Wednesday, February 18, 2026

Putin’s War is Why So Many Russians are Suffering in the Dark, Cold and without Water, ‘Important Stories’ Says

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Paul Goble             Staunton, Feb.16 – The independent Important Stories portal says that since the start of Putin’s expanded war in U...
Tuesday, February 17, 2026

Kremlin’s Ban on Open Discussion of Federalism Leading to Radicalization of Ethnic and Regional Movements, Pylayeva Says

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Paul Goble             Staunton, Feb. 16 – Lana Pylayeva, a Komi activist who is a member of the platform at PACE for dialogue with Russia...
Monday, February 16, 2026

Russians Now Equally Divided as to Whether They Can Trust Others, with Young and Those who Think Their Country is Going in the Wrong Direction Less Likely to Do So, Levada Center Polls Show

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Paul Goble             Staunton, Feb. 13 – According to a December 2025 Levada Center poll, 50 percent of Russians say that they believe i...
Sunday, February 15, 2026

Russia’s Fate Being ‘Decided by the Economy and Not with the Seizure of Some Village in Ukraine,’ Kalashnikov Says

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Paul Goble             Staunton, Feb. 13 – Maksim Kalashnikov, a Russian commentator who favors an even more aggressive approach to Ukrain...

Tolkien’s Orcs, and the Identification of Russians with Them, Key to Understanding Putin’s Country, Savvin Says

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Paul Goble             Staunton, Feb. 12—References to Orcs, the evil characters of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels, have increased in frequency i...

Russia Threatened by Rise of So-Called ‘Lumpen Intelligentsia’, Club of the Regions Experts Say

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Paul Goble             Staunton, Feb. 12 – Thirty-five percent of the graduates of Russian higher educational institutions are now employe...

Draft Law Would Ban Religious Services in Russian Apartment Houses, Hitting Muslims Hardest

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Paul Goble             Staunton, Feb. 13 – Members of all four parliamentary parties in the Russian Duma have proposed a law that would ba...