Wartime Russia
The war invites us to favor more granular and grassroots approaches for a thicker conceptual knowledge of Russia and its society.

ABOUT
Wartime Russia
This project aims to delve deep into Russian society to understand the sociological, psychological, and cultural mechanisms that generate support for the regime’s endeavors, as well as the niches from which resistance emerges.

To this end, we point the cursor to more local, provincial, and grassroots movements, behaviors, and mindsets to capture the segments of the Russian population that typically fly under the radar of mainstream Western scholarship to decipher the Russian population’s “defensive consolidation” as framed by Jeremy Morris, as well as civil society’s resilience.
WHAT WE DO
Read our latest publications

The Majority Never Had It So Good

by

Sergei Chernyshov

This is Sergei Chernyshov’s first-hand account of life in provincial Russia, where people’s everyday experiences and mindset, including their view on the war in Ukraine, differ strongly from those of Russians living in large urban centers.

Russians Who Did Not Love Putin Loved His War

by

Sergei Shelin

Sergei Shelin writes that the third of Russians who accepted the invasion of Ukraine as their own war have long been illiberal critics of the Putin regime and previously expressed feelings of support for such figures as Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Spinning Prigozhin: How Russian Television Managed the Wagner Mutiny

by

Paul Goode

It’s Not Only Soldiers Making Money off the War

by

Tatyana Rybakova

Tatyana Rybakova writes that there are more and more beneficiaries and thus supporters of the war, because each of them – even if they do not support the war itself, even if they are against Putin – will lose money, a career or status when it ends.

Can music help Russians unite against the regime?

by

Anatoly Reshetnikov, Lisa Gaufman and Viacheslav Morozov

On how opposition-minded Russian musicians navigate the minefield laid by the regime and offer a tentative basis for broader social solidarity against repression.

Between Intentionality and Inevitability: Uncovering the Enablers of Russian War Crimes in Ukraine

by

Sarah Fainberg and Celine Marange

Sarah Fainberg and Celine Marange argue that Russia's wartime violence toward Ukrainian civilians has been multidimensional, deriving from both top-down and grassroots enablers.
Subcribe to our newsletter
You will be receiving bi-weekly newsletter with the most relevant Russia-related research news
Contact
Feel free to write or call us
+1 (202) 9946340
russiaprogram@gwu.edu

INSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN, RUSSIAN, AND EURASIAN STUDIES

1957 E St., NW, Suite 412,

Washington, DC 20052