Historian Alexander Etkind recently published a book on how Russia is fighting a war against the contemporary world. Holod has spoken to him about how Russia is waging that war, and when it is going to end
1 June 2023
If you cannot believe in it, read these three stories
24 May 2023
Journalist Yulia Galkina on how the Russian invasion of Ukraine destroys local patriotism in Russia
15 May 2023
Three decades ago, Russian soldiers invaded a newly independent state to “protect” the Russian-speaking population: it happened in Transnistria, a region of Moldova. With that war still fresh in many Transnistrians’ memories, they’re now grappling with the effects of the war raging in neighboring Ukraine
4 May 2023
A mobilized soldier ended up in prison for assaulting a superior; now he wants his family to get him to join the Wagner PMC so he could escape prison by fighting against Ukrainians.
24 April 2023
Five examples of Russian officials trying to justify their luxurious possessions
3 April 2023
Mary Reed, an American, arrived in the Soviet Union in 1927. In the land of her dreams, she found love but lost her freedom.
28 March 2023
Magazine
Arguments, denunciations and threats: how Russians argue over the war in group chats for neighbors and schoolkids’ parents.
22 March 2023
Vladimir Solovyov is a man of many professions. He studied engineering and economics, taught physics at a high school, ran a variety of successful businesses, and hosted Russia’s most popular talk shows of the 2000s. Today he is the arch-warmonger of the Russian state media.
21 March 2023
Stories of the Russian women who come to Argentina to give birth to “anchor babies”
14 March 2023
Milana Nazir, 20, is an ethnic Uzbek. She has faced xenophobia during almost her entire life in Russia. This is her story.
10 March 2023
Opinion
Independent activist Almut Rochowanski about the idea of a visa ban for Russians
30 August 2022
Sociologist Svetlana Stephenson on why Russians are in denial about the war
25 August 2022
Writer Sergey Medvedev reflects on utter disrespect for human life in Russia as a precursor for the tragedies of Grozny, Aleppo, and now Bucha and Mariupol
8 August 2022
With McDonald’s leaving the country, Russians are saying goodbye to more than just Big Mac
3 August 2022
What to read
Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has shattered the common cultural space which had its center in Moscow. Holod examines today’s pop music to figure out what Russian culture is turning into
19 December 2022
On an island in the Pacific a schoolteacher would always help colleagues in need. When his native village was bombed out they reported him to the police for anti-war stance
19 August 2022
Alexandra Kaluzhskikh, arrested at an anti-war rally in Moscow and tortured at a police precinct, shares her story
17 August 2022
Russian children’s author Yulia Yakovleva talked to children in Russia for two months about their experiences of the war. Here is what she found
12 August 2022