Video and interview with Dmitry Gudkov

A Russian platform has been established within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to conduct dialogue with European politicians on behalf of Russians opposed to the war. The body brings together 15 members, including opposition figures, human rights advocates, public figures, and representatives of Russia’s Indigenous peoples. Farida Kurbangaleyeva spoke with platform member Dmitry Gudkov about how this body will function, why it was created, how it came together, and what its participants expect from it.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has approved the lineup of the Platform for Russian Democratic Forces. It will serve as a channel for dialogue with European parliamentarians. The platform includes Natalia Arno, Dmitry Gudkov, Mark Feygin, Vladimir Kara-Murza, Garry Kasparov, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Oleg Orlov, Andrey Volna, Lyubov Sobol, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova. Representing Russia’s Indigenous peoples are Ruslan Kutaev, Ekaterina Kuznetsova, Vasily Matenov (Batlay), Lana Pylaeva, and Pavel Sulyandziga. Members of the platform will be able to attend meetings of committees and subcommittees, as well as events held during PACE sessions, and may speak at them with the permission of the chair.

Dmitry Gudkov, a politician, discusses the creation of a delegation of Russian democratic forces within PACE

Nina Khrushcheva, a political analyst, discusses Donald Trump’s peace plan aimed at ending the war between Israel and Hamas Alexander Plushev, a journalist, talks about power outages and fuel shortages across Russian regions Dmitry Gudkov, a politician, comments on the creation of a delegation of Russian democratic forces within the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe

On October 1, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe approved the creation of a Platform for Russian Democratic Forces. It will include representatives of the Russian opposition, though the delegation will not have voting rights. The decision sparked debate on social media over who was included in the Platform, with several well-known political figures notably left out. We spoke with politician Dmitry Gudkov, who played an active role in establishing the body, about how the Platform will operate, why it’s needed, and who will take part.

A traditional conversation on the St. Petersburg “Ekho” channel. We went from India to Azerbaijan and from Aivazovsky to Musk. They mainly talked about the crisis of European elites, nuclear blackmail and the style of Trump's “response”. We also made predictions for August 8 and shared our feelings about how the perception of the war in Russia is changing (and what it promises Putin at its next stage).

The death of former Transport Minister Roman Starovoit, found in the Moscow region on July 7, is primarily attributed to suicide due to potential prosecution. This event highlights the panic among the Russian elite, as the threat of arrest looms over many officials.

I regularly attend some streams, especially enjoying discussions with Stas Kucher. We talked about the fierce opposition squabbles, surprising sociology insights, and promoted Sergei Aleksashenko's new book, while also deriving a philosophical formula for happiness.

from 10.30 Special guest – politician Dmitry Gudkov

I participated in a broadcast discussing unlimited strikes inside Russia and summer escalation scenarios. We also covered Dmitry Muratov's "all for all" civilian exchange proposal, the economics of endless war for Putin, and why even Trump can't sell Ukraine's complete surrender to his voters.

Our regular monthly stream. This time, we'll be talking about possible timings for a ceasefire, our CASE report on redesigning sanctions, and announcing our next report on options for legalizing Russians who left because of the war (aka “Nansen passports”). Also featuring our spring appeal and my political flashbacks from 20 years ago, Vadim Moshkovich and Kirill Dmitriev, governors' and deputies' salaries, the Zhdanov-Kats debate, and birthday wishes to our beloved Novaya Gazeta.

I went for another traditional interview with the Ekhovs. This time they discussed in detail a new CASE study (https://case-center.org/ru/): how large-scale shadow foreign trade Putin has managed to build up during three years of full-scale war and Ukrainian sanctions. And how this affects ordinary Russians and Putin's military prospects (and what advice we have for European politicians responsible for sanctions policy). And finally, a bit about Trump's strategy, the rearmament of Europe, and the future of relocants in the West.