Russia
THE HEROES OF CHERNIHIV – A photo essay by Paul Conroy
In war, legends are born, and reputations made, no more so than in the case of the First Tank Brigade. The Brigade battled to repel Russian forces who failed in their attempt to besiege Chernihiv, and later the Brigade went on to secure the highway to Kyiv and prevent the Russian advance on the capital. […]
#StraightFromTheFrontline
Sunday March 20th, FC projected the Ukrainian flag onto the Russian embassy to launch its SFTF campaign, Nina Kropotkine-Watson Straight From The Frontline (#SFTF) is a new initiative aiming to provide urgent practical help to support freelance journalists on the frontline in Ukraine. It’s a development from the Frontline Club Freelance Registry ‘FFR’ which […]
World Briefing 2021 – Foreign Correspondents & Experts Discuss World News
Panel Discussion Moderated by Michael Bociurkiw. Joined By: Janine di Giovanni a multi-award winning journalist and author, a Senior Fellow and Professor at Yale University’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs Andrei Soldatov, Russian investigative journalist and Russian security services expert, co-founder and editor of the Agentura.Ru and author of the recent book […]
Libya
Prime minister, Fayez al-Serraj joins forces with the militias and back by Turkey advances to regain Tripoli airport & the lucrative oil reserves. Russian backed, General Haftar’s and his self styled ‘Libyan National Army’ are pushed back however holding the east. Further foreign armies have flocked to the conflict ridden country drawn by the promise brought by Africa’s largest oil reserves and over 1,700km of Mediterranean coastline. What happens next as the country faces a dangerous deadlock promoted by external forces. Our panel discuss conflict, Covid and the rest.
Kleptoscope- What next for Putin? And what next for Russia?
In 2020, Vladimir Putin had hoped to alter the Russian constitution, secure his tenure as President and ensure any future transition would maintain his effective power. The Covid-19 pandemic and its resulting global recession has put this long-term strategy in jeopardy. Russia now faces its most uncertain period since Putin returned to the Presidency in 2012.
Akhmed Zakaev – In Conversation with Luke Harding
Join Akhmed Zakaev, dissident and Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic’s government in exile, in conversation with Luke Harding, Foreign Correspondent at The Guardian, on the subject of Zakaev’s recent book, Subjugate or Exterminate!: A Memoir of Russia’s Wars in Chechnya.
Kleptoscope 2020: How to solve Britain’s Russia problem?
One of the murkiest mysteries of December’s general election campaign was the contents of the report on Russian interference in British democracy that Boris Johnson decided to suppress. Speculation was rife about its contents and, right now, we still don’t know what they were. So what is Britain’s Russia problem? And how do we solve it? Kleptoscope returns to discuss these important questions, which will be at the top of the in-tray for our government through Brexit and beyond.
Oleg Sentsov in Conversation with Natalia Koliada & David Lan
HOSTED BY PEN INTERNATIONAL. In this exclusive event, join acclaimed Ukrainian film-maker and writer Oleg Sentsov in conversation with Natalia Koliada & David Lan, followed by a screening of acclaimed documentary “The Trial: The State of Russia vs Oleg Sentsov”.
Meeting Gorbachev
Join us for a special preview screening of feature documentary Meeting Gorbachev by legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog and Emmy Award winning Director, André Singer ahead of its UK release in October.
Invisible Battalion + Q&A
Invisible Battalion tells the story of six Ukrainian servicewomen, the film protagonists are different by their life experience, age, military and civil professions, but all of them united by war.
Ukraine’s Frozen Conflict
In the frontline town of Marinka, a new bakery has opened which brings some comfort and sustenance to war-weary locals. The film follows the people who run the bakery and the customers, as they struggle to gain a sense of normality among the rumble of war.
East Ghouta: Are we blind to Syria’s latest tragedy?
The escalating humanitarian crisis in the suburbs of Damascus due to the Syrian civil war was the subject of discussion at the Frontline Club on Tuesday 13th March. The area of East Ghouta is said to be one of the last strongholds of resistance by Syrian opposition forces and as such the target of renewed […]
Poisoned by Nerve Agent. Who Attacked Sergei Skripal?
As a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned by a nerve agent on a Sunday afternoon in Salisbury, they lost consciousness and remain in critical condition. There has been rampant speculation as to whether Moscow is behind the attack.
Kompromat: An Evening with Stanley Johnson and Rachel Johnson
The Frontline Club invites you to a lively evening of discussion between Stanley Johnson and Rachel Johnson, focusing on Stanley’s latest political thriller, Kompromat.
Russian Elections: What’s Next for Putin
Vladimir Putin seeks re-election on March 18 and there isn’t much doubt about the outcome. The question now is what he’ll do in his fourth term as Russian president.
Screening: Icarus + Q&A
Filmmaker Bryan Fogel sets out on a mission to learn about performance-enhancing drugs in sports. What he ends up discovering is far bigger than anyone could have even imagined.
Mafia Life: Love, Death and Making Money at the Heart of Organised Crime
We see mafias as vast, powerful organisations, harvesting billions of dollars across the globe and wrapping their tentacles around everything from governance to finance. But is this the truth? Travelling from mafia initiation ceremonies in far-flung Russian cities to elite gambling clubs in downtown Macau, Federico Varese sets off in search of answers. Using wiretapped conversations, interviews and previously unpublished police records, he builds up a picture of the real men and women caught up in mafia life, showing their loves and fears, ambitions and disappointments, as well as their crimes.
Kleptoscope Two: The Alchemy of Making Money from Sand
The second evening in the Kleptoscope series explored the illicit wealth originating from the Middle East that flows through the capital’s economy.
Kleptoscope: London’s Dirty Money
“Three quarters of money looted in Russia comes to the UK.” The audience sat in stunned silence. Roman Borisovich continued, “there is an army of UK bankers, accountants, lawyers, trustees, and other professionals assisting Russian corruption.”
Frontline Russia Presents: Cyber Conflict and the Future of US-Russian Relations
In the lead up to the US presidential elections, the US government formally accused Russia of political hacking. The US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper stated that the stealing and leaking of emails from the Democratic National Committee and other institutions was intended to interfere with the election process. But did Russia actually launch ‘cyber warfare’ on the US, and how grounded are the C.I.A.’s conclusions? Join us for a discussion on what the hacking debate has revealed about relations between the two countries and the new role of cyber conflict in international relations.
Kleptoscope: London’s Dirty Money
For the first event in a new series investigating corruption and dirty money in London – its origins, its launderers, and how it gets spent – we will be hearing three groundbreaking stories focusing on the former Soviet Union. We will discuss how Russian kleptocrats have used the services of the British capital to retain and launder their money; how London’s property market has become a piggy bank for the world’s corrupt elite; and how ex-Soviet businessmen have covertly funded MPs and parliamentary groups, gaining preferential treatment as a result.
Screening: Ukrainian Sheriffs
Ukrainian Sheriffs follows Viktor and Volodya, two men who have been appointed local sheriffs by the mayor in the town of Stara Zburyevka, Ukraine. While dealing with crimes such as stolen ducks and drunken neighbours, the news about the war is slowly creeping in on them through their televisions and the invitations to join the army. Ukrainian Sheriffs gives us look beyond the war and inside everyday life in a remote Ukrainian village, with a great eye for the shady side of life.
City 40: film lifts veil on secretive nuclear town
On Tuesday 14 June, a packed-out Frontline Club hosted a screening of the acclaimed documentary City 40 followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Samira Goetschel and Guardian journalist Luke Harding.
Screening: City 40 + Q&A
This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Samira Goetschel.
Tucked away deep in the heart of Russia, there is a hidden city where thousands of men, women and children live and work behind barbed-wire fences monitored by armed guards. Built after the Second World War to create the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons program, City 40 is one of Russia’s secret closed cities. In this feature-length documentary, the film crew is smuggled inside the top secret CITY 40 to meet the brave residents who risk their lives to warn us of the human and environmental catastrophe that threatens the region.
The Rise of Russia’s New Nationalism
From the rise of anti-Western paranoia and imperialist rhetoric to the intervention in Syria and the annexation of Crimea, a distinct theory of Russian national identity based on ethnicity and geography, Eurasianism, has moved from the fringes of political discourse to become official state policy.
BookNight with Stewart Purvis and Jeff Hubert – Guy Burgess: The Spy Who Knew Everyone
Cambridge spy Guy Burgess was a supreme networker, with a contacts book that included everyone from statesmen to socialites and high-ranking government officials, to the famous actors and literary figures of the day. He also set a gold standard for conflicts of interest, working variously, and often simultaneously, for the BBC, MI5, MI6, the War Office, the Ministry of Information and the KGB.
For May’s members’ BookNight, we look forward to welcoming Stewart Purvis and Jeff Hulbert on the release of their new book, Guy Burgess: The Spy Who Knew Everyone .
Screening: Oleg’s Choice + Q&A
Since the summer of 2014, thousands of young Russians poured into the Donbass region of Eastern Ukraine. Driven by propaganda on Russian television, they believed they were fulfilling their patriotic duty. This documentary follows two volunteers, Oleg and Max, as they discuss their motivations and share their own perspective on the conflict. Oleg’s Choice serves as a uniquely personal testimony of one side of the war rarely seen in the western media.
BookNight with Luke Harding
For April’s members’ BookNight, we are delighted to welcome Marina Litvinenko and Luke Harding on the release of his new book, A Very Expensive Poison.
1 November 2006. Alexander Litvinenko is brazenly poisoned in central London. His crime? He had made some powerful enemies in Russia. Based on the best part of a decade’s reporting, as well as extensive interviews with those closest to the events, Luke Harding‘s A Very Expensive Poison is the definitive inside story of the life and death of Alexander Litvinenko.
Understanding the Rise of Russia’s New Nationalism
How does the idea of Eurasianism influence modern Russia? We will be joined by a panel, including Charles Clover author of Black Wind, White Snow: The Rise of Russia’s New Nationalism, to explore this theory of Russian national identity based on ethnicity and geography.
No Man’s Land: The Legacy of Communism
By Isabel Gonzalez-Prendergast On Wednesday 24 February, a panel of experts met to discuss the legacy of war and communism in eastern Europe. A full house convened for the event to mark the release of the latest edition of Granta, No Man’s Land, which focuses on the ground between opposing forces, twenty five years since the fall of […]