The Interpreter is an online journal dedicated to analyzing and translating media from the Russian press and blogosphere into English. The Interpreter is a special project of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
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Founded in May 2013, this online journal set out with the modest goal of translating articles from the Russian press, the better to lower the language barrier that separates journalists, analysts, policymakers, diplomats and interested laymen in the English-speaking world from events taking place inside the Russian Federation. Little did we realize then that The Interpreter would devote as much energy to covering what the Russian Federation got up to outside of its own borders. We have grown into a leading real-time chronicle and analysis resource on all aspects of the crisis in Ukraine. Every day since violence first erupted in Kiev’s Independence Square, The Interpreter’s Ukraine live-blog has documented a revolution that became a war on European soil, often breaking news stories about Russia’s annexation of Crimea, its maskirovka insurgency in the Donbass, its cross-border shelling of Ukraine, the downing of MH17, and the Minsk II “cease-fire.” Our work has been cited in news outlets all over the world, by presidents and ambassadors. Under the generous patronage of the Institute of Modern Russia (IMR), the magazine was allowed to evolve organically into a more journalistic enterprise, while still adhering to its core remit of being an “Inopressa in reverse.” We owe everything to the incredibly supportive team at IMR, and particularly to Pavel Khodorkovsky, who saw the potential and urgency of this project two and a half years ago. The Interpreter translated into English two major reports on the alleged corruption behind the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014; the first co-written by the Leonid Martinyuk and Boris Nemtsov, the latter of whom was brutally assassinated in Moscow a year later; the second by Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. We also published two internationally discussed stand-alone studies, “The Menace of Unreality,” a look at contemporary Kremlin disinformation and propaganda, and “An Invasion by Any Other Name,” a near-comprehensive history of the Kremlin’s “dirty war” in Ukraine that relied heavily on what Russian investigators and activists had uncovered about their own government’s deception. Then, in October 2015, Russia intervened in Syria. Under the pretense of going to war against ISIS, Vladimir Putin has tried to prop up a flailing ally in the regime of Bashar al-Assad, targeting mostly non-ISIS targets and killing scores of civilians. So The Interpreter launched another news channel dedicated to covering yet another ambiguous Russian war, in three different languages. Given the magazine’s trajectory, a partnership with RFE/RL makes perfect sense. A longtime “surrogate” for a free press where such is denied or underdeveloped, RFE/RL has produced some of the finest reporting and commentary on Russia, from the latest corruption scandals in Moscow and the legal persecution (or worse) of the Bolotnaya protest movement to the prevalence of North Caucasian jihadists joining the ranks of ISIS. Given the dire state of independent Russia media, portals such as RFE/RL are more necessary now than at any time since the end of the Cold War. And given our overlapping interest, we could not be more excited to serve as an outpost of such a venerable news organization.
Operating as usual
Foreign Office #9. Resets, Be Gone! by Foreign Office with Michael Weiss • A podcast on Anchor
Former Biden adviser and Russia expert Michael Carpenter discusses his coauthored articles with President-Elect Joe Biden and what to expect from the new administration.
Foreign Office #11. How to Catch a Russian Assassin by Foreign Office with Michael Weiss • A podcast on Anchor
Christo Grozev, the Bellingcat journalist who unmasked Alexey Navalny’s hit squad, explains how he did it, and what it says about Putin’s security state.
The Navalny Poisoners Exposed - with Andrei Soldatov
In this Live, Russian investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov and senior editor Michael Weiss, both of whom wrote an exclusive story for Newlines on Russia’...
In exclusive and groundbreaking report, Free Russia Foundation has translated and published five documents from the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.
The documents, obtained and analyzed by Free Russia Foundation’s Director of Special Investigations Michael Weiss, details the GRU’s modern psychological warfare program and are dated from within the last decade. The documents include the memoir of a former colonel in the Soviet Unions’s Special Propaganda Directorate who explains how psychological and information operations were conducted at the tail-end of the Cold War, and then adapted for the post-Soviet era.
A GRU lecturer candidly states the fact: there really is no philosophical distinction anymore between war and peace, only differences at the strategic and operational levels. Psychological operations are therefore *constantly* waged against the West.
https://www.4freerussia.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/12/AquariumLeaks-EN-Web-1.pdf
https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/1335951857051717634
One GRU lecturer candidly states the fact: there really is no philosophical distinction anymore between war and peace, only differences at the strategic and operational levels. Psychological operations are therefore *constantly* waged against the West. And then there is this:
“One GRU lecturer candidly states the fact: there really is no philosophical distinction anymore between war and peace, only differences at the strategic and operational levels. Psychological operations are therefore *constantly* waged against the West. And then there is this:”
If you prefer to read the documents in their original language, here's Free Russia's report "Aquarium Leaks" with exclusive GRU documents in the original Russian:
https://freerussiahouse.org/2020/12/07/utechki-iz-akvariuma-vnutri-programmy-psihologicheskoj-vojny-gru/
Только в этом эксклюзивном и беспрецедентном отчете Фонд «Свободная Россия» перевел и опубликовал пять документов ГРУ (российской военной разведки), в которых под...
In this exclusive and groundbreaking report, Free Russia Foundation has translated and published five documents from the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency.
The documents, obtained and analyzed by Free Russia Foundation’s Director of Special Investigations Michael Weiss, details the GRU’s modern psychological warfare program and are dated from within the last decade. The documents include the memoir of a former colonel in the Soviet Unions’s Special Propaganda Directorate who explains how psychological and information operations were conducted at the tail-end of the Cold War, and then adapted for the post-Soviet era. The documents also include the organization of psychological warfare, down to the military unit, as well as the theory and practice of working over targets in the West.
https://www.4freerussia.org/aquarium-leaks-inside-the-gru-s-psychological-warfare-program/?fbclid=IwAR1f_3Aw8mQ4MZmVarz6W1ET1gbT9mm1wHPt0wCq5jgJRlWZXpKVcTmH9A4
In this exclusive and groundbreaking report, Free Russia Foundation has translated and published five documents from the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency. The documents, obtained and analyzed by Free Russia Foundation’s Director of Special Investigations Michael Weiss, details the...
https://anchor.fm/freerussia/episodes/Foreign-Office-8--Unfrozen-Conflict-en728e
Award-winning journalist Simon Ostrovsky reports from Nagorno-Karabakh
Foreign Office #7. The View from Europe by Foreign Office with Michael Weiss • A podcast on Anchor
As Joe Biden crept to victory, Estonia's former President Toomas Henrik Ilves explained how much of Europe saw this election -- and what it expects and (doesn't expect) from America going forward
📢 We are hard at work on Volume 3 of our #Kremlin Influence Quarterly, and if you would like to contribute, we would love to hear from you!
💡 ⌨️ 📨
https://www.4freerussia.org/call-for-submissions-the-kremlin-s-influence-quarterly-vol-3/?fbclid=IwAR3kgzCOWtq_jH0nfnss6bPSY4rjQd01Cl_2gJhu3RrO1by2Ya_aLvkw4lc
The Free Russia Foundation invites submissions to The Kremlin’s Influence Quarterly, a journal that explores and analyzes manifestations of the malign influence of Putin’s Russia in Europe.
In the fourth episode of Eastern Approaches, Jamestown President Glen Howard speaks with author, academic, and adventurer Thomas Goltz. Goltz is a renowned war correspondent who specializes in Turkey, the Middle East and the Caucasus region of the former Soviet Union, with a focus on Azerbaijan. In this interview, Goltz describes his travels around the world, and how he found himself reporting on the war in Nagorno Karabakh in the 1990s, where he documented the notorious Khojaly Massacre. His career has brought him to all corners of the Caucasus, and he brings his unique insight to a fascinating interview that touches on the future of a volatile region that is experiencing war in Karabakh today.
The Eastern Approaches video series is named after the book by British diplomat, spy and adventurer, Fitzroy Maclean, and features conversations with renowned experts on the most important geostrategic issues the United States faces in Eurasia, with an eye toward detail typically absent in foreign policy discussions today.
In the fourth episode of Eastern Approaches, Jamestown President Glen Howard speaks with author, academic, and adventurer Thomas Goltz. Goltz is a renowned w...
A new episode from the Foreign Office Podcast by Michael Weiss❗️
CIA historian Tim Weiner, who has written a book about Russian-American political warfare, comparing #KGB and #CIA tactics.
🕵️♀️ ☭ 🇺🇸
Tim Weiner, the acclaimed historian of the CIA, discusses his new book on American-Russian political warfare, from the Cold War till now.
More from the latest edition of our #Kremlin Influence Quarterly: the second part of Martin Malek's analysis on #Putin's influence campaign in #Austria 🇦🇹 and the deep economic ties to #Russia that make Austrian politicians unwilling to say "no."
The first part of this article is available here.This article is a part of the first issue of the Kremlin’s Influence Quarterly.You can also download this piece as a PDF. 5. Austria’s Role in the Nabucco and South Stream Pipeline Projects The Nabucco pipeline was the EU’s flagship project with...
From The #Kremlin Influence Quarterly: #Putin's stranglehold on #Moldova 🇲🇩. Our energy policy analysts report on how #Russia has tethered the ex-Soviet state to itself through controlling the gas infrastructure, all while supporting regional separatism.
This article is a part of the first issue of the Kremlin’s Influence Quarterly.You can also download this piece as a PDF. Introduction Over the last 200 years, the main part of the territory that today constitutes the Republic of Moldova switched sovereignties six times between the Russian...
Helsinki Commission Leaders Mourn Death of Moscow Helsinki Monitoring Group Founder Yuri Orlov
WASHINGTON—Helsinki Commission Chairman Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (FL-20) and Co-Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (MS) today expressed sorrow over the death on September 27 of physicist Yuri Orlov, the founder of the Moscow Helsinki Group. “Yuri Orlov truly stood out among the great 20th century human ri...
Free Russia Foundation
Our own Michael Weiss reporting for The Daily Beast with a story on that insane Argentinian drug bust involving Russian embassy officials. Looks like another #Kremlin coverup is afoot!
After a massive embassy drug bust, a trial is being held in secret, the Kremlin seems to be lying, and sources believe Russian agents are covering up the involvement of officials.
https://twitter.com/SofiOksanen/status/1302677623408136192
“My keynote (in English) about #Russia, #psyops, #infowars, and threats freedom of speech is facing, including #hatespeech, available now at Youtube @ProComRy #Venäjä #turpo https://t.co/Z0zfkABNFO”
📢The 2nd edition of The #Kremlin's Influence Quarterly is here! 🗞️
Inside:
🇷🇸: Anton Shekhovtsov on how #Putin used aid to advance own agenda
🇲🇩: Putin controls corrupt political elites through gas supply
🇫🇷 Russian media sows discord
Also: 🇺🇦🇪🇪🇲🇰🇵🇱
The second issue of The Kremlin’s Influence Quarterly continues investigating the malign influence of Putin’s Russia in the areas of the economy, media, religion, civil society, politics, and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following his essay on the Russian coronavirus-related aid to Italy....
One of Putin’s closest allies is running an influence campaign in Russia to stir up anti-colonial outrage—for some reason he’s using neo-Nazis and racists to do it.
The Kremlin’s Influence Quarterly Vol.2 - Report Launch
On Wednesday, September 9 (10 am EST/ 4 pm CEST/ 5 pm EEST), Free Russia Foundation launches the second volume of Kremlin’s Influence Quarterly. The Kremlin’...
How a Soviet Triple Agent Recruited New Spies in the West
A KGB manual, published in English for the first time, reveals how Soviet spies infiltrated Western governments in an elaborate game of cat-and-mouse.
Sign the Petition
Mandate and Coordinate an International Investigation of Alexey Navalny’s Poisoning
https://twitter.com/Interpreter_Mag/status/1296985036785438722
“Aleksey Navalny has been taken aboard the medivac flight. Yuliya is with him. https://t.co/be5801lp6A”
The Linguistics of Disinfo: How Russia Portrays Kamala Harris
In Russia, media and politicians reacted to Joe Biden’s choice of Kamala Harris as his running mate with racial and sexist slurs and disinformation.
After being threatened with her life, this democracy activist packed up and fled. Now she’s fighting from afar—with one eye over her shoulder.
https://www.facebook.com/SvobodnoeSlovo/posts/2673321999547037
JOINT STATEMENT OF PEN MOSCOW, THE FREE WORD ASSOCIATION AND ST. PETERSBURG PEN CLUB
A neighboring country, to which we are blood-related, shouts in two languages: Belarusian and Russian. About the totally falsified election. About the exiled and imprisoned candidates. About thousands of Belarus residents, who have been beaten, humiliated, and thrown into detention centers. And, in fact, about the coup d'etat. We cannot but respond to this outcry. The citizens of Belarus are defending basic human rights: the freedom to think, choose, speak, live, and breathe. In Minsk, Grodno, Brest, Gomel and Polotsk, as well as in many other cities, law enforcement agencies act as real execution squads.
We, People of Letters, call on all those who value words to become an echo of the Belarusian protest. Every hour of our silence brings about new victims. It is not without reason that those who illegally hold power over Belarus, first of all shut down the Internet, depriving citizens of information and communication with the world and with one another. We see independent journalists being brutally detained and kicked out of the country. Torture is used. Svetlana Alexievich, Belarusian writer, Nobel Prize winner for literature, honorary member of PEN Moscow, has talked in her latest interview about "almost inhuman, satanic rage, with which the law enforcement units operate", and she has urged Alexander Lukashenko to resign.
We admire the determination, with which the Belarusians stand up for the right to freely choose their future. We join the voices of our friends and colleagues in expressing full solidarity with the Belarusian people.
And we are confident that they are to win.
Belarus shall overcome!
. . .
Перевод на английский язык Ольги Варшавер
На фото картина Артема Лоскутова «Беларусь», которую он написал при помощи ударов дубинки с нанесенной на нее красной краской
After a Rigged Election, Belarus Crushes Protests Amid an Information Blackout
https://www.newyorker.com/news/our-columnists/after-a-rigged-election-belarus-crushes-protests-amid-an-information-blackout
Alexander Lukashenka is claiming his sixth term, and his strongest opponent has fled the country.
How Sen. Ron Johnson’s Investigation Became an Enabler of Russian Disinformation: Part I
https://www.justsecurity.org/71947/how-sen-ron-johnsons-investigation-became-an-enabler-of-russian-disinformation-part-i/
"There are three channels of Russian disinformation that have apparently affected Sen. Johnson’s Ukraine-related investigations."
Vladimir Putin’s relentless assault on LGBTQ rights in Russia continues, helped by ex-senator Yekaterina Lakhova, who recently said rainbow-colored ice cream was “gay propaganda.”
Unlike Americans, Russians have few options for challenging the system.
Today, the Russian human rights and research organization Memorial Society has reported that independent historian Yury Dmitriev who specialized in Stalin-era repressions, who has been jailed unjustly on false accusations of pedophilia; acquitted, then re-tried in a clearly politicized move by Russian authorities, has now been sentenced to 3.5 years of labor colony.
Memorial characterized the sentence as "mild" compared to the 15 years requested by the prosecutor, but said the sentence is unjust, as there have never been any grounds for the charges. Due to time already served, he may be released as early as November 2020.
Yesterday, Novaya Gazeta published an appeal by more than 100 independent Russian writers, critics, film-makers, scholars, scientists, and opposition politicians protesting the prosecution.
Our translation follows:
"One of the Dirtiest Trials in the Country"
Open Letter to Court Officials, Prosecutor's Office and Investigative Agencies on the Case of Yury Dmitriev
In our day in Russia, few are surprised by court cases made to order. But compared to everything else going on, the criminal prosecution of Yury Alexandrovich Dmitriev stands out in particular. Dmitriev is a historian of the repressions, one of the creators of the Sandarmokh and Krasny Bor Memorial complexes, the head of the Karelia Section of Memorial and an honorary member of the St. Petersburg PEN Club.
This is one of the dirtiest trials in the country. People have been jailed for their civic position in our country for a long time, but for those who decided to ruin the life of this Karelian historian, it seemed insufficient merely to deprive him of freedom. They decided to destroy his good name, and ruin the life not only of Yury Alexandrovich but his child, launching an endlessly cynical campaign of persecution in a whole number of pro-government publications Dmitriev's criminal case will enter the textbooks as an example of a trial made to order, fabricated according to a previously known pattern.
The truth is obvious to see: the persecution of Dmitriev, the invasion into his family and attempt to cripple the future of a father and daughter is directly related to Yury Alexandrovich's struggle for historical memory and activity in restoring the names of those who innocently perished in Stalin's labor camps. But in fact it is not hard at all to understand: neither the persecution of Yury Dmitriev, or his possible prison incarceration will stop the work he and his colleagues began.
Russian history will be able to defend itself and respond to those who want to destroy archives, level the ground and rewrite the past completely.
Signed
Inna Churikova, actress
Ludmila Ulitskaya, writer
Andrei Zvyagintsev, director
Viktor Shenderovich, writer
Liya Akhedzhakova, actress
Andrei Chernov, poet
Yevgeny Royzman, historian, civic activist
Viktoriya Ivleva, photographer, journalist
Yuly Kim, poet, playwright
Nataliya Sivokhina, poet
Grigory Mikhnov-Vaytenko, clergyman
Pavel Gutiontov, journalist
Oleg Khlebnikov, poets
Boris Vishnevksy, politician
Nataliya Sokolovskaya, writer
Yelena Chizhova, writer
Andrei Zubov, historian
Anatoly Razumov, historian
Alexander Skobov, publicist
Nataliya Yevdokimova, human rights activist
Andrei Desnitsky, philologist
Sergei Yolkin, artist
Yuliya Aug, actress and director
Valeriy Borshchev, human rights activist
Vladimir Kara-Murza, Jr., historian, politician
Nadezhda Azhgikhina, journalist
Konstantin Azadovsky, philologist, literary critic
Yury Vdovin, human rights activist
Nikolai Alexandrov, journalist
Veronika Dolina, poet and songwriter
Denis Dragunsky, writer
Nina Katerli, writer
Yelan Efros, philologist, journalist
Yelena Bayevskaya, translator
Irina Balakhonova, publisher
Tatyana Dorutina, human rights activist
Irina Bogatyreva, writer
Marina Boroditskaya, poet and translator
Olga Bukhina, translator
Vitold Zalessky, human rights activist
Tatyana Voltskaya, poet, journalist
Alisa Ganieva, writer
Darya Yurskaya, actress
Natalya Tenyakova, actress
Oleg Dorman, film director
Anton Dolin, film critic
Natalya Tendryakova, social anthropologist
Galina, Aksyonova, Ph.D. art history
Vaniamin Smekhov, actor, director, writer
Alika Smekhova, actress
Anatoly Bely, actor
Lyubov Arkus, publisher, director
Giregory Sluzhitel, actor, writer
Miriam Sekhon, actress
Kristina Gorelik, journalist
Varvara Gornostayeva, publisher
Ella Polyakova, human rights activist
Olga Gromova, writer, editor, children's literature
Yury Nesterov, human rights activist
Natalya Klyuchareva, writer
Grigory Kruzhkov, writer
Sergei Kuznetsov, writer
Olga Kuchkina, writer
Nataliya Khodyreva, human rights activist
Larisa Miller, writer
Vladimir Moshchenko, writer
pavel Nerler, historian and geographer
Anton Nechaev, historian
Valery Nikolaev, translator, writer
Sergei Parkhomenko, journalist
Leonid Krikun, lawyer, human rights activist
Dmitry Petrov, journalist
Nikolai Podosokorsky, publicist
Olga Romanova, Jailed Russia, journalist
Mariya Rybakova, writer
Zoya Svetova, journalist
Alexei Slapovsky, writer
Igor Karichev, writer
Tatyana Chernysheva, writer
Alla Shevelkina, journalist
Sergei Krasilnikov, historian (Novosibirsk)
Mikhail Mints, historian
Nikita Sokolov, historian
Irina Karatsuba, historian
Fyodor Borisovich Uspensky, corresponding member, Russian
Academy of Sciences, philologist
Yevgeny Volkov, historian
Viktor Shnirelman, cultural anthropologist
Sergei Dmitriev, Sinologist, member Free Historical Society
Alexey Vigasin, historian
Yuliya Guseva, translator
Andrei Suslov, historian
Marina Vishnevetskaya, writer
Karinna Moskalenko, attorney
Vyacheslav Sereda, translator
Dmitry Dubrovsky, historian, human rights activist
Yelena Volkova, cultural critic
Leonid Bakhnov, writer
Vitaly Dikson, writer
Irina Staf, translator
Alexander Soldatov, religious scholar, journalist
Yelena Sannikova, human rights activist, op-ed writer
Rodion Knyazev, historian
Igor Zotov, literary critic
Sergei Gandlevsky, poet
Nune Barsegyan, writer, psychologist
Alyosha Prokopev, poet, translator
Sergei Yakovlev, writer
Andrei Plakhov, film critic
Viktor Yesipov, poet, literary critic
Dmitry Karelsky, writer
Marina Adamovich, editor
Bozhena Rynska, journalist
Svetlana Kulchitskaya, journalist
Andrei Zbarsky, editor
Lybov Summ, writer
Olga Drobot, writer
Dmitry Vavilsky, writer
Mark Grinberg, translator
Natalya Mavlevich, translator
Tatyana Shcherbina, poet
Tatyana Bonch-Osmolovskaya, writer
Olga Varshaver, translator
Dmitry Stakhov, writer
Mariya Falikman, poet, translator
Lev TRimofeyev, writer
Alexander Arkhangelsky, writer
Marina Buvaylo, writer
Sergei Zagniy, musician
Keith Hammond, writer
Oleg Lekmanov, writer
Kseniya Larina, journalist
Vladimir Sotnikov, writer
Tatyana Sotnikova (Anna Berseneva) writer
Alexander Dolinin, historian
Viktor Matizen, film critic
Alexei Gusev, historian
Igor Karlinsky, human rights activist
Pavel Kudyukin, historian, trade union activists
Anatoly Turilov, historian
Vera Milchina, translator, literary historian
Boris Kats, music scholar
Irina Kravtsova, editror
Grigory Pasko, journalist
Alexei Motorov, writer
Natalya Gromova, writer, historian
Alla Gerber, writer
Mikhail Krom, historian
Arkady Shtypel, poet, translator
Mariya Galina, poet, writer, translator
Yelena Yakovich, documentary film director
Maxim Osipov, writer
Boris Sokolov, writer, historian
Dmitry Vedenyapin, poet
Irina Surat, philologist
Natalya Ivanova, writer, critic
Nikolai Kononov, writer
Askold Ivanchik, historian
Svetlana Neretina, Ph.D., philosophy
Yelana Fanaylova, writer, journalist
Nadezhda Belenkaya, translator
Yevgeny Yermolin, critic
Yuliy Gugolev, poet
Georgy Yefremov, writer
Alina Vitukhnovskaya, writer, politician
Alexei Fedotov, engineer
Maya Kucherskaya, writer
Gennady Kalasnikov, poet
Alexei Mosin, historian
Alexander Yarin, translator
Liliya Gazizova, poet
Artur Chubur, archeologist
Igor Irtenyev, poet
Alla Bossart, journalist, writer
Natalya Tumashkova, psychologist
Anastasiya Pyari, journalist, poet
Galina Rymbu, poet, feminist, editor of F-Letter
magazine and Greza [Reverie]
Yakov Gilinsky, lawyer
Vladimir Kokko, civic activist
Yevgeny Tsyganov, actor
Kseniya Rappoport, actress
Natalya Chepik, screenwriter, actress
Igor Yasulovich, actor
Yekaterina Shulman, politician
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Savchenko Vows Dry Hunger Strike From Tomorrow After Judge Cuts Her Off During Final Speech http://www.interpretermag.com/day-745/#12797
The Interpreter is a non-profit online news site providing translations of Russian and Ukrainian media, news updates and analysis of Russia’s wars at home, in Ukraine, and in Syria. Founded in May 2013, this online journal set out with the modest goal of translating articles from the Russian press, the better to lower the language barrier that separates journalists, analysts, policymakers, diplomats and interested laymen in the English-speaking world from events taking place inside the Russian Federation. Little did we realize then that The Interpreter would devote as much energy to covering what the Russian Federation got up to outside of its own borders. Throughout the first years of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, The Interpreter was among the leading real-time chronicle and analysis resource on all aspects of the crisis in Ukraine. Every day since violence first erupted in Kiev’s Independence Square, The Interpreter’s Ukraine live-blog documented a revolution that became a war on European soil, often breaking news stories about Russia’s annexation of Crimea, its maskirovka insurgency in the Donbass, its cross-border shelling of Ukraine, the downing of MH17, and the Minsk II “cease-fire.” Our work has been cited in news outlets all over the world, by presidents and ambassadors, and in academic papers. Under the generous patronage of the Institute of Modern Russia (IMR), the magazine was allowed to evolve organically into a more journalistic enterprise, while still adhering to its core remit of being an “Inopressa in reverse.” We owe everything to the incredibly supportive team at IMR, and particularly to Pavel Khodorkovsky, who saw the potential and urgency of this project two and a half years ago. The Interpreter translated into English two major reports on the alleged corruption behind the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014; the first co-written by the Leonid Martinyuk and Boris Nemtsov, the latter of whom was brutally assassinated in Moscow a year later; the second by Alexey Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. We also published two internationally discussed stand-alone studies, “The Menace of Unreality,” a look at contemporary Kremlin disinformation and propaganda, and “An Invasion by Any Other Name,” a near-comprehensive history of the Kremlin’s “dirty war” in Ukraine that relied heavily on what Russian investigators and activists had uncovered about their own government’s deception. Then, in October 2015, Russia intervened in Syria. Under the pretense of going to war against ISIS, Vladimir Putin has tried to prop up a flailing ally in the regime of Bashar al-Assad, targeting mostly non-ISIS targets and killing scores of civilians. So The Interpreter launched another news channel dedicated to covering yet another ambiguous Russian war, in three different languages. The Interpreter was funded by Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe from 2016-2017. We lost our funding with the start of the Trump Administration. Since then, our writers have worked on a volunteer basis, so we appreciate your donations. We have been fortunate to have some media partners who have helped distribute our material; currently we are partnered with CodaStory, a single-issue web platform that puts a team of journalists on one crisis at a time and stays with it, providing unique depth, continuity and understanding to events.
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