Based on ethnographic research of small-town Russia, sociologists Yakov Lurie and Sasha Kappinen challenge the idea of the war in Ukraine as a major turning point or defining political event.

Historian Sergey Chernyshov outlines how Ivan the Terrible’s capture of Kazan in the 16th century has been viewed throughout the centuries and reflects on what Tatarstan’s recent ban on events to mark the exact date mean for Tatar identity.

Based on her research, Vlada Baranova claims that the war in Ukraine has led to the ethnicization of conflicts and confrontation between the federal authorities, perceived as “Russian,” and the indigenous population. Language and environmental activism is becoming more tinged with nationalism, as well.

Based on her conversations with protesters in Bashkortostan, sociologist Guzel Yusupova analyzes the nature of the recent protests in the region. She argues that they were fundamentally not about nationalism or separatism – rather, people rose up to express their outrage over injustice and corruption.

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.

Guzel Yusupova explains that the war in Ukraine might lead to demands for greater autonomy from Russia’s regions and argues that the ethnic factor may be just one precipitating a restructuring of Russia.

Anna Zueva looked into private shelters in Tomsk, Nizhny Novgorod and outside Moscow to find out what kind of help women get there and what challenges the organizations face. The biggest problem, she claims, is that the Russian state does not recognize domestic violence as a problem.

Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer updates her monograph Galvanizing Nostalgia? to explore why many in the republics are against Russia’s war in Ukraine. Drawing on long-term fieldwork in Sakha, Tyva and Buryatia and with diaspora communities, she outlines an uneven legacy of revitalization and grievances in relation to the Kremlin and its policies.

Anna Zueva writes about the plight of the merchant houses of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Buryatia. These architectural monuments could be saved, but officials are instead spending money from the regional budget on the so-called DNR.

Adam Lenton analyzes the 2021 data for what it tells us about Russia’s changing ethnic landscape and how the politics of the census is impacting debates on the ground among ethnic minorities in Russia.

Ceyda Giray cites several factors – economic, political and geographic – to explain why the mobilization has proceeded in a more orderly way and provoked considerably less protest activity in Tatarstan versus other Russian regions.

Infographics are based on Rosstat data

Farida Kurbangaleeva spoke with representatives of the local academic community in Kazan and the independent student media project Storm about government pressure, silent protest, and how the university administration is cooperating with law enforcement.

Adam Lenton on how Russification continues to erode the rich linguistic landscape of the North Caucasus, while private citizens are stepping in with innovative solutions such as Avzag, a multi-language dictionary of Caucasian languages.

According to Nadezhda Zamyatina, a leading researcher at the Department of Socio-Economic Geography of Foreign Countries of the Moscow State University Geography Faculty, Nenets Autonomous Okrug is among Russia’s most ready regions “for experiments and the introduction of modern best practices for economic and innovative development.”

Sarah Lindemann-Komarova on how the “special military operation” and sanctions are seen in the Russian provinces and how Siberians continue to live their lives and demonstrate resilience.

Gulnaz Sibgatullina on how the cultural scene of ethnic minorities has confronted the ethnocentrism of Russianess long before the war and how it has attempted to contribute to a decentering of what it means to be Russian.

Tikhon Dzyadko, editor-in-chief of Dozhd TV, talks about the challenges of working from abroad, explains why Dozhd remains a Russian channel, and claims that journalistic objectivity is a myth that was completely destroyed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sergei Shelin writes that the third of Russians who accepted the invasion of Ukraine as their own war have long been illiberal critics of the Putin regime and previously expressed feelings of support for such figures as Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Alexander Golts writes about the prospects for cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang in the field of arms and whether Russia can go back on the UN Security Council obligations it has signed on to.