Russia & the former Soviet Union
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Russian economy stagnates as presidential election approaches
By Andrea Peters, 10 March 2018
Russians will head to the polls on March 18, as the Kremlin touts an economic recovery that leaves millions behind.
Armando Iannucci’s The Death of Stalin: A fatally ill-conceived “black comedy”
By David Walsh, 9 March 2018
Ianucci’s new film about the demise of the gravedigger of the Russian Revolution is not so much maliciously anticommunist as it is, above all, historically clueless.
Putin’s state of the nation speech highlights crisis of Russian oligarchy
By Clara Weiss, 6 March 2018
Menaced by US imperialism and gripped by economic crisis, the Russian state headed by Putin offers no solution to the historic impasse facing the country.
Nothing learned from Auschwitz
By Johannes Stern, 6 February 2018
Just a cursory glance at the politicians assembled in the German parliament to commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz makes clear the same ruling class that made Hitler chancellor 85 years ago is returning to its infamous traditions.
Russia’s presidential election campaign unfolds amid rising social discontent
By Clara Weiss, 23 January 2018
A recent commentary in the Gazeta.Ru warned that the kind of working class unrest that shook Iran might also easily occur in Russia.
What does Russian “opposition leader” Alexei Navalny represent?
By Clara Weiss, 9 January 2018
There is a stark disjuncture between the overwhelming support that Navalny receives from the Western media and his near total lack of popularity in Russia itself.
Russia: Siberian shoe factory fire kills 10 workers
By Clara Weiss, 5 January 2018
The tragedy is only the latest in a series of workplace accidents and fires which take the lives of at least 15,000 workers in Russia every year.
Remarkable collection of early Soviet films on DVD: The New Man—Awakening and Everyday Life in Revolutionary Russia
By Bernd Reinhardt, 29 December 2017
A notable collection of early Soviet films has been released on DVD in Germany to coincide with the centenary of the October Revolution.
Trump authorizes $41.5 million sale of lethal US weaponry to Ukraine
By Niles Niemuth, 23 December 2017
The decision to allow Kiev to purchase “lethal defensive weapons” portends an escalation in the nearly four-year-old war against pro-Russian separatists entrenched in the country’s eastern provinces.
Leaders of the Russian Revolution
Nikolai Muralov (1877-1937)
Part One: Early years through the Civil War
By Clara Weiss, 21 November 2017
As part of the celebration of the centenary of the October Revolution in 1917, the World Socialist Web Site is publishing a series of profiles of leaders of the Russian Revolution.
Kremlin greets centenary of the October Revolution with fear and hostility
By Clara Weiss, 13 November 2017
Frightened of the emergence of a revolutionary movement of the working class, the Russian ruling elite has responded to the 100th anniversary of 1917 by falsifying the struggle for socialism and attacking the revolution from the far-right.
This week in the Russian Revolution
November 13-19: Soviet power spreads through Russia
13 November 2017
In the aftermath of the October insurrection in Petrograd, Soviet power spreads through Russia. Meanwhile, matters come to a head with the “moderate” wing of the Bolshevik leadership, which adheres to a national perspective oriented towards building a coalition government.
NATO summit escalates preparation for war with Russia
By Alex Lantier, 10 November 2017
NATO is planning for a major land war in Europe against Russia, which fields the world’s second-largest nuclear arsenal after the United States.
NATO intensifies its preparations for war with Russia
By Philipp Frisch, 7 November 2017
Against the backdrop of US aggression against North Korea, NATO is intensifying its preparations for war with Russia, the world’s second largest nuclear power.
Revoliutsiia! Demonstratsiia! Soviet Art Put to the Test at the Art Institute of Chicago—an introductory comment
Russian Revolutionary art exhibition opened October 29
By Jeff Lusanne and David Walsh, 31 October 2017
Soviet Art Put to the Test offers notable presentation and recreations of creative work in the 1920s-1930s, yet fails to explain the context that is essential to understanding the work.
WSWS Arts Editor David Walsh in Chicago on October 24
Public meeting: What the Russian Revolution meant for modern art and culture
19 October 2017
The Russian Revolution, the most significant event of the 20th century, had the most profound implications for art and culture, not only in Russia but worldwide.
This week in the Russian Revolution
September 25 – October 1: Lenin urges Bolshevik leaders to prepare for the seizure of power
25 September 2017
Now that the Bolsheviks have obtained majorities in the Moscow and Petrograd soviets, Lenin launches a campaign to orient the party for a planned insurrection.
When Will the Wretched Slaughter End?
By Leon Trotsky, 25 September 2017
This pamphlet was printed as separate articles in the newspaper Rabochii (Worker), numbers 10-12 (September 1-2 and 14-15).
This week in the Russian Revolution
September 4 – 10: The Kornilov affair
4 September 2017
Confronted with the danger of a full-blooded counterrevolutionary dictatorship and mass repression from General Kornilov, the Soviets are compelled to appeal to the working class to defend the city.
Leaders of the Russian Revolution: Ivar Tenisovich Smilga (1892-1937)
Part two
By Clara Weiss, 1 September 2017
The is the second part of a two-part article on Ivar Tenisovich Smilga, a leading figure in the October Revolution and the Red Army who worked closely with Lenin and then with Trotsky as a member of the anti-Stalinist Left Opposition. The first part was posted on August 31.
Leaders of the Russian Revolution: Ivar Tenisovich Smilga (1892-1937)
Part one
By Clara Weiss, 31 August 2017
The is the first part of a two-part article on Ivar Tenisovich Smilga, a leading figure in the October Revolution and the Red Army who worked closely with Lenin and then with Trotsky as a member of the anti-Stalinist Left Opposition.
Massive fire in Rostov, Russia destroys 123 houses
By Clara Weiss, 29 August 2017
Residents said they believe the fire was allowed to burn out of control with the aim of driving out impoverished residents in preparation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
New from Mehring Books
Why Study the Russian Revolution?
Volume I: The February Revolution and the Development of Bolshevik Strategy
28 August 2017
One hundred years after the Russian Revolution, the events of 1917, their consequences and their lessons retain a burning contemporary relevance.
This week in the Russian Revolution
August 28 – September 3: Surge in support for the Bolsheviks
28 August 2017
As mass support for the Bolsheviks grows, the ruling classes are deserting Kerensky, throwing their support instead behind the tsarist general Kornilov, who is plotting to establish a counterrevolutionary dictatorship by means of a military coup.
Putin confirms expulsion of US diplomats from Russia
By Nick Beams, 31 July 2017
Speaking Sunday on state television, Putin indicated that the sanctions and Trump’s decision not to block the legislation represented a tipping point in relations with the US.
This week in the Russian Revolution
July 31—August 6: The nightmare in Flanders
31 July 2017
Perhaps more than any other battle in world history, the Third Battle of Ypres will endure for generations as a symbol of pointless and fratricidal barbarism. While popular moods continue to turn against the war, counterrevolution is in full swing in Russia.
This week in the Russian Revolution
July 24—July 30: Counterrevolution rears its head
24 July 2017
Following the suppression of the July Insurrection, a “government of national safety” with unlimited repressive powers is announced in Petrograd, with the support of the bourgeois parties and the opportunist parties in the Petrograd Soviet.
This week in the Russian Revolution
July 17–23: The “July Days,” Insurrection and counterrevolution in Petrograd
17 July 2017
The insurrection in Petrograd known as the “July Days” reaches high tide and then recedes before the combined efforts of the Provisional Government and the parties that currently lead the Soviet.
Professor Sean McMeekin and the construction of a historical lie (Part II)
By David North, 10 July 2017
Professor Sean McMeekin’s claim that Lenin was an agent of German imperialism is based on the Bard College academic’s deliberate misrepresentation of historical research debunking the notorious myth of “German Gold.”
This week in the Russian Revolution
July 10–July 16: The beginning of the “July Days” in Petrograd
10 July 2017
Despite the warnings by Bolshevik leaders that a premature insurrection would be isolated and defeated, hundreds of thousands of workers decide to take matters into their own hands. This is the beginning of the “July Days.”
From the archives of the Revolution
Speech on a personal note at an evening session of the First All-Russian Congress of Soviets
By Leon Trotsky, 22 June 2017
This is a contemporary account of a speech delivered by Trotsky in which he addresses the slanders being spread by Miliukov and others that he and Lenin were agents of the German government.
From the archives of the Revolution
From the Kronstadt Sailors, Soldiers, and Workers—To the Revolutionary People of Petrograd and All Russia
By Leon Trotsky, 13 June 2017
This declaration by the Kronstadt Soviet was written by Trotsky after he met with the Kronstadt sailors in June to discuss how to respond to the many attacks by the Provisional Government and the bourgeois press against the naval base.
From the archives of the Revolution
Speech at an Emergency Session of the Petrograd Soviet on the Question of Kronstadt
By Leon Trotsky, 10 June 2017
This speech was delivered by Trotsky at an emergency session of the Petrograd Soviet dealing with attacks by the Provisional Government against the increasingly restive sailors at the Kronstadt naval base.
This week in the Russian Revolution
June 5-11: Horror on the Western Front
5 June 2017
The Great War, which brought forth the Russian Revolution, continues to rage. In one moment on the Western Front, some 10,000 men and boys are killed or buried alive when the British detonate explosives under German trenches at Messines.
This week in the Russian Revolution
May 29 – June 4: Lenin and Trotsky move toward unity as calls for Soviet power spread
29 May 2017
Lenin and Trotsky have been brought together politically by the imperialist world war and the course of the Russian Revolution. Both insist on the transfer of power to the Soviets and for a final break with the nationalist and opportunist socialist tendencies.
This week in the Russian Revolution
May 22-28: Global class struggle intensifies
22 May 2017
The revolution in Russia gives the signal to workers everywhere, but the gathering revolt is met with repression by the capitalist state and treachery by parties and unions claiming to represent workers.
From the archives of the Russian Revolution
Speech at a session of the Petrograd Soviet
By Leon Trotsky, 19 May 2017
This is a new translation of an abridged version of Trotsky’s speech before the Petrograd Soviet on May 18, 1917, in which Trotsky opposed the new coalition government formed with the support of the Mensheviks and the Socialist Revolutionaries.
One hundred years after the Russian Revolution
Report documents record levels of social inequality in Russia
By Clara Weiss, 15 May 2017
With the exception of a small and stunningly wealthy layer of oligarchs and a narrow upper-middle class, the restoration of capitalism has produced a disaster for the Russian population.
This week in the Russian Revolution
May 15-21: Trotsky arrives in Petrograd
15 May 2017
Trotsky’s arrival is electrifying, providing a tremendous boost to the struggle being waged by Lenin and the Bolsheviks against the collaborationist, defensist, and opportunist forces that are currently in the Soviet’s majority.
From the archives of the Russian Revolution
Seventh All-Russian Bolshevik Conference: Resolution on the war
15 May 2017
This resolution on the war, drafted by Lenin, was passed at the Seventh All-Russian Bolshevik Conference, which took place in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) from May 7 to 12 (April 24-29, O.S.).
Lecture on the centenary of the Russian Revolution
Lenin’s Return to Russia and the April Theses
By James Cogan, 8 May 2017
We are publishing here the text of a lecture delivered on Saturday, May 6, by James Cogan, national secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Australia). The audio for the lecture is embedded in the text.
San Francisco International Film Festival—Part 4
Dziga Vertov’s The Man with a Movie Camera: One of the films you must see!
By David Walsh and Joanne Laurier, 6 May 2017
A highlight of the recent San Francisco film festival was the screening of Soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov’s masterpiece, The Man with a Movie Camera (1929), at the historic Castro Theatre.
Series on the centenary of the Russian Revolution
Online lecture Saturday: The February Revolution
20 April 2017
Joseph Kishore, National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in the United States, will be delivering the lecture on Saturday, April 22 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. Register for the series at wsws.org/1917.
Russian truckers’ strike enters third week amid police crackdown
By Clara Weiss, 10 April 2017
Finding support among broad layers of Russia’s impoverished population, the strike reflects the social tensions building up under conditions of deepening economic and political crisis.
David North introduces Tsar to Lenin film screening in Detroit
By Zac Corrigan, 7 April 2017
The documentary film of the Russian Revolution was screened by the IYSSE at Wayne State University.
Lecture on the centenary of the Russian Revolution
The Legacy of 1905 and the Strategy of the Russian Revolution
By Fred Williams, 7 April 2017
This is an edited version of a lecture delivered live March 25 on the origins and significance of the Russian Revolution of 1905. To register for the lecture series, visit wsws.org/1917.
Series on the centenary of the Russian Revolution
Online lecture TODAY: “World War and Revolution: 1914-1917”
3 April 2017
Nick Beams, leading authority on the Marxist theory of imperialism, will be delivering the lecture on Saturday, April 8 at 5:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time. Register for the series at wsws.org/1917.
Online lecture today: “The Legacy of 1905 and the Strategy of the Russian Revolution”
Register for the series today at wsws.org/1917
25 March 2017
Fred Williams, translator of many Russian-language works of history and literature, will speak on the Russian revolution of 1905, the first great revolutionary upheaval of the 20th century.
Writings of Trotsky from 1917
Lessons of the Great Year: 9 January 1905–9 January 1917
By Leon Trotsky, 24 March 2017
The WSWS is publishing new translations of Trotsky’s writings from 1917. In many cases, these articles are now in English for the first time. In this article from January 1917, Trotsky writes about the lessons of the Revolution of 1905.
Germany: Great interest in upcoming screening of Tsar to Lenin at Leipzig Book Fair
By our correspondents, 22 March 2017
The IYSSE and Mehring Verlag will be screening the documentary on the Russian Revolution at the upcoming Leipzig Book Fair.
Writings of Trotsky from 1917
War or Peace? (Internal Forces of the Revolution)
By Leon Trotsky, 20 March 2017
In this article, Trotsky writes, “The international struggle against world-wide slaughter and imperialism is now our task more than ever before.”
The Legacy of 1905 and the Strategy of the Russian Revolution
Second online lecture on centenary of the Russian Revolution to be held this Saturday
18 March 2017
Fred Williams, translator of many Russian-language works of history and literature, will speak on the Russian revolution of 1905, the first great revolutionary upheaval of the twentieth century.
Writings of Trotsky from 1917
Two Faces (Internal Forces of the Russian Revolution)
By Leon Trotsky, 18 March 2017
In this article, Trotsky writes, “The masses have rebelled with demands for bread and peace. The appearance in power of a few liberals has neither fed the starving nor healed anyone’s wounds.”
Writings of Trotsky from 1917
The Growing Conflict
By Leon Trotsky, 18 March 2017
In this article, Trotsky writes, “An open conflict between the forces of the revolution, headed by the urban proletariat, and the anti-revolutionary liberal bourgeoisie, temporarily in power, is absolutely inevitable.”
Writings of Trotsky from 1917
Under the Banner of the Commune
By Leon Trotsky, 17 March 2017
In this article, Trotsky writes, “In the trenches overflowing with blood and mud, in the starving cities and villages, millions of hearts are filled with indignation, despair and rage. And these feelings, when combined with socialist thought, are turning into revolutionary enthusiasm.”
Revolution: New Art for a New World—A careless, unserious treatment of Russian Revolutionary art
By Joanne Laurier and David Walsh, 17 March 2017
British filmmaker Margy Kinmonth is out of her depth in her documentary about Russian avant-garde art.
Large global turnout for online lecture, “Why Study the Russian Revolution?”
13 March 2017
A large audience from more than 60 countries listened live to the lecture delivered by WSWS chairman David North, the first in a series marking the centenary of the Russian Revolution.
Why Study the Russian Revolution?
By David North, 13 March 2017
We are publishing here the text of a lecture delivered Saturday, March 11 by David North, chairman of the International Editorial Board of the World Socialist Web Site. This is the first in a series of five international online lectures being presented by the International Committee of the Fourth International to mark the centenary of the 1917 Russian Revolution.
Registrations from throughout the world for Russian Revolution centenary online lectures
Workers and students in India express strong support
By Sasi Kumar and Moses Rajkumar, 10 March 2017
People from more than 55 countries have signed up to participate in the ICFI’s online lecture series, which begins on March 11 with a lecture by David North, “Why Study the Russian Revolution?”
“We are still fighting the same things they fought out 100 years ago”
Registrations from throughout the world as interest in Russian Revolution centenary lectures grows
7 March 2017
Individuals from more than 50 countries have registered to participate in the International Committee of the Fourth International’s online lecture series that begins on March 11.
Russian revolutionary art exhibition in London excises Trotsky—and, more generally, historical truth
Revolution: Russian Art 1917–1932
By Paul Mitchell, 25 February 2017
Curator Natalia Murray’s aim in the Royal Academy exhibition is to pour scorn on and discredit the 1917 October Revolution and to combat the contemporary impact of the works it inspired.
Devastating HIV epidemic hits Russia
By Clara Weiss, 10 January 2017
A quarter century after the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991, an HIV epidemic, closely bound up with massive heroin consumption, is raging in Russia.
The End of the USSR
By David North, 30 December 2016
On January 4, 1992, David North, national secretary of the Workers League (predecessor of the Socialist Equality Party), delivered a report which explained the historical background and significance of the end of the USSR. To mark the twenty-fifth anniversary of this critical event, the World Socialist Web Site is posting North's report.
Behind hacking allegations: Explosive conflict over US policy toward Russia
By Patrick Martin, 12 December 2016
Behind the claims of Russian hacking in the 2016 elections is a raging dispute within the US ruling elite and its military-intelligence apparatus over what policy to adopt towards Moscow.
100 Years since the Russian Revolution
Mehring Books announces centenary edition of landmark documentary, Tsar to Lenin
12 December 2016
Produced by the legendary Herman Axelbank and narrated by Max Eastman, Tsar to Lenin is the definitive documentary of a revolution that “shook the world” and changed the course of history.
Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov (1856–1918): His Place in the History of Marxism
By David North and Vladimir Volkov, 5 December 2016
On December 11, the international socialist movement marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of the “father of Russian Marxism,” Georgi Valentinovich Plekhanov.
The provocation in Crimea and the threat of world war
By Bill Van Auken, 13 August 2016
The terrorist attack in Crimea and ratcheting up of the war threat in Eastern Europe have exposed the real purpose of the anti-Putin hysteria in both the US election campaign and the Rio Olympics.
What is behind the imperialist campaign over the Crimean Tatars?
Part 2: The imperialist exploitation of ethnic tensions on the Crimea—then and now
By Clara Weiss, 19 July 2016
Since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, leading media outlets of the imperialist powers, in particular the New York Times, have been waging a campaign ostensibly directed at defending the Crimean Tatars from oppression by Russia.
Toward a socialist future: Children’s picture books after the Bolshevik Revolution
By Thomas Scripps, 9 July 2016
A New Childhood: Picture Books from Soviet Russia, an exhibition at the House of Illustration gallery in London, brings to light the artistic impetus provided by the October Revolution to children’s book illustrations.
Doping allegations cited to ban Russian track and field team from Rio Olympics
By Barry Grey, 18 June 2016
The pretense that Russia is some kind of outlier and affront to the “Olympic spirit” is an absurd and cynical fraud.
German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung demands military deterrence against Russia
By Johannes Stern, 23 May 2016
In the lead-up to the NATO summit in Poland in early July the professional warmongers in the German media are intensifying calls for a military build-up in Eastern Europe.
US-NATO officials unveil Romania-based missile system
By Thomas Gaist, 13 May 2016
In a move Russian officials denounced as a “direct threat,” US and NATO officials presided over the formal launch of a new missile system based in Bucharest.
Military force “on the table” in relation to Russia, US commander says
By Bill Van Auken, 23 April 2016
The Obama administration’s nominee for US commander in Europe called for the permanent deployment of an armored brigade near Russia’s border.
Paul Mason launches campaign for UK Labour to pledge itself to nuclear war
By Chris Marsden, 22 April 2016
Former economics editor of Channel Four News Paul Mason’s latest statements are a devastating political exposure of an entire fetid petty-bourgeois milieu.
US-Russia tensions flare in Baltic Sea
By Jordan Shilton, 18 April 2016
Washington’s aggressive military build-up throughout Eastern Europe, in close collaboration with its NATO allies, has brought the entire region to the brink of war between nuclear powers.
Russia names United States, NATO as threats to its national security
By Alex Lantier, 5 January 2016
The contents of the Russian national security strategy testify to the bankruptcy of the world capitalist system and amount to an indictment of the reckless policy of the imperialist powers.
PBS documentary Putin’s Way: Half-truths and lies in the service of US warmongering against Russia
By Andrea Peters, 9 September 2015
The half-truths, omissions and hypocritical expressions of moral indignation that characterize this supposed exposé of Putin are intended to make the case for regime-change in Russia.
Release of grand jury transcript points again to frameup of the Rosenbergs
By Fred Mazelis, 18 July 2015
The new revelations undermine the post-Soviet effort to reaffirm the supposed guilt of the Rosenbergs.
European energy firms agree to expand Nord Stream pipeline with Gazprom
By Clara Weiss, 30 June 2015
Differences within the European Union, as well as between the EU and the US, are emerging over energy policy and relations with Russia.
G7 leaders escalate war threats against Russia
By Thomas Gaist, 9 June 2015
Government heads issued new threats against Russia a day after British officials announced that US nuclear weapons may once again be stationed on British soil.
A review of Stephen Kotkin’s Stalin: Paradoxes of Power, 1878-1928: Part three
By Fred Williams, 3 June 2015
Stephen Kotkin’s first volume of a projected three-volume biography of Stalin, published by Penguin Press, is a travesty of historical writing.
NATO begins anti-Russian air drill in Arctic
By Patrick Martin, 26 May 2015
The Arctic Challenge Exercise involves warplanes from the US, Britain, Germany, France, the Netherlands and Norway, as well as non-NATO members Sweden, Finland and Switzerland.
Suspects arrested in Boris Nemtsov murder
By Andrea Peters, 9 March 2015
Five men were detained in the investigation into the murder of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov, while a sixth allegedly committed suicide.
Murder in Moscow: Why was Boris Nemtsov assassinated?
By David North, 3 March 2015
The assassination of Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov arises out of the US-Russia confrontation and the struggle now underway within the Russian state.
Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov assassinated in Moscow
By Andrea Peters, 2 March 2015
Whoever authored the killing of Nemtsov, the US government and media are using his murder to further vilify the Putin regime and whip up anti-Russian hysteria.
Russian central bank cuts interest rate amid growing economic chaos
By Nick Beams, 2 February 2015
The rate cut is a sign of the deepening crisis of Russia’s economy resulting from the economic, diplomatic and military offensive led by Washington.
Russia and US end collaboration on nuclear disarmament
By Clara Weiss, 23 January 2015
Russia and the United States ended collaboration in the disposal of nuclear waste in mid-December, according to a report in the Boston Globe on Monday.
The Nazi war of annihilation against the Soviet Union: Part two
Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization
By Clara Weiss, 13 January 2015
The volume provides insight into the criminal historical antecedents of the current siege of cities in eastern Ukraine by the Western-installed regime in Kiev, spearheaded by Ukrainian fascist forces.
The Nazi war of annihilation against the Soviet Union: Part one
Nazi Policy on the Eastern Front, 1941: Total War, Genocide, and Radicalization
By Clara Weiss, 12 January 2015
The volume provides insight into the criminal historical antecedents of the current siege of cities in eastern Ukraine by the Western-installed regime in Kiev, spearheaded by Ukrainian fascist forces.
Putin approves new Russian military doctrine
By Clara Weiss, 31 December 2014
The new military doctrine identifies the expansion of NATO and attempts to destabilise Russia and neighbouring countries as the biggest security threats.
Putin appeals to the Russian oligarchs
By Clara Weiss, 24 December 2014
The Putin regime responds to Western pressure by seeking to appease imperialism and the Russian billionaires.
I Want To Live: The memoir of Izrail Agol
By Clara Weiss, 17 December 2014
The childhood memoir of the revolutionary, geneticist and Marxist theoretician of biology Izrail Agol (1891-1937) is an important document on the history of the revolutionary movement in Russia and the devastating impact of Stalinism.
Escalating tensions between Russia and the West over Balkan energy
By Paul Mitchell, 12 December 2014
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned against NATO expansion in the region, which is seen as a provocation against Russia.
Putin accuses US of seeking to undermine Russian sovereignty
By Andrea Peters and David Levine, 11 December 2014
In his annual address to parliament last week, Putin charged the US with meddling in Russia’s sphere of influence, destabilizing international security and sponsoring separatism within Russia’s borders.
“Seeking for Utopia”—or were they? The Russian avant-garde and Soviet modernism in posters
Exhibition at the Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo
By John Watanabe, 3 December 2014
The recent exhibition in Tokyo included some 180 early Soviet posters, which have remarkable artistic and historic significance.
Interview with Tatiana Smilga-Poluyan, daughter of leading Soviet Left Oppositionist
By Clara Weiss, 27 October 2014
Tatiana Smilga-Poluyan (May 1919-September 2014) came from a remarkable family with longstanding revolutionary traditions. Not only her parents, but also her uncles and aunts were active participants in the Bolshevik Revolution and the subsequent Civil War.
Tatiana Ivarovna Smilga-Poluyan: May 22, 1919 – September 27, 2014
By Clara Weiss, 21 October 2014
Tatiana Ivarovna Smilga-Poluyan, daughter of the Left Oppositionist Ivar Smilga, dedicated her life to restoring historical truth about those who had been murdered and whose names had been besmirched by Stalinist reaction.
Russian metallurgy giant Mechel faces bankruptcy
By Andrea Peters, 1 October 2014
Mechel’s looming bankruptcy is one sign of Russia’s mounting industrial and monetary crisis, made worse by the imposition of Western sanctions.
White House threatens Russia over alleged incursion into eastern Ukraine
By Niles Williamson, 29 August 2014
The White House is strongly backing the Ukrainian government as it carries out a brutal war against predominantly Russian-speaking cities in the east.
Western powers talk “peace” while eastern Ukraine is decimated
By Julie Hyland, 20 August 2014
Talks between the foreign ministers of Germany, Ukraine, France and Russia failed to produce an agreement while Ukraine continued to attack Luhansk and Donetsk.
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