Gleb Zheglov from “The Meeting Place...” and the hero of Mikhail Ulyanov from “The Voroshilov Shooter” became the faces of post-Soviet ressentiment, and the director of films about people’s avengers became the head of Vladimir Putin’s headquarters in the 2012 elections.

Vladimir Putin, against the backdrop of economic problems, was seriously thinking about ending the war with Ukraine. He could change the composition of the negotiating team and even dismiss the government. But the war in Iran changed everything. A column by journalist Mikhail Zygar in The New York Times is about this. We publish a translation of this text. At the beginning of the year, the Russian economy seemed to be faltering.

I. As a child, I wanted to become a historian. Maybe even an art critic. No, still a historian. An art critic - that would be completely feminine. But I'm not like that. It seemed to me, at least. Although an art critic can go somewhere to Italy. For a year, or even a year and a half. For example. To the monastery of Eremo delle Carcere near Assisi. And then write a dissertation on Quattrocento mosaics. Alesso Baldovinetti.