It’s not just that Putin’s “trust” numbers are in free fall. It’s that his most trusted pollsters appear to be in a panic about it.

Neither the delisting of Rusal nor the allowing of sanctioned Russian persons to attend Davos is a capitulation.

As a high-profile Russian suspect prepares to plead guilty to conspiracy charges, Putin appears to clean house at home.

New reporting confirms that the “privatization” of Russia’s oil giant Rosneft was the kleptocratic fraud we suspected all along.

Hatred is a universal feeling—and is used as a political tool universally.

A series of high-profile mishaps have exposed the incompetence of Russia’s intelligence services. And yet the main threat to Putin’s rule would still come from the siloviki.

The two men accused of poisoning Sergey Skripal are ready for their close-up.

Rigged elections and brutal crackdowns cannot disguise the public’s falling trust in the Kremlin.

An escalating sanctions war, a series of unpopular economic reforms, and elite discontent threaten to embolden Putin’s critics and discredit his “besieged fortress” narrative.

With the World Cup winding down, Putin has a far more difficult task ahead: selling the public on deeply unpopular retirement reforms.