Lucian Kim
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Moscow

I love Moscow, even if it’s the most manic, maddening place I’ve called home. I moved back in December 2016 after a five-year stint in Berlin. I had missed losing myself in the lanes of old Moscow or running along the Moskva River embankment.
I first visited Moscow as a student in 1991, the last year of the Soviet Union’s existence. The city was hungry and gray. Nobody spoke English or had any idea about the outside world. Today Moscow has reclaimed its rightful place not just as the capital of Russia, but of Eurasia.

The Russian Student Who Has Become Moscow’s New Face Of Dissent

Published September 19, 2019 in NPR Leave a comment

“I want to live in Russia. I think Russia deserves to be free, and its citizens need to get out from under the yoke of Putin and his gang.”

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Amid ‘Quiet Rehabilitation Of Stalin,’ Some Russians Honor The Memory Of His Victims

Published July 8, 2019 in NPR Leave a comment

“We are the accused and the prosecutors and the victims,” says Roman Romanov. “The path to understanding takes years and generations.”

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Once Centers Of Soviet Propaganda, Moscow’s Libraries Are Having A ‘Loud’ Revival

Published January 21, 2019 in NPR Leave a comment

“Our job is to develop the most democratic and accessible cultural locations for Muscovites,” says Maria Rogachyova, who oversees Moscow’s libraries.

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Muscovites Protest Mayor’s Plans to Demolish Their Homes

Published May 15, 2017 in NPR Leave a comment

“They’ll make our life hell, and sooner or later they’ll squeeze us out,” Anna Sazonkina said. “But my civic conscience won’t allow me to vote for it.”

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In Moscow, New Barbershops Trim Away Old Notions Of Russian Masculinity

Published March 6, 2017 in NPR Leave a comment

The fact that barbershops are now in vogue in Moscow is a reflection of what could be called the emancipation of the Russian male.

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Potemkin Village

Published August 11, 2016 in Berlin Policy Journal Leave a comment

As a friend and I sat on one of Moscow’s ubiquitous summer verandas one evening, quaint trams trundled by. For a moment, it almost felt like Prague.

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Putin’s Moscow is Anxious, Gilded and Hollow

Published October 25, 2014 in Reuters

Moscow is always a surprising kind of place. I expected Putin’s us-against-them nationalism to be more strident than ever. But I find the city uncharacteristically subdued and anxious about the future.

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The Middle Class Malaise

Published October 25, 2011 in The Moscow Times Leave a comment

The closest I came to becoming a socialist was when I was a teenager growing up in the U.S. Midwest in the 1980s. I first had to move to Russia to grasp the folly of socialism and reclaim my middle-class roots.

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Demise of ‘Last Mohican’ Cements Medvedev Win Over Local Bosses

Published September 29, 2010 in Bloomberg Leave a comment

Yury Luzhkov’s ouster after 18 years as mayor of Moscow completes Russia’s purge of independent regional leaders begun during Vladimir Putin’s presidency.

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Tina Turner, Deep Purple Play Kremlin at Gazprom Birthday Bash

Published February 12, 2008 in Bloomberg Leave a comment

When Tina Turner asked the audience: “Is everybody all right?” her question was met with silence. Most of the guests were middle-aged managers who remained in their seats during the show.

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Older posts

Moscow Student Becomes New Face Of Dissent

“What we once thought impossible will suddenly happen,” Yegor Zhukov, 21, wrote from his jail cell. “And in hindsight, it will appear to have been inevitable.”

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About Lucian

Based in Berlin and Moscow, I’ve reported from the former Soviet empire since 1996. I started working as National Public Radio’s Moscow correspondent in December 2016. Before that I contributed to Reuters, Slate, Bloomberg and The Moscow Times, among others.

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© Lucian Kim, 2011-2019. All Rights Reserved.