
Russia’s reaction to the prospect of ATACMS strikes PRO Members Public
The news that the United States will allow Ukraine to use its missiles to hit targets inside Russian territory was an unpleasant surprise for Russia’s leaders on Sunday evening. It is by no means certain that it will hand Ukrainian forces a significant advantage on the battlefield, but Vladimir

THE BELL WEEKLY: Kremlin fury at US green light on Ukraine missiles PRO Members Public
This week we look at how Moscow has reacted to the United States giving Ukraine permission to use its long-range missiles for strikes on Russian territory. We also cover new steps the regime is taking to squeeze the income of Kremlin critics abroad. Russia’s reaction to the prospect of

Russia’s rising stagflation threat PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy—written by Alexander Kolyandr and Alexandra Prokopenko and brought to you by The Bell. Our top story this week is the growing prospect that the Russian economy will enter a period of stagflation. We also look at a campaign by

What a Trump presidency means for the Russian economy PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy—written by Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr and brought to you by The Bell. Our top story this week is a look at how Russia reacted to the election of Donald Trump as U.S. president and what it might

Can we trust Russian economic statistics? PRO Members Public
Since the start of the war, the Russian authorities have classified heaps of important statistical and economic data. For the third year in a row, Moscow is not publishing figures on imports, exports, foreign trade, gold and foreign exchange reserves, or oil production. But can the data that Moscow still

Narrow victory for Moldova’s pro-European president PRO Members Public
A week after Georgia held crunch parliamentary elections, another former Soviet republic with EU ambitions went to the polls, as Moldovans voted in a presidential contest. The situation in Moldova, which was recently granted EU candidate states, was the reverse of that in Georgia — pro-EU president Maia Sandu was looking

THE BELL WEEKLY: Moldova’s pro-Europe president squeaks through PRO Members Public
Hello. This week our main story is Moldova’s pro-EU president securing a slim victory in an election closely followed in Moscow. We also look at whether Russia’s economic statistics can be trusted. Narrow victory for Moldova’s pro-European president A week after Georgia held crunch parliamentary elections, another

The rise of Russia’s foreign trade middlemen PRO Members Public
Hello! Welcome to your weekly guide to the Russian economy—written by Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr and brought to you by The Bell. Our top story this week is about the transformative effect Western financial sanctions are having on Russia’s foreign trade. We also look at why so

Putin puts on a BRICS spectacle PRO Members Public
Last week’s BRICS summit in Kazan was probably the most successful international event staged by Vladimir Putin since the start of the war. It was the largest diplomatic forum, with the most world leaders, since at least 2022. Despite the show that Putin managed to put on and the

Georgia’s ruling party wins key election, triggering opposition protests PRO Members Public
Moscow has followed Georgia’s parliamentary elections almost as closely as the upcoming US presidential contest. Oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili’s ruling “Georgian Dream” party has been pursuing increasingly pro-Russian policies since the start of the war in Ukraine, triggering a falling out with the West and accusations of democratic backsliding.