A NOTE: Our Russia-Ukraine Resources are updated weekly - if you're accessing the page three or more weeks past the below date, pieces mentioned in this post may have been removed to make room for up-to-date resources.
To receive our weekly updates on this conflict directly to your inbox, join our mailing list by providing your contact information under 'Join Us' at the bottom of this page.
Updated Resources - July 31, 2024
Pedestrians on Nevsky Prospekt - St. Petersburg, Russia. (Ninara from Helsinki, Finland, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
Kyiv Independent: Newsfeed
Novaya Gazeta Europe: Newsfeed
The Insider: Newsfeed
The Telegraph via Apple Podcasts - Ukraine: The Latest
Russian diaspora protests against war in Ukraine at Rynek Główny, Kraków, Poland. 20 March 2022. (Silar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
WHAT'S ON OUR MIND
In addition to our weekly resource update, today we also offer an updated collection of pieces on the Israeli-Hamas war.
For nearly two and half years we’ve followed the war in Ukraine and among our network, an ongoing line of inquiry pervades discussion of the conflict. If we suppose that Putin - contrary to the perspective pushed by some outlets to this day - is not entirely alone in his support of this war, who else stands at his side? How has time - and its many revelations - informed and impacted sentiments on the war? And how do perspectives among recent Russian emigres fit into this picture? In this week’s resource update, we take the temperature within Russia and in doing so, contemplate the wartime experience of those who remain in Russia and those who have left, as well as what the war has revealed about Russian society.
We begin with a top down view from Foreign Affairs that examines Russian elites’ transition from shock and loss in the early days of the war to ‘tolerable acceptance’ - and in some instances, outright support - as the war waxes on. Russia.Post explores a parallel progression of sentiment among everyday Russians who initially opposed the war, but who remained in Russia and who are now gradually changing their views. The former publication also presents a broader sociological perspective positing ‘fear’ as the usual state of Russian society, delving into how it shapes perceptions of the war and opining on how to shift these perceptions. For a more detailed study on public sentiment throughout the course of the first year of the war, we offer a report from Re: Russia.
The latest polling from Moscow’s Levada Center suggests that more Russians than ever support peace talks, and the Center’s director explains the apparent paradox of those who can support both peace talks and the war itself in a piece from The Moscow Times. In Russia.Post, political scientists offer a different interpretation of Russian wartime attitudes, suggesting that in lieu of querying support for the war, researchers should instead ask whether Russians care about the war. Based on a series of surveys conducted between February 2022 and April 2024, another piece from Russia.Post recounts how Russians envision their country’s future amid the ongoing war.
Beyond civilian attitudes, Meduza reports on a new therapeutic trend that positions open discussion of the war as ‘bad form,’ and explains that many psychologists and public figures are choosing to instead focus on ‘post-traumatic growth,’ referring to the benefits they claim combat experience has on soldiers’ psyches.
From wartime experiences within Russia to those beyond, we shift focus with two pieces from The Moscow Times that reveal the insecurity, fear, and hope among Russian emigres in Canada and in Poland. A third piece from the former publication issues a concerning report that a black market purveyor of stolen personal data has compiled a list of Russians who left their country following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Institut Français des Relations Internationales offers expert analysis on the challenges and opportunities posed by Russian emigration to Europe, and Russia.Post publishes a journalist’s rebuttal to these experts’ proposal for a new EU approach to Russian emigres.
Meduza unravels why Western tourists and expats are returning to Russia despite the war raging on in Ukraine. Finally, Desk Russie offers insights from a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences who, as a wartime emigre, has gathered dozens of colleagues to reflect on the meaning of this war, Kremlin ideology, and the depth and breadth of societal changes post-invasion.
In the arts, the new - and dangerous - world of Russian publishing, and Russian anti-war performers fight to remain relevant in exile.
Find these stories on today’s Russia-Ukraine resource page update. We’re taking a brief break in our resource curation on the Israel-Hamas War this week, and will resume this curation the week of August 12.
STATEMENT