Vladimir Putin

Police officers walk near the Basmanny District Court in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, March 24, 2024.

Politics over intelligence: Crocus Hall shooting in Moscow raises security concerns

Violence

Russia is mourning the deadly attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow, on Friday, March 22. Despite many unanswered questions about the attack, the Kremlin is already forming a narrative that will likely have severe political and security implications. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, listens to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu after their meeting with the top military brass in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2023.

Putin preps for presidential reelection campaign amid ongoing war

Leaders
A portrait of the owner of private military company Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin lays at an informal memorial next to the former 'PMC Wagner Centre' in St. Petersburg, Russia, Aug. 24, 2023.

Reported death of Wagner Group leader ‘strengthens Putin’s hold on power,’ analyst says

Conflict
A group of mothers and guardians meet to discuss an upcoming trip to Russia and occupied parts of Ukraine to retrieve their missing children.

Ukrainian parents take risky trips to Russia to retrieve their deported children

Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko talk during their meeting in Minsk, Belarus, Monday, Dec. 19, 2022.

Putin reinforces military, security bonds with Belarus at Minsk meeting

Ukraine
A voter moves to cast their vote after filling out their ballot at a polling site inside The Shed arts center, Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.

Russia is placing ‘a major bet’ on US midterm election outcomes, journalist says

Ukraine

Journalist Mikhail Fishman, an anchor at the independent Russian news outlet TV Rain, joined The World’s host Marco Werman to talk about how the Russian government is placing “a big bet” on US midterm elections outcomes that will favor Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.

headshot of man

Russian dissident remains in prison on trumped-up charges

Ukraine

Vladimir Kara-Murza is one of the most well-known opposition politicians in Russia. Like Alexei Navalny, and dozens of other opposition politicians in Russia, Kara-Murza is in prison. Right now, he is awaiting his day in court after being accused of high treason. He is one of hundreds of documented political prisoners in Russia.

Funeral workers burry a coffin with an unidentified civilian body, who died in Bucha during the Russian occupation period in February-March 2022, during a funeral in Bucha, Ukraine

Digital clues and the stories Ukraine’s mass graves tell

Conflict & Justice

There are two kinds of mass graves in Ukraine, the ones left after Russian executions, and the ones dug by local people to prevent disease or to protect the bodies. Now, there are efforts underway to document the graves and create digital records of the bodies, in order to identify them later.

man at podium

The controversial Chechen leader who supports Putin in Ukraine

Conflict

Russian President Vladimir Putin promoted Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov to army general this month. Kadyrov is a long-time ally of Putin and is known for his inflammatory remarks and abysmal human rights record. He has also described Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “holy war.”

A view of the Big Kremlin Palace and Churches with the Moskva River in Moscow, Russia

Russian propaganda tries to convince youth that Russia is “always a victim of the West,” great-granddaughter of Nikita Khrushchev says

Global Politics

Russian schools are revamping their curriculum and encouraging students to join a new patriotic youth movement in an attempt to steer them away from Western influence. To discuss how propaganda works, The World’s host Marco Werman speaks with Nina Khrushcheva, professor of international affairs at The New School in New York and great-granddaughter of former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev.