Steve Gutterman

Exclusive: Kremlin Office Plants Prove Putin's Absence As Iran War Heats Up On March 2-3, the Kremlin published videos showing him meeting with officials and indicated the footage was fresh. In fact, both meetings were recorded earlier, Systema, RFE/RL’s Russian investigative...

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Air Defenses Add To Evidence Of Russian Oreshnik Missile Deployment In Belarus An analysis of satellite images captured by Planet Labs suggests that six installations of systems designed to protect facilities against attacks from the air now ring a site where Russia may have dep...

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Zelenskyy Calls For Strong Security Guarantees Against 'Slave To War' Putin Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered an impassioned plea for more Western weapons and for "real security guarantees," calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a "slave to war" who will th...

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Satellite Imagery Points To Possible Russian Oreshnik Missile Site In Belarus A fresh satellite image obtained by RFE/RL shows that the development of a military installation is proceeding apace at a former Soviet airfield in Belarus. The image shows what may be vehicles from a...

www.rferl.org/a/belarus-ru...

Russia's Starlink Setback: Will Moscow Snap Back From A New Battlefield Blow In Ukraine? The loss of access to Starlink satellite Internet service comes at a crucial time in Russia's war on Ukraine. As Moscow scrambles for short-term fixes and longer-term alternatives for battlefield comm...

www.rferl.org/a/russia-s-s...

Seth G. Jones: Kremlin Trying Hard To 'Hide The Actual Number' Of Russian Troops Killed In Ukraine The Kremlin has made "every effort" to hide the high number of deaths among Russian troops in Ukraine, where their slow advance has come at the cost of some 1.2 million casualties, Seth G. Jones of th...

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What happens when you drunk-text the FBI about Russian spies and prostitutes at 4 a.m.? The curious case of Nomma Zarubina. — Meduza In this week’s episode, host Kevin Rothrock sits down with RFE/RL senior international correspondent Mike Eckel to discuss his January 28 investigation into the bizarre case of Nomma Zarubina: The…

Journalist @mikeeckel.bsky.social joins the Naked Pravda to unpack his investigation into Nomma Zarubina. Her Manhattan case highlights the blurry legal line between cultural networking and illegal foreign influence, amplified by a spiral of erratic behavior. meduza.io/en/episodes/...

What happens when you drunk-text the FBI about Russian spies and prostitutes at 4 a.m.? The curious case of Nomma Zarubina. — Meduza In this week’s episode, host Kevin Rothrock sits down with RFE/RL senior international correspondent Mike Eckel to discuss his January 28 investigation into the bizarre case of Nomma Zarubina: The FSB...

Happy to welcome back to the pod @mikeeckel.bsky.social to discuss his recent Nomma Zarubina article. Her case is interesting for the sheer oddness of her meltdown, but it also raises some important questions about "cross-cultural promotion" in a world of FSB handlers. meduza.io/en/episodes/...

Strangled In Siberia: Deep Inside Russia, The Violent Echoes Of Moscow's War On Ukraine A Russian man repeatedly convicted of violent crimes is accused of strangling a woman to death after returning from the war in Ukraine and stalking his wife as she sought shelter. The killing is a gri...

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Strangled In Siberia: Deep Inside Russia, The Violent Echoes Of Moscow's War On Ukraine A Russian man repeatedly convicted of violent crimes is accused of strangling a woman to death after returning from the war in Ukraine and stalking his wife as she sought shelter. The killing is a gri...

www.rferl.org/a/russia-war...

Faces Behind The Numbers: People Killed In Iran’s Protests Thousands of Iranians lost their lives after taking to the streets. These are the people behind the statistics.

www.rferl.org/a/iran-prote...

'Ukraine Is Not Losing, Russia Is Not Winning': Amid Push For Peace, Here's How Things Look On The Battlefield Weeks before the start of the fifth year of its all-out war, Russia is having more success obliterating Ukraine’s energy systems than it is securing any decisive battlefield victory. Ukraine’s exhaust...

www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-ru...

Game Of (Chechen) Thrones: With Kadyrov’s Health In Doubt, Succession Is On Everyone’s Mind Moscow-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov’s health is in question, and speculation about succession is rife. The Kremlin wants to keep Chechnya quiet, especially amid the war on Ukraine. Kadyrov wan...

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A 'War Of Obsession' Days after Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, casualties are mounting and the prospects for productive negotiations are uncertain. Where might the war be hea...

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When I saw 'Vladimir' and 'Obsession,' naturally I thought...

The FSB, Lies, And Drunk Texting The FBI: The Curious Case Of Nomma Zarubina Nomma Zarubina's case is one of several that has popped up in recent years: Russians building networks among think tanks, activists, politicians, journalists -- and then being charged by US authoritie...

www.rferl.org/a/russia-nom...

Friends Remember A Vibrant University Student Killed During Protest In Tehran Zahra Bahlolipour, a 23-year-old student in Tehran, was fatally shot by security forces during a protest against Iran's authoritarian regime on January 8. Her classmates have been posting tributes to ...

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Prize Horses Face Growing Dangers Near Ukrainian Front Line Amid Deep Freeze A stud farm in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhya region is famous for breeding champion race horses, but it's now under regular attack from Russian shelling. The owners can't move their horses to safety because ...

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Will Russia's War Against Ukraine End In 2026? With the sides far apart on key issues as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches the four-year mark, analysts say the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II is unlikely to end in ...

Many thanks for the insightful comments @ruthdeyermond.bsky.social @olyaoliker.bsky.social @massdara.bsky.social @minczifra.bsky.social Oleg Ignatov Mark Cancian www.rferl.org/a/russia-inv...

By the numbers: Mentions of 'peace' in Christmas and New Year's addresses, combined:
Zelenskyy: 32
Putin: 0

Russia's State-Owned Railway Giant Is In Serious Trouble. Blame The Ukraine War. Things are such a mess for Russian Railways -- a company that is a major engine, literally and figuratively, for the entire Russian economy -- that the government is scrambling to keep its problems fr...

www.rferl.org/a/russia-rai...

Counting On Carte Blanche: What Maduro’s Capture Could Mean For Russia While the loss of a Latin American ally is a blow, Russia may hope the US intervention in Venezuela means Moscow can do as it wishes in what it considers its sphere of influence, primarily Ukraine. In...

www.rferl.org/a/maduro-us-...

High Hurdles: The Main Obstacles To A Ukraine Peace Deal As the US presses for an end to Russia’s war on Ukraine, the fate of territory in the Donbas and a massive nuclear power plant may be the biggest barriers to a peace deal. Here’s a look at these and o...

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Optimism And Obstacles: What To Watch After The Trump-Zelenskyy Talks On Russia’s War In Ukraine After two hours of talks with his Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on December 28, US President Donald Trump said they were “getting a lot closer” to agreement on a deal to end Russia’s war aga...

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From Dnipro In War: A Postcard From Ukraine's Major Eastern Outpost Despite weekly Russian air attacks and constant power outages, Ukraine’s key volunteer hub and major industrial center, Dnipro, lives on. As the fourth year of full-scale war comes to a close, the cit...

www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-ru...

Whereas Russia, of course, is homogenous: No bonnets. (In fact, Putin often celebrates Russia's diversity, at least publicly.)

Putin Lauds Battlefield Gains, Signals No Concessions In Annual Press Event Russian President Vladimir Putin began a marathon annual appearance by speaking confidently of Russia's position on the battlefield in its war on Ukraine and gave no signal that Moscow is ready to mak...

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Putin’s ‘Swine’ Swipe: A Bid To Divide The West And Blame Europe If Peace Efforts Fail Amid a US push for a deal to end Moscow’s war against Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin used a high-profile military meeting to label unspecified European leaders “podsvinki,” which roughly tr...

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Putin Decree Forces Foreigners Seeking Russian Residency To Sign Army Contracts President Vladimir Putin has issued a decree that requires many foreign men who seek permanent residency or citizenship to join the Russian military, RFE/RL has found. The unusual measure is pushing m...

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