Letter From the Editors
Looking back on another year of the world going off the rails (going, going, but never quite gone), we outline the top five events of 2024.
Corruption arrests at the Russian Defense Ministry. – Something is rotten in the state of, well, not Denmark – they’re doing just fine. Like some deranged game of dominoes, the first arrest brought another, and another, and another. And before you know it, perennial defense chief Sergei Shoigu gets sacked, but gets the cushy job of Security Council secretary as a consolation prize. The only arrest that stands out is that of Gen. Ivan Popov, who it seems landed himself in hot water after openly blasting the top brass for mistakes in the early days of the Ukraine invasion. Perhaps the best way to hide an inconvenient truth is to bury the whistleblower in a pile of corrupt colleagues. “The people were thrown a few boyar heads to distract them a bit,” one commentator quipped.
Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk Province. – Surprising exactly everyone, Kiev’s daring incursion into Russia stole headlines for weeks. Ukraine’s Army is still holding on, despite the fact that some commentators said its best troops would be of better use elsewhere – for example, to stop Russia’s advance across several fronts in the Donestk Basin. But for all we know, President Zelensky may be saving this trump card for…
Donald Trump’s reelection. – Speaking of Trump, he’s back (can we call him the Trumpinator?) Now, let’s see if he really can end the war between Russia and Ukraine, which officially crossed the 1,000-day mark, in “24 hours.” After annexing Greenland and Canada, of course, and getting back the Panama Canal. As Nezavisimaya gazeta editor in chief Konstantin Remchukov puts it, “[Trump] is devoid of ideological values, but obsessed with twisting the arms of his economic opponents.” But an existential war is not a business deal.
Crocus City Hall Attack. – The “forgotten” event of 2024, according to opposition journalist Oleg Kashin. The “largest-scale terrorist attack had been forgotten,” he writes. “Turns out I forgot it too,” he adds. The times, they are a-changin’ – in 2024, tight control over the information space and successful media manipulations by state-controlled outlets have ensured that the attack never entered public memory the way the Nord-Ost theater siege did in 2002. Some activists say the FSB and other agencies dropped the ball on preventing the attack because of a “shift in focus toward political investigations and repressions.” But circling back to the arrested generals, commentator Tatyana Rybakova also maintained in an April editorial that corruption was largely to blame for the tragedy. Namely, because of a faulty fire suppression system, “Crocus City apparently never passed inspection.” Yet this didn’t prevent the venue from hosting events that drew huge crowds.
Aleksei Navalny’s death. – By far the most devastating event of 2024, the opposition leader’s death both shocked and demoralized those still holding out hope for regime change in Russia. According to Yelizaveta Osetinskaya, “The death demonstrated absolute vulnerability to the hellish repression machine, while the funeral proved that people do care after all.” While several prominent figures may still consolidate regime opponents (for instance, journalist Ilya Yashin, recently released in a prisoner exchange), Navalny’s death fragmented the opposition and undermined his brainchild: the Anticorruption Foundation. “In the long term, in my opinion, Navalny’s death has had a dampening effect on the Russian opposition,” Dmitry Kolezev concludes pessimistically.
If this litany of bad news has put you off your champagne toasts, dear reader, perhaps Olga Mikitas can offer some advice on how to enter 2025: “I just live day to day, do my work, spend time with family and find joy in the little things.”