Da Russophile

Da Russophile was one of the Anglosphere's most popular Russia blogs during its years of active operation from 2008 to 2014. Its main author, Anatoly Karlin, aimed to deconstruct Western myths about Russia through a focus on Russian language sources, verifiable facts, statistics, and opinion polls, and the application of a judicious comparative perspective. With the rise of many other media outlets offering a Russian perspective on global affairs, I made made the decision to archive this blog in October 2014. You may access a comprehensive list of its best posts at The Best of Da Russophile.

Kettle, Meet Pot

This about Politics, tagged , , , , was written by for on February 3, 2014 .5 Comments

“Corruption across EU ‘breathtaking’ – EU Commission” says a headline in the BBC. The Commissioner responsible for the report said that she believed the cost of corruption was “probably much higher” than the €120 billion (US$162 billion) the report estimates. And indeed that is probably correct because corruption within EU organs themselves was not included. […]

“Everything is Annihilated”: The Economic Split of Ukraine

This , about Economy, tagged , , , was written by for on February 2, 2014 .81 Comments

The attention of political analysts around the world is focused on the events in Ukraine. But at a certain moment, the fires die out and the riots subside – what will remain are the dry statistics. Translator’s notes: This is a translation of a post on the weblog “Sputnik and Pogrom”, the authors can be […]

Sochi-Adler Krasnaya Polyana Panorama

This about Society, tagged , , , , was written by for on February 2, 2014 .6 Comments

There has been an unceasing campaign to denigrate the construction in the Sochi-Adler area. Incompetence, corruption, double toilets and so on and on. In all of this, few people have been shown what has been built for the total cost of 55 billion or so US Dollars. We have a preview; but first a discussion […]

Alexander Mercouris Talks Ukraine on RT

This about Politics, tagged , was written by for on January 31, 2014 .12 Comments

Do the opposition leaders retain control over the Maidan? Would it be wise for Yanukovych to finally crack down? What are Western leaders trying to accomplish by meeting the opposition leaders in Munich?

Shredding Sochi… in a Good Way

This about Society, tagged , , , was written by for , on January 31, 2014 .6 Comments

After a long break, a new contribution to the Experts Panel: Shredding Sochi… in a Good Way Western journalists have been in the business of dismissing Russian achievements and magnifying Russian failures ever since Putin drove them into a collective derangement syndrome – he even haunts their dreams, as recently revealed by the Guardian’s Shaun Walker – […]

The Euromaidan Thread

This about Politics, tagged , , was written by for on January 26, 2014 .16 Comments

Discuss all things Euromaidan here and vote in the poll (tick as many options as you like). My own opinion is “Protests die down as Yanukovych reasserts control,” for reasons that I will expound upon in a forthcoming post. But I have made many of the arguments already on my Twitter feed where I, like […]

A Bizarre Pardon

This about Politics, tagged , , , was written by for on December 20, 2013 .38 Comments

I have no idea what possessed Putin. Did he think that it would spare him Western criticism in the run-up to Sochi? Of course not. Khodorkovsky was on the back-burner. LGBT rights are West’s stick du jour to beat up on Russia. Did he think it would improve the legal and investment climate? I sure […]

The End of the Russia Debate. (For Real, This Time)

This about Blogging, tagged , was written by for on December 14, 2013 .14 Comments

I should have never allowed myself to be talked out of it in the first place. The primary reasons are the same as before: Low activity rates, to the extent that genuine discussions are once again being overtaken by spam in terms of volume. This is in spite of substantially increased security measures since then. […]

From RIA to Russia Today* (not RT)

This about Media, tagged , , was written by for on December 9, 2013 .35 Comments

RIA Novosti, Russia’s main state-run news agency, is going to be dissolved. So is Voice of Russia, a publication that I’ve written for, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta and its Russia Beyond the Headlines project*. They are to be merged into a new organization confusingly called Rossiya Segodnya (“Russia Today”), which is NOT the same as the (in)famous […]

I Appear On RT To Discuss Euromaidan

This , about Politics, tagged , , was written by for , on December 3, 2013 .31 Comments

Here it is: From RT: ‘No going back for Yanukovich now’ If the Ukrainian president goes back on the deal with the EU, he’ll disappoint his supporters and he’s obviously not going to regain the support of those who are protesting, author and blogger Anatoly Karlin told RT. RT:President Yanukovich is being accused of betraying […]

Serdyukov is Charged

This about Society, tagged , , , was written by for on November 29, 2013 .4 Comments

Here is the discussion at this on The Russia Debate. My friend and DR commentator Alexander Mercouris correctly predicted this outcome – that Serdyukov would be charged, but that it is a complex case that will take a long time and likely avoid more the more serious allegations in favor of those that can be […]

Ukraine’s Turn to the East: A Geopolitical Accident

This about Politics, tagged , , , was written by for on November 24, 2013 .52 Comments

“Imperialist Putin “Steals” Ukraine”… If only all those hysterical newspaper articles were true! In reality, the only thing he stole was Ukraine’s credit card debt. He’s no idiot, of course, and is in no rush to pay it off. The drama certainly hasn’t ended. But a geopolitical pivot on the model of Khmelnitsky’s 1654 decision this […]