The noise around the Venice Biennale has died down, and now it is clear that Russia is actually represented by the building at this international exhibition. You cannot enter it - you can only look at the facades and read the curatorial text, detached from the events of the day, written as if by aliens. The country is represented by a certain building - and this is a surprisingly accurate form of representation, says Maxim Trudolyubov.

Do we live in a world of fake news and propaganda—or in a world of unprecedented levels of professional investigation and the most accurate fact-checking in human history? Or maybe one is connected with the other? And who to trust when there is no one to trust? Artist and publicist Maxim Trudolyubov, in the “Sunday Sermon” section, shares his personal recipe for resisting catastrophic thinking and total polarization.

Since the time of Xenophon, war has been the work of professional mercenaries rather than a common affair. European revolutions, technological progress and the rise of nation states transformed it into a civil institution. However, after World War II, humanity began to gradually return to its roots, getting rid of massive conscript armies.

Western states are actively reducing the institutions of cultural diplomacy. Requests for solutions to the accumulated social and political problems in the world are still acute, but social order - whatever it may be - is no longer perceived as the answer. These conclusions, in particular, are confirmed in the new US National Security Strategy , presented by the Donald Trump administration on December 4. Maxim Trudolyubov explains why there is nothing sensational in this.

People cannot calmly look at other people's suffering, so they strive to explain violence by the fact that the victim itself is to blame. As the “hypothesis of the fair world” helps to justify wars and repressions, says Maxim Trustlyubov*. The world has always been unfair. And the further we look into the past, the more obvious this injustice becomes: in the past, people were much worse protected by diseases, natural disasters, cruelty and arbitrariness of power.

On the last day of summer, Vladimir Putin flew to China on a four -day visit. Negotiations with Trump did not lead to the end of hostilities in Ukraine, and the meeting with Xi Jinping and other leaders of the East only strengthens the positions of the Russian president, gaining weight to its requirements. Beijing is not interested in the warring and not in peaceful, but in stable Russia, and therefore will continue to provide support to the Kremlin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President in Anchoridge, August 15, 2025 Reuters / Kevin Lamarque / Scanpix “That's when you get half or two -thirds of what you did not have, then you can consider yourself a diplomat,” - so, according to his colleagues, Andrei Gromyko summed up his experience, who had been the USSR Minister of Foreign Minister for almost 30 years.

“Putin is ready for peace negotiations. Just treat him with respect, ”Alexander Lukashenko repeated this several times during the interview recorded by Simon Schuster in Minsk. “Believe me,” said Lukashenko, “Putin wants peace. He really wants it. " But why should negotiations about the world in Ukraine generally depend on respect for the president of one of the warring countries? And why, with all the global contradictions, Putin with Trump is so easy to find a common language?

On July 31, Derke Sauer, the founder of the Vedomosti newspaper, played a key role in the development of independent journalism in Russia. Our permanent author Maxim Trustlyubov for many years led the section “Opinions” in “Vedomosti”. In his column, he reflects on the type of leadership with which Sauer was associated, and how the role of such figures in today's world has changed - not only in Russia, but also beyond its borders.

The public environment requires quick responses, including art people. This haste of reactions is able to depreciate even the suffered protest statements. In his weekly column, Maxim Trustlyubov reflects on how fair such criticism is and whether the art can be a response to the requirements of the time. The current public environment, not only Russian -speaking, but also global, is built around an immediate reaction.

Protest of protest at the office of the Google DeepMind office in London June 30, 2025 VUK Valcic / Zuma Press Wire / Scanpix If you distract from the constant anxiety that political news causes, you can switch to another, possibly more exciting. This is a panic about the emergence of artificial intelligence in our life. In his weekly column, Maxim Trustlyubov* talks about fears that are well sold.

Why do people continue to believe in flat land and the promises of Donald Trump? To answer this question, Maxim Trustlyubov*, taking Karl Popper to the allies, goes on a journey between the worlds of things and ideas.

Frame from the film "Watercolor" (2018, dir. Victor Kosakovsky) Another movie What then? Each living not once asks this question. And he answers him, depending on what he believes in science or religion. In his weekly column, Maxim Trustlyubov* recalls his disputes with his parents - and takes off old oppositions. - And then? - It is impossible to know. It must be believed that after death everything will somehow continue.

A critical imbalance in manpower and equipment in its confrontation with Russia has effectively forced Ukraine down the path of innovation and, as a result, it has become a global leader in the development and deployment of drones, reshaping the nature of modern warfare. FPV drones are rapidly becoming the Kalashnikovs of the 21st century – a universal weapon without which war is now inconceivable.

The critical imbalance in manpower and equipment in the confrontation with Russia literally forced Ukraine to take the path of innovation and, as a result, become a world leader in the development and use of drones and change the face of modern warfare.