Report: Pressure on journalists and media in 2025
In 2025, independent Russian media experienced unprecedented pressure. New laws tightened control, existing penalties grew harsher, and the number of criminal cases against journalists increased sharply.
The Mass Media Defence Centre, Russia's leading human rights organization for media and journalist rights, has released its annual report on the freedom of speech.
REM summarizes the key findings of the report.
Read more … Report: Pressure on journalists and media in 2025
“Why is Russia’s PACE Platform, which is supposed to represent the Russia of the future, populated by its past?”
On 29 January, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held its first meeting involving the Platform for Dialogue between the PACE and Russian Democratic Forces in Exile.
REM examines how the Platform was created — and why the result has disappointed many.
The opposition’s anti-corruption efforts: Where do we go from here?
Anti-corruption investigations once mobilized protests and reshaped opposition politics in Russia. Today, they seem to land in a political void.
Can investigative activism still matter under conditions of total repression and a full-scale war?
And if so, what form should it take now? Answers Dr. Ilya Matveev.
Read more … The opposition’s anti-corruption efforts: Where do we go from here?
Electoral expert on preparations for Russia’s 2026 State Duma elections
Despite the apparent stagnation of Russia’s political landscape, elections are still held and retain some elements of competition.
The 2026 State Duma campaign has begun, marked by pressure on Yabloko and other parties — and by the growing visibility of war veterans in politics, as discussed in a recent interview.
Read more … Electoral expert on preparations for Russia’s 2026 State Duma elections
Election update XV
As Russia prepares for the State Duma elections, Kremlin is intensifying pressure on systemic opposition.
More on this in our digest covering the main election developments in November-Dezember 2025.
No time for heroes?
Russian propaganda hails returning fighters from Ukraine as a rising new elite, fast-tracked into politics and public roles.
However, most Time of Heroes graduates end up in visible but powerless positions designed to pose no threat to the Kremlin.
According to a new Verstka report, political strategists running the program are even instructed to select candidates who lack the aura of genuine military glory — ensuring they remain politically harmless.