A lot of bans have appeared in Russia lately. They also turn off mobile Internet, block social networks and VPN services, and force them to use the MAX messenger. What do people dislike most about this, how do they react, and where does the humor come from? Social anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova, author of the telegram channel “(Un)entertaining Anthropology,” talks about this. Why are they joking?

Since the moment Vladimir Putin became president, he has constantly talked about the demographic crisis in Russia. It is difficult to deny the existence of a crisis, but the whole question is how the state decides to deal with it. 2024 became the year of the family, and a special demographic operation once again began in the Russian Federation, which, however, was noticeably different from the previous ones.

Fact check Opinions How they kill in Russian schools The most common weapon is a knife, the most common motive is revenge for bullying Date13 Feb. 2026Authors Yuri Lapshin (school psychologist), Alexandra Arkhipova (social anthropologist) Relatives of a Tajik boy killed on December 16, 2025 in Gorki-2 near Moscow. Photo: MAXIM SHIPENKOV / EPA / Scanpix / LETA In the first month and a half of 2026, there were six attacks on schools in Russia. Over the entire last year - 15, since 2014 - 90.

In May 2025, a large bas-relief of Stalin was unveiled at the Taganskaya station of the Moscow metro. In the same month, monuments to Stalin appeared in the Bashkir village of Amirovo and the Vologda village of Kaduy. In July, the commander of the Baltic Fleet presented a bust of the “leader of the peoples” to the Kaliningrad House of Officers, and a school in the city of Nikolsk, Vologda region, placed Stalin at its doors.

In May 2025, a large bas-relief depicting Stalin was unveiled at the Taganskaya metro station in Moscow. In the same month, monuments to Stalin appeared in the Bashkir village of Amirovo and the Vologda settlement of Kaduy. In July, the commander of the Baltic Fleet presented a bust of the 'leader of the peoples' to the Kaliningrad Officers’ House, while a school in the town of Nikolsk, Vologda Region, placed a statue of Stalin at its entrance.

The death of Alexei Navalny and his funeral again brought tens of thousands of people to the streets of Russian cities. In addition to mass pilgrimage to the grave of a politician, which for three days visited, apparently, at least 30 thousand people, which were stretched for two weeks of the “wake on Navalny” led to the formation of a new form of memorial protest.

The death of Alexei Navalny and his funeral once again brought tens of thousands of people onto the streets of Russian cities. In addition to the mass pilgrimage to the politician's grave, which was apparently visited by at least 30,000 people over the course of three days, the fortnight-long 'memorial for Navalny' has led to the emergence of a new form of memorial protest.

Despite the silence in the superconducting Russian media, the death of Navalny became a shock event for Russian society. This is indicated by the scale of awareness and the speed of the spread of the news itself. At the same time, in paradoxically, the majority of respondents in all three surveys available in this subject declare that it did not cause any emotions in them.

Navalny's death in a Russian colony had a gigantic effect throughout the world. Western leaders clearly blamed Vladimir Putin for the death of the politician. However, the West has practically no tools left to influence the Kremlin, even symbolic ones.

Than spontaneous memorials Prigozhin look like promotions in support of Ukraine The Russians create spontaneous memorials in memory of the founders of the Wagner PMC, who crashed in the Tver region. On August 30, the anthropologist Alexander Arkhipov, the author of the telegram channel “ (NOT) Entertaining Anthropology” , counted 77 memorials in 59 cities. The Prigozhin, mourning in Evgeny and other dead, carry flowers, candles, toy aircraft, and even a sledgehammer in St.

In order not to miss the main materials of "Cold", subscribe to our instagram and telegram . “I can’t keep silent because of myself, I can’t protest because of the children,” my interlocutor, a single mother, said something like this. At night, she leaves the house to leave small figures painted in yellow and blue on the streets of St. Petersburg. This is just one of the many ways in which Russians try to speak out about the war.

The decrease in the level of “recognition” of Alexei Navalny over the past year from 86 to 77% looks like another paradox of wartime polls. Navalny’s popularity fell the most among younger respondents. At the same time, 90% of respondents are aware that Navalny is in prison. The level of approval of Navalny among those surveyed by the Levada Center is also decreasing from 20% in 2020–2021 to 9% in January 2023.

Anthropologist Alexander Arkhipov - about why you should not underestimate the spontaneous memorials after the tragedy in the Dnieper On January 14, 2023, the Russian missile fell into an apartment building in the Ukrainian Dnieper, at least 46 people died.

What's happened January 13, 2023 at 17:01 Moscow time, a user with an avatar in the form of a heart published in a small group of WhatsApp "Mobilization Labinsky district" post. After 40 minutes, he appeared in the wire-wire telegram channel "Rubezh". The pioneer of the gas fake became a wire channel with 18 thousand subscribers On the record, a woman, supposedly from the gas service, convinces the child to open gas.

Anthropologist Alexander Arkhipov is studying modern folklore, for example, fears and rumors associated with the war in Ukraine, as well as the language of the media that the state uses in Russia to manipulate citizens. We publish an abbreviated decryption of her performance at the conference of the greenhouse and Equalitie - “Internet without borders” .