Lucian Kim
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Conflict

The Legacy of a True Russian Patriot

Published February 16, 2024 in Journal of Democracy Leave a comment

Even though Alexei Navalny’s death was foretold so often, it is hard to grasp the magnitude of this loss for Russia.

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Prigozhin’s Mutiny Is the Beginning of Putin’s End

Published June 24, 2023 in Foreign Policy Leave a comment

Nobody in Russia understands what the war in Ukraine is about. And after Prigozhin’s rebellion, nobody knows if that war might not still come to Russia.

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The Other Jan. 6

Published January 5, 2023 in Foreign Policy Leave a comment

“We still have no answers to millions of questions,” said Vyacheslav Abramov. “It’s important for the future of the country to understand what happened.”

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A Russian Dissident Is Sentenced in Moscow

Published December 9, 2022 in Foreign Policy Leave a comment

Ilya Yashin’s evolution from protest leader to persecuted dissident mirrors the metamorphosis of Putin’s “managed democracy” into a totalitarian state.

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Russian Exiles Struggle to Form a United Opposition to Putin

Published November 28, 2022 in Foreign Policy Leave a comment

“We aren’t waiting for the fall of the regime,” said Lyubov Sobol. “We’re actively working toward it and want to get there as fast as possible.”

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Why Isn’t Russia a Democracy?

Published October 30, 2022 in Foreign Policy Leave a comment

Russia was not preordained to despotism nor to a clash with the West. So how did things go so wrong?

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Why the World Should Be Worried About Chechnya

Published October 19, 2022 in Foreign Policy Leave a comment

“The disintegration of Russia is inevitable,” said Zarina Sautieva. “If chaos breaks out in the Kremlin, Kadyrov will be the first to declare independence.”

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Russia Isolated in Its Postimperial Phantasm

Published May 11, 2022 in The Russia File Leave a comment

From a strategic point of view, Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine has thrown back Russia to its weakest position since World War II.

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Putins paranoider Krieg gegen Geschichte

Published March 24, 2022 in Neue Zürcher Zeitung Leave a comment

Da sein Geschichtsverständnis höchst selektiv und politisch verzerrt ist, ist Putins Versuch, die Welt neu zu ordnen, zum Scheitern verurteilt.

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Putin’s War on History

Published March 21, 2022 in The Russia File Leave a comment

Vladimir Putin’s obsession with the past is consuming thousands of lives, wreaking destruction on Ukraine and threatening Russia’s own future.

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Older posts

Putin’s War on Young People

If Russia is ever to become a country that seeks peace with its neighbors and respects the rights of its own citizens, then such a future depends on Russia’s young people.

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About Lucian

Based in Berlin and Moscow, I reported from the former Soviet empire for 25 years for NPR, Reuters, Slate, Bloomberg, and others. My first book, Putin’s Revenge: Why Russia Invaded Ukraine, is now available from Columbia University Press.

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