censorship.

The Story of Vedomosti — A Russian Newspaper's Struggle for Independence

Does the departure of Vedomosti’s veteran editor pose yet another threat to Russia’s already embattled independent media scene?

Why Russia's Opposition Now Takes Pride in 'Brilliant Green' Attacks

The battle against Russia’s political opposition is being waged with a bright green liquid that comes in a tiny glass bottle.

How a Bank’s Collapse Sparked Russia’s Least Likely Street Protests

A banking crisis has exposed Russia's murky financial sector and made Tatarstan the unlikely setting for political protest.

Three Years After Crimea's Annexation, Russia Is Still Celebrating

Three years after the annexation, Crimea is beyond the point of no return.

Russia's Eurovision Battle

Russia has claimed the moral high ground by nominating a singer in a wheelchair. But how much of that is calculation?

God's Surprise Visit to Crimea

Since Duma Deputy Natalya Poklonskaya announced on national television that a bust of Tsar Nicholas in Crimea had started weeping, Russians have been divided...

Nemtsov’s Night Watchmen

Braving the elements, darkness, intimidation, a group of activists is holding vigil at the site Boris Nemtsov was murdered two years ago.

Hijab Politics: A Russian Village on the Frontlines of Religious Dispute

A ban on Islamic headscarves in Mordovia has ignited a nationwide debate over the line between religion and state.

Zhdun, the Latest Meme Sweeping Over Russia — Exclusive Interview

This grey, vaguely anthropomorphic blob of epoxy is the latest craze on the Russian internet. We talked to him and his slightly befuddled Dutch creator...

Russian Tsar's Love Life Sparks Cinema Censorship Row

Even before its release, a film depicting romantic liaisons between Nicholas II and a Polish ballerina has provoked an angry response from religious activists...

Alexei Navalny’s Sisyphean Battle

A suspended sentence for leading Putin critic surprised no one, and it isn’t about to end his presidential ambitions.

Students Accuse Top Paris University of Pandering to the Kremlin

A group of students at a prestigious French university has accused their institution’s leadership censoring events with Kremlin critics.

An American Cover Story for Russia's Undercover Hackers

According to two sources, the treason and espionage charges against these hackers are likely part of a cover story. Ultimately, the loss of Shaltai Boltai...

Russia Tries to Remember the Holocaust

The government supports Holocaust commemoration, but Soviet war narratives die hard.

Bargaining Chips: Why Russian Orphans Might Become Political Pawns Once Again

European Court ruling raises hope that Russia’s much-derided ban on adoption by U.S. citizens could soon be overturned.

A New Map For Syria

Following Russia’s script, the Astana talks have set the tone for future developments in the Middle East.

Mightier Than the Sword: How Politics Is Tearing Apart PEN Russia

The expulsion of a prominent writer has split Russia's writer community and brought back ghosts of Soviet censorship.

Russia Is No Nirvana: How Yogis Are Becoming a Persecuted Minority

An innocuous blend of gymnastics and Eastern philosophy increasingly popular with Russians has found itself the latest target of a series of repressive...

In a Spin: Kremlin Wrestles With Russia's Revolutionary History

On the eve of the 1917 revolution's centennial, fact gives way to myth as the Kremlin extols national unity over historical truth.

From German ‘Millionaire’ to Grozny Aide: Meet the Winner of Kadyrov’s Reality Show

At the end of last month, the reality television show "Komanda" ended with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov picking a new strategic advisor to his government...

Return of the Crown: Russia Dreams of Chess

The re-emergence of a Russian at the chess top table has seen the sport return to the nation’s hearts.

BP ‘Complicit’ in Destruction of Russia's Free Press, Says Embattled Media Firm RBC

One of Russia's last remaining independent media says only BP can save it from Rosneft’s wrath and total destruction.

The Kadyrov Show

Chechen strongman takes to reality TV to select a lucky assistant.

Park Pits Protesters Against Powerful Russian Orthodox Church

When you take up an adversary as powerful as the Russian Orthodox Church, you should get ready for a long and difficult fight.

The Loyalty of Fear

In court, Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev described himself as the “victim of a provocation.” Though he’s not imminently prison bound...

Was a Russian Politician's Daughter Sacked for Political Reasons? The BBC Doesn't Think So

The Kremlin's officials might be full of patriotism, but their children live abroad.

Jailed Russian Dissident Pleads for His Life in Letter Home to Wife

A harrowing account by a Russian political prisoner of mass beatings and torture at the hands of prison guards is sending shockwaves through the country's...

Prominent Russian Activist Jailed for Anti-Putin Bolotnaya Protest Walks Free

An active opposition activist jailed in 2012 after participating in anti-Kremlin protests has been released.

With Putin in Cc: How Petitions Are Changing Russia

It has been more than a decade, but Olga Rybkovskaya's voice still goes tense when she talks about her son's stint in hospital. He was only ten years old...

Russian Sport Undergoes a Penance-Free Purge

No stranger to scandal, Vitaly Mutko always said that he would step down as sports minister only at the Kremlin's bidding. And so when he resigned on Oct...

Putin Ally Attempts to Silence Coverage, Ends Up Attracting More

Igor Sechin is a politically-connected oil tycoon who took out court order to silence reporting on his alleged wealth. He found out the internet doesn't...

Bust Up: How a Stalin Statue Divided a Siberian City

The appearance of a bust of Stalin in Surgut, western Siberia is a rare physical manifestation of the deep rift in Russian society that lingers over his...

Penned In: 'Godfather' of Russian Internet Anton Nossik Faces Prison

The 'father' of the RuNet is facing prison for a pro-government blog post supporting Russian airstrikes in Syria.

A ‘Long Haul’ Still Ahead for Russia and Flight MH17 Crash

As a Dutch-led investigation team on Wednesday provided further evidence of Russia's role in the fatal crash of Flight MH17, Moscow is not budging an inch...

WADA Hack: Is Russia Behind the Fancy Bears Hackers Group?

The Fancy Bears have struck again.

Winner Takes All: United Russia Secures a Duma Super-Majority

The final result was overwhelming: United Russia took 343 out of the State Duma’s 450 seats, gaining a constitutional super-majority. Russia’s friendly...

Will Russia's Opposition Draw the Right Lessons From Electoral Defeat?

The Russian opposition on Monday awoke to an electoral hangover — in some cases quite literally — after suffering a crushing defeat in the polls that...

Russian Election 2016: Angry Grannies in the Voting Booth

Russian pensioners have reason to be angry: They’ve been among the hardest hit by Western sanctions and low oil prices. When Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev...

One Answer Too Many: The Fall of Russia’s Only Independent Pollster Levada

On Sept. 5, the Justice Ministry included Levada on its “foreign agents” registry after finding the NGO was engaged in “political activity” and...

Welcome to the New Moscow, Where Streets Are Paved With Holes

The dust will have barely settled when Moscow celebrates the annual City Day on Sept. 10. City Hall has promised more than 200 free excursions around the...

Aging Rebel: Vladimir Zhirinovsky Is Enjoying Another Moment

“All of humanity knows me,” he says. “My name is in encyclopedias, in registers and databases. Books have been written, films recorded. I’m happy...

Down, Down, Down: Why Russia’s Ruling Political Party Keeps Losing Support

With little over two weeks left until Russia stages a parliamentary vote, ruling party United Russia is struggling to reverse a downward trend.

Bon Appetit! Russian Ex-Convicts Share Recipes From Prison on Instagram

Russian prisoners of conscience share their favorite jailhouse dishes

God, Stalin and Patriotism — Meet Russia's New Education Chief

Less than a week into the job, Russia's new education and science minister is caught up in a storm of criticism over her ties to the Russian Orthodox Church...

Anger and Paranoia. Inside the Minds of Russia's Excluded Olympians

Russian officials and the media widely celebrated the International Olympic Committee’s decision on Sunday not to impose a blanket ban on the Russian...

Nemtsov Trial to Bring More Questions Than Answers

Opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down while walking home over the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge near the Kremlin late one February evening in 2015...

Partisans or Cop Killers? The Fight for Justice in Russia's Far East

For several months in 2010, the group known as the Primorsky Partizany targeted police in violent attacks. It was an instance of armed civilian resistance...

How Russia's Electronic Music Scene Turned Political

Dmitry Puzyryovsky, 27, was ready to rave. Part of a group of ten friends, some of whom had traveled especially for the occasion from St. Petersburg and...

Why Russia's Prisma App Could Take Over the World

"It looks like we've taken Russia." These are not the words of Napoleon. 

Who is Mr Mutko, Russia's Embattled Sports Minister?

For Russia’s sports minister, 2016 is likely to go down as the most turbulent year of his life — and that is saying something.

Brought to Heel - Russian Women, Stilettos and Stereotypes

When, last month, a girl in Canada shared a photo on social media of her bloodied feet after a work shift in heels as a waitress, it triggered...

Moscow's Awkward Response to the Orlando Shooting

A day after the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history, Felix Glykman and his boyfriend went to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. They were carrying...

The Curse of Vladivostok's Crooked Mayors

Igor Pushkaryov had just under nine hours to contemplate his sudden change in fortune — the time it takes to fly to Moscow from Russia's Pacific...

A Russian Rich Kid's Joyride to Jail

When the son of a top Russian oil executive recorded a multi-hour chase with Russian traffic police, he thought it would bring him social media stardom...

Why Are Cossacks Making A Comeback in Russia?

At Moscow's Kazachya Lavka, or Cossack Store, you don't need to be rich to be a Cossack. Their fake-fur version of the famous red papakha hat will...

Live Blog: Pilot Nadiya Savchenko Returns Home to Ukraine

Following months of negotiations, Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko is on her way back to Ukraine as part of a dramatic prisoner swap, media reported Wednesday...

Deadly Moscow Cemetery Feud Raises Concern of Return to 90s

It could have been a scene straight out of The Sopranos. On Saturday, 15 cars rocked up to the Khovanskoye cemetery on the southwestern outskirts of Moscow...

Russia Loses to Ukraine in 'Politicized' Eurovision Final

Ukraine came first in the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, in a defeat for Russia that many in Moscow claim is more connected to geopolitics than its...

Jailed for Protesting Against the Kremlin — Life 4 Years After Bolotnaya

The lights went out without so much as a flicker in the Moscow apartment shared by Andrei Barabanov, his mother and girlfriend one evening in late...

From Sore Loser to Slated Winner: Russia's Eurovision Victory

Russia's candidate at this year's Eurovision Festival is arguably being more successful at building bridges than its Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Neither Pro-Kremlin Pundits Nor Opposition Safe From Hackers

It was 2:25 a.m. on Friday when the SMS function on Oleg Kozlovsky's mobile phone was silently disabled. 15 minutes later, an unknown device requested...

Controversial Ex-General Appointed to Defend Russia's Human Rights

The appointment of former police general to a key human rights post has been labelled a "catastrophe" by activists.

Is Critical Media Reason for Attacks on Russian Billionaire Prokhorov?

Dmitry Kiselyov, the notorious Kremlin propagandist, gives the camera time to zoom in on the RBC newspaper he has just plucked from a nearby table...

Was a St. Petersburg Journalist Brutally Killed for Being Gay?

It was clear something was afoot with Dmitry Tsilikin. There had been no news from the journalist since he had returned from a work trip to Riga on March...

A Kremlin Youth Movement Goes Rogue

Dmitry Chugunov has all the characteristics of a Kremlin golden boy. Sitting in a shiny office at Russia’s Public Chamber building in central Moscow...

Russia Wins Silent Victory Against Ukraine With Dutch 'No' Vote

The Netherlands awoke to a post-election hangover dominated by questions over how to interpret the results of a plebiscite in which an overwhelming majority...

Russian Bear Looms Over Dutch Referendum

Dutch referendum heavily influenced by anti-European and pro-Russian lobbies may seal the fate of Ukraine's EuroMaidan revolution.

Russia vs. Scientology: Kremlin Cracks Down on Controversial Church

A Russian radio engineer brought the Church of Scientology to Russia in the 1990s, but now the Orthodox Church and the court system are using any...

Dreams in Isolation: Crimea 2 Years After Annexation

The soldiers carry assault rifles and stand guard, some of them wearing black balaclavas to protect their faces. No more than 100 meters and a bridge...

How Telegram Became the Durov Brothers' Weapon Against Surveillance

Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in late February, Pavel Durov looked like a man in control.

Moscow Fights Civil Disobedience With a Spray Can

There is a thriving group of graffiti and street artists who use Moscow as their canvas to spread social and political messages.

UN Says Russia Knows Who's Behind Syria Hospital Strikes

United Nations human rights spokesman Rupert Colville has said that the deadly air strikes on several hospitals and schools in northern Syria on Monday...

Russian Women — They're Just Not That Into You

When Russia plunged into chaos following the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of its citizens looked for a reliable way out — foreigners were viewed...

What Do Russians Really Think? The Truth Behind the Polls

The champagne corks were already popping for New Year's Eve celebrations when several thousand Crimeans received an unexpected phone call.

Letters From a Russian Political Prisoner

In Alexander Solzhenitsyn's book "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich," the main character is allowed to write home to his wife and children...

Silicon Valley Still Beats Skolkovo for Russia's Richest Tycoons

Two of the country's richest tycoons have made large investments in some of the world's most eye-catching tech projects — outside Russia.

Kadyrov Controversy Turns Into Opposition Phone Tapping Scandal

A statement by Chechen leader Kadyrov branding the Russian opposition "enemies of the people" has evolved into a whirlwind of allegations and misinformation...

Netflix's Desire for World Domination Reaches Russia

China, the world's most populous country, might have slipped through its fingers, but with Russia Netflix pocketed the largest country by landmass and the...

Putin on Russia-West Relations: 'We've Done Everything Wrong'

The West and Russia never re-established a relationship of trust following the Soviet Union's collapse, President Putin said in an interview, blaming past...

State vs Art: Russia's 2015 Crackdown on Contemporary Culture

"It's theater. We were just playing." That's how Boris Mezdrich, his tone simultaneously apologetic and defiant, described the avant-garde production...

Unwanted and Shunned: Russia Cracks Whip on Foreign NGOs

Even as Russia's beleaguered NGOs were struggling to come to terms with the "foreign agents" label, a sweeping new law against "undesirable" organizations...

Angry Russian Businessmen Turn on Kremlin

When Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Potapenko exploded in rage at the Moscow Economic Forum he could not have known he would become an Internet sensation...

Magnitsky Policeman Karpov Accuses Navalny of Plotting With Bill Browder

A former Interior Ministry official has accused opposition leader Alexei Navalny of having ties to Bill Browder — the head of the Hermitage Capital investment...

Moscow School Teaches Russian Boys to Look Up to Cavemen

When Ruslan Goncharov, 25, refers back to the Stone Age, it is not for history's sake, but as an example of better days.

Charging Chaika Would Be Return to Stalinism - Medvedev

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in a televised interview compared Alexei Navalny's charges against the country's General Prosecutor Yury Chaika...

Lost in Russia: How Liza Alert Gave Faces to the Names of Thousands of Missing People

Liza Alert volunteer Svetlana Popova, 33, has thought about quitting on multiple occasions. Every time a missing person doesn't get found, she said,...

Less Fur, More Oil — Why Paris Won't Change Russia's Attitude to Climate Change

It will take more than promises by Putin to change the attitude to climate change.

Russians Want Better Ties With West, But No Change in Policy — Poll

Amid a standoff over the crisis in Ukraine and ongoing conflict in Syria, most Russians want their country to mend ties with its nemeses even while maintaining...

Russians Fear Terror Attack After Paris, Egypt — Poll

The level of fear among Russians about the possibility of a terror attack is approaching those recorded in the direct aftermath of twin suicide bombings...

Russian School Head Causes Fury After Proposing Fundraiser for New Su-24

Parents in the central Russian city of Saratov have expressed outrage after the head of a local school said students were raising funds for a new bomber...

Lost in Russia: How Liza Alert Gave Faces to the Names of Thousands of Missing People

Liza Alert volunteer Svetlana Popova, 33, has thought about quitting on multiple occasions. Every time a missing person doesn't get found, she said,...

Moscow's Filipino Domestic Staff: No Longer An Expat Preserve

Despite the language barrier and weak ruble, Filipinos continue to work in Russia — and not just for expats.

Art, Madness or Terrorism? Pyotr Pavlensky and the Art of Weakness

The main entrance to the yellow building on Lubyanskaya Ploshchad in central Moscow rarely gets used — but even when the huge doors remain closed...

Russian Tourists to Be Repatriated From Egypt on Putin's Orders

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Friday to suspend air traffic with Egypt on the advice of the head of the Federal Security Service, his spokesman...

Kremlin: Charlie Hebdo's Russian Plane Crash Cartoons 'Blasphemous'

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has described two cartoons reportedly published in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo as “blasphemous,” amid a wave...