This month, several senior officials in Russia's republic of Chechnya have been reshuffled or replaced. Meanwhile, strongman ruler Ramzan Kadyrov's children have been appointed to a number of government posts. Overshadowing all this are reports that Kadyrov, 47, is gravely ill, fueling rumors about his ability to rule and the future of the republic, which fought two separatist wars against Moscow in the 1990s and 2000s.

Harold Chambers, an analyst focusing on nationalism, conflict and security in the North Caucasus, joins us to explain what it all means.

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This week in Russia, a man was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to trying to persuade his friend to surrender to the Ukrainian army. Cases like this are on the rise, with over 5,500 desertion cases prosecuted in Russia in 2023 alone.

Idite Lesom (Get Lost), an NGO founded in Georgia after Russia declared its "partial" mobilization in fall 2022, helps Russians escape from mobilization or from the front lines. In almost two years, Get Lost has helped over 500 conscientious objectors evade service.

Its founder, Grigory Sverdlin, formerly director of the Nochlezhka homeless aid charity, spoke to The Moscow Times about the organization's work.

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As Russia opens a new front in its invasion of Ukraine, the country has a new defense minister. Sergei Shoigu has been replaced with the economist Andrei Belousov. Who is he, and what does his appointment mean for Russia’s war machine?

This week we talked with Ruben Enikolopov, a political economist and professor at the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, about what to expect from Belousov’s new role.

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Protesters in Georgia have for weeks rallied against a controversial "foreign influence" bill that critics say resembles legislation in Russia used to crack down on independent media and the opposition. Introduced by the ruling Georgian Dream party, the draft law would force organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as entities "pursuing the interests of a foreign power." The bill's third and final reading is expected on May 13.

In this episode, we spoke with Bidzina Lebanidze, Senior Analyst at the Georgian Institute of Politics, about why the ruling party is trying to pass the "foreign influence" bill and what negative consequences they might face if it is adopted. We also sat down with journalist Marta Ardashelia to talk about the ongoing protests against the draft law in Tbilisi.

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In April, reports emerged that Russia had opened criminal cases against two prominent Russian feminist activists – Daria Serenko, one of the founders of Feminist Anti-War Resistance, and Zalina Marshenkulova, who also openly opposed the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Though both women now live abroad, they were added to Russia’s federal wanted list. Join us to explore the influence of Russia’s feminist movement, and whether women’s rights activists are the next target of the Kremlin’s repressions.

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April 26 marks 38 years since Chernobyl, the world's worst nuclear disaster. In this episode, we discuss the legacy of this tragedy on modern-day Russia, how nuclear energy is used in Russia today, and its underexamined role as a Russian foreign policy tool.

Joining us is Vladimir Slivyak, co-chair of the Russian Environmental Group Eco-Defense and winner of the 2021 Right Livelihood Award.

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Israel and Iran's exchange of drone strikes over the past week has fueled fears that the longstanding enmity between the two countries could spill over into all-out war as Israel continues its offensive on Gaza in the wake of the attack on Israel by the Tehran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Moscow has traditionally tried to maintain relations with all the major powers in the Middle East. But the war in Ukraine has brought Moscow and Tehran especially close, with the same Shahed drones that targeted Israel having been used to deadly effect against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.

For this episode, we decided to explore Russia's place in the region through Iranian and Israeli eyes. We speak to Rajan Menon, director of the Grand Strategy Program at the U.S. think tank Defense Priorities, about Russia’s ties with Iran. We also spoke to Israeli journalist Milan Czerny about how relations between Russia and Israel have changed over recent months.

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The Russian city of Orenburg is famous for its elegant lace shawls, which are so fine they can be folded up to be so small that they can fit in a goose's egg. But the city and its surrounding regions have hit the headlines for a different reason this week, as historic flooding from the Ural River has forced thousands of people to be evacuated.

In this episode, we read out a dispatch from Orenburg by one of our reporters who went this week.

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