Georgii Chentemirov

North Russian region of Arkhangelsk spends hundreds of millions on aid to occupiers of Melitopol

A non-profit called the Directorate of Social and Infrastructure Projects is modernizing boiler houses, renovating residential buildings and changing water supply networks in the occupied Ukrainian city. It is all tacitly funded by public money from the Arkhangelsk regional budget.
April 24, 2024

Moscow adds awarded theater producer and play writer to list of ‘extremists and terrorists’

Renowned theater producer Yevgenia Berkovich and scriptwriter Svetlana Petreychuk face up to seven years in jail.
April 16, 2024

"Stop the war. People die on both sides". Kirkenes supports Ukraine two years after war began.

February 24, 2024

Destroyed hopes and thoughts of suicide. How opponents of Putin regime in Russia perceived the death of Aleksei Navalny

The death (more precisely, murder) of Aleksei Navalny has deprived the Russian opposition of an informal leader. However, this tragedy reverberates far beyond politics: some Russians, who wanted change for their country, perceive this as a personal loss. There also are those who still see Navalny as a “Kremlin project” – even after the three hundred days the politician spent in a segregation unit. The Barents Observer spoke with opponents of the Putin regime who remain in Russia about how they feel after the death of the opposition leader and whether they are ready to accept his wife as the new leader of the protest movement.
February 23, 2024

"Pain, disappointment, despair.” Norway’s Kirkenes mourns the death of Russia’s opposition leader

Alexei Navalny died in high security penal colony in northern Russia on Friday. The day before, the exhibition “Faces of Russian Resistance” opened in Kirkenes. The Barents Observer spoke to people who came to pay tribute to the politician after hearing of his death.
February 18, 2024

With the right president "we have a better chance to stay out of war". Video report from a polling station in Arctic Finland.

February 11, 2024

Russians stand in lines and travel hundreds of kilometers to sign up for Nadezhdin, the presidential candidate with an anti-war agenda

The Barents Observer spoke to those collecting signatures for Boris Nadezhdin, the only Russian presidential candidate who promises to end the war in Ukraine and free political prisoners. The police are interested in activists, people travel from other cities to sign for Nadezhdin, and the procedure itself is called a legal way to protest against the war and the Putin regime.
January 25, 2024

“The situation is catastrophic.” There is no one to work in Russia’s North

Russia, especially its “depressed” regions, is suffering from a labor shortage. The decline in the workforce is evidenced by both employers who are unable to find workers and updated statistical data. Statistics, among other things, show a decrease in the number of men – but the war may not be the only one to blame for the development.
January 10, 2024

Finnish Prime Minister: the border with Russia must remain closed

The head of the Cabinet of Ministers of Finland believes that the opening of the checkpoints on the eastern border still threatens the national security of the country.
January 10, 2024

“Do you need to eliminate law-abiding citizens?” Revelations of the wife of a mobilized soldier

Thousands of Russian women whose husbands have been sent to the war with Ukraine are demanding the return of their loved ones home. They create petitions, write to lawmakers and take to street protests. They are ignored and bullied on social media, while their husbands on the front line receive threats from commanders. Barents Observer spoke with a wife of a mobilized soldier and tried to understand how people in Russia support the state, knowing that it is deceiving them.
January 09, 2024

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