HBO's new miniseries Chernobyl, a gloomy and lyrical historical drama that tells the story of the catastrophic explosion of a nuclear power plant in Soviet Ukraine in 1986, has taken the unusual decision to cast a nearly all British cast of actors. Why does Stalinism seem so plausible in a British accent, and what does that say about the parallels between contemporary Britain and the USSR?
Ten years ago this month, Russian human rights advocate and journalist Stanislav Markelov was shot and killed by a Russian ultranationalist Nikita Tikhonov on a busy Moscow street. The aftermath of the murder helped to bring to light the collusion between the Russian state and the nexus of ultranationalist groups responsible for Stanislav Markelov's killing. In this article Thomas Rowley and Guiliano Vivaldi analyse the events that lead up to the murder, and Markelov's incredible work fighting for the oppressed in Russia.
From the continuities with Yeltsin’s disaster capitalism, the rise of the oligarchs to Putin’s ‘vertical of power’ in the post-Soviet state – what future is possible in Russia?
In this long-read, Sheila Rowbotham examines the changing conditions for women before, during, and after the Russian Revolution, as well as the political and social roles played by women during each period.
