Energy researcher Irina Mironova writes that a Turkish gas hub where Russian natural gas can be traded is becoming a tangible reality, with the project’s launch planned for 2024. However, the primary purpose will not be to maintaining Russia’s gas exports to the West, but rather advancing Turkey’s longstanding aspirations for EU membership.

Food market researcher Andrey Sizov explains what the essence of the “grain deal” was, why, despite its cessation, exports of Ukrainian grain continue to move and how Russian government intervention is affecting the volume of grain supplies out of Russia.

Regional economist Natalia Zubarevich talks about where the Kremlin is getting the extra financial resources it needs, how the automotive industry is slowly transitioning to Chinese brands, how the balance between center and periphery is changing and why Russians’ enormous capacity to adapt has surprised her.

Artemy Troitsky discusses the pop music scene since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and compares it to Soviet ideological constraints and repressions. In his view, today’s situation is more toxic than it was back in the 1980s.

Maria Engström looks at the cultural recycling of the 1990s in contemporary Russian popular culture which works with mass things, trashy, insignificant and previously rejected, such as the shabby Khrushchevka housing, bad music, all kinds of kitsch, and dubious political ideas.

The authors explore how opposition-minded Russian musicians navigate the minefield laid by the increasingly authoritarian regime and offer a tentative basis for broader social solidarity against repression.

Based on his many years of field research, ethnographer Valery Dymshits explains why the anti-Israel protest at the Makhachkala Airport turned violent and distinctly anti-Semitic, and discusses the origins of anti-Semitism in the North Caucasus.

Marat Ilyasov writes about the persistent rumors of Kadyrov’s deteriorating health and the Chechen elite’s efforts to squelch these rumors, and also explores the possible consequences for Chechnya should Kadyrov disappear from the scene.

This is Sergei Chernyshov’s first-hand account of life in provincial Russia, where people’s everyday experiences and mindset, including their view on the war in Ukraine, differ strongly from those of Russians living in large urban centers.