The Insider in English (2025)

23/10/2025

“Our people poisoned Navalny”: Former FSB officer on surveilling opposition figures and running black ops in Russia and Ukraine

In an exclusive interview with The Insider, former FSB Second Service officer Alexander Fedotov reveals from within how the service operates. Fedotov offers a detailed look at how Navalny’s poisoners rose through the ranks and explains how the FSB continues to build a system that maintains total surveillance over opposition figures and activists, whether those enemies of the regime are inside Russia or abroad.

For many years, Russia’s Service for the Protection of the Constitutional Order and the Fight against Terrorism (SZKSBТ), also known as the FSB’s Second Service, has effectively functioned as Russia’s version of the Gestapo — a secret police force responsible for domestic repression and ter...

16/10/2025

Raids and denunciations targeting swingers and kinky parties have become routine in Russia since December 2023, when TV host Nastya Ivleeva’s “naked party” attracted widespread criticism.
Some organizers have gone out of business, while others have turned to ta**ra and psychotherapy.

The few remaining brands now condemn all things LGBTQ+, hoping it can earn them immunity from backlash.

Yet many members of the s*x-positive scene continue to do what they did before the war — only in secret.

Raids and denunciations targeting swingers and kinky parties have become routine in Russia since December 2023, when TV host Nastya Ivleeva’s “naked party” attracted widespread criticism. Some organizers have gone out of business, while others have turned to ta**ra and psychotherapy. The few r...

16/09/2025

❗️ Our Jan in Moscow: The secret Russian life of Europe's most notorious fugitive-turned-spy

One of the world’s most wanted men, Jan Marsalek, is living in Moscow and barely hiding the fact, a new investigation by The Insider and Der Spiegel has found. With only minor changes to his appearance, he walks freely in the city center accompanied by his new girlfriend, an officer with Russia’s FSB security service.

Marsalek, originally recruited by Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU, has recently stepped up his cooperation with the FSB and is frequently seen at the agency’s headquarters on Lubyanka Square. He also regularly travels to Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine on “combat missions” escorted by special forces.

Find out more in The Insider's latest joint investigation with Der Spiegel.

Ever since the summer of 2020, when German payments giant Wirecard collapsed after failing to account for €1.9 billion in missing assets, its former COO Jan Marsalek has been a wanted man. The Insider previously traced Marsalek to Russia, where the Austrian national enjoys a colorful life under th...

13/09/2025

The SCO’s coming of age: China stakes claim to a central role in a new global order

Twenty years ago, the SCO could have been dismissed as a marginal regional forum.

Beijing now presents the organization as a stage to rehearse its vision of global governance. That vision is no longer limited to economic megaprojects.
China has launched a “Global Governance Initiative,” and even if the real impact of this diplomatic maneuvering remains uncertain, Beijing’s ambition to become a pillar of a new international order is prominently on display.

Earlier this month, Vladimir Putin joined the host of authoritarian leaders who traveled to Tianjin, China, for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s annual summit. Twenty years ago, the SCO could have been dismissed as a marginal regional forum. Today, however, it has grown into an expanding to...

29/08/2025

▪️German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has reached the 100-day milestone of his tenure in very weak political form. Sixty-seven percent of respondents are dissatisfied with the work of the CDU leader, and the ruling party has ceded first place in the polls to the far-right Alternative for Germany.

This result is significantly worse than the first 100 days of both Olaf Scholz and Angela Merkel. Experts believe the problem is not Merz himself, but the fact that Germany as a whole is in a deep political, economic, institutional, and moral crisis.

Moreover, the social divide may prove more dangerous than the economic problems, and the consequences are likely to be felt as early as 2026 in elections at various levels.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has reached the 100-day milestone of his tenure in very weak political form. Sixty-seven percent of respondents are dissatisfied with the work of the CDU leader, and the ruling party has ceded first place in the polls to the far-right Alternative for Germany. This re...

26/08/2025

Since the early days of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army has depended on volunteers to source many items of basic kit — from uniforms and warm socks to thermal imagers and drones. In recent months, however, even the most driven among those collecting aid for “participants in the special military operation” increasingly speak of disappointment and fatigue. The Russian population is weary of the war, and many are pinning their hopes on a quick truce. In Russia’s border regions, the Russian troops are seen as no less of a threat than the Ukrainians, since they place military facilities in residential areas. The Insider spoke with volunteers who, since 2022, have been buying equipment, gear, and other aid for the army.

Since the early days of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian army has depended on volunteers to source many items of basic kit — from uniforms and warm socks to thermal imagers and drones. In recent months, however, even the most driven among those collecting aid for “participants in ...

22/08/2025

Less than total chaos: Trump’s hectic Russia diplomacy has improved Western unity.

Trump is fast-tracking preparations for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, Europeans are holding consultations on a daily basis, the Russian commander-in-chief is calling other heads of state to brief them on his talks with his U.S. counterpart, and even the Pope has urged that August 22 be declared a day of prayer for peace in Ukraine. After their abortive get together in Alaska, it seemed that Putin had once again succeeded in manipulating Trump, notes Ukrainian analyst Georgiy Chizhov, head of the Center for Reform Assistance.

But as negotiations unfold, Trump is leaning closer to Europe, and U.S. policy has become far less accommodating toward Russia than it was just six months ago.

Trump is fast-tracking preparations for a meeting between Putin and Zelensky, Europeans are holding consultations on a daily basis, the Russian commander-in-chief is calling other heads of state to brief them on his talks with his U.S. counterpart, and even the Pope has urged that August 22 be decla...

19/08/2025

“Let’s not make a deal: Why Putin’s demand to hand over Donbas is doomed to fail.”

Following last Friday’s talks with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Donald Trump announced that one “big issue” remained unresolved — and all signs suggest it is what the Kremlin likes to call a “territorial exchange,” which in practice would mean handing over to Russia the areas of the Donetsk region that Moscow’s forces still do not occupy. Both Volodymyr Zelensky and the majority of Ukrainians are firmly opposed to giving up any land without a fight, and capturing the “fortress cities” of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk is far beyond the reach of the Russian military anytime in the near future. After the strong show of support that European leaders gave Zelensky during his trip to Washington three days after the Alaska summit, Putin’s demands appear more unrealistic than ever.

Following last Friday’s talks with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, Donald Trump announced that one “big issue” remained unresolved — and all signs suggest it is what the Kremlin likes to call a “territorial exchange,” which in practice would mean handing over to Russia the areas of the Donetsk...

18/08/2025

Chianti from Medvedev, Montepulciano by Yakunin, and Merlot à la Mikhalkov: A brief guide to the Italian vineyards of Putin’s inner circle.

Members of the Kremlin elite — including Vladimir Putin’s former KGB colleagues, his political allies, and his business partners from among the Malyshev and Tambov criminal groups — still own luxurious vineyards in Italy. Despite openly supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine and profiting from state corruption, many of them have not been placed under international sanctions. Meanwhile, their vineyards have received over €1 million in European Union subsidies over the past decade.

Members of the Kremlin elite — including Vladimir Putin’s former KGB colleagues, his political allies, and his business partners from among the Malyshev and Tambov criminal groups — still own luxurious vineyards in Italy. Despite openly supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine and profiting f...

15/08/2025

The war has reshaped everyday life in Russia.

Prices have surged, wages have grown, and contract soldiers on the front are earning sums the regions had never seen before. Yet the divide between the country’s most developed regions and its poorest is only expanding. Comparing life across Russia is also becoming harder, as official statistics are increasingly hidden from public view. The Insider has sifted through what data remains available and found stark imbalances in economic growth, quality of life, and household prosperity. Regional inequality has already become a key factor driving economic and social tensions.

The war has reshaped everyday life in Russia. Prices have surged, wages have grown, and contract soldiers on the front are earning sums the regions had never seen before. Yet the divide between the country’s most developed regions and its poorest is only expanding. Comparing life across Russia is ...

11/08/2025

“Everyone wants me to pick a fight with my cousin”: Nate Vance on war, family politics, and the fight for Ukraine

In the conversation with The Insider, Nate Vance stressed that he wants what is best — both for America and for Ukraine.

Having spent nearly three years on the ground in the latter, he can speak with authority about the types of foreign assistance that can benefit the Ukrainian war effort the most, and about the greater national security threat that Vladimir Putin’s Russia poses to the administration in Washington.

A few thousand foreign military volunteers are still on the ground in Ukraine, fighting to defend the democratic state against Russian aggression. Before his cousin was sworn in as Vice President of the United States, retired Marine Nate Vance was one of them. Although Vance and his famous relative,...

11/08/2025

‼️📹 How Russia recycles its war prisoners

Back from Ukrainian captivity, thousands of Russian soldiers are placed under surveillance — then pushed back into assault units. Many never make it home.

▶️ Full investigation here:

In May and June, more than 1000 Russian POWs were repatriated as part of prisoner exchanges with Ukraine. Many had spent over a year in captivity, dreaming o...

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