In Moscow's Shadows
Mark Galeotti
Publishing Details
About This Podcast
Russia, behind the headlines as well as in the shadows. This podcast is the audio counterpart to Mark Galeotti's blog of the same name, a place where "one of the most informed and provocative voices on modern Russia", can talk about Russia historical and (more often) contemporary, discuss new books and research, and sometimes talk to other Russia-watchers.
If you'd like to keep the podcast coming and generally support my work, or want to ask questions or suggest topics for me to cover, do please contribute to my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/InMoscowsShadows
The podcast's corporate partner and sponsor is Conducttr, which provides software for innovative and immersive crisis exercises in hybrid warfare, counter-terrorism, civil affairs and similar situations.
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Recent Episodes
In Moscow's Shadows 251: The Near Abroad Recedes: Armenia and Belarus
Russia still talks about the “Near Abroad” as if the map never changed, but the region is changing anyway. After a quick touch on Zelensky's open letter to Putin and the St Petersburg International…
In Moscow's Shadows 250: Moscow's Comms Playbook (And Why It's So Bad)
A Russian drone hits a Romanian apartment block, two civilians are injured, and suddenly a stray weapon becomes a case study in how Putin’s Kremlin handles bad news. Why does the Kremlin’s crisis…
In Moscow's Shadows 249: Pragmatism in Asia
After Putin's Beijing visit - long on rhetoric, short on results - I look more broadly as Asia: the limits of the "friendship with no limits" with China, heding with India, and the ebbing of hegemony…
In Moscow's Shadows 248: What If?
First, a round up of some current issues: Putin heading to China, two governors out (and two men with Ukraine war connections in), party politics and the jostling for second place, and how the…
In Moscow's Shadows 247: Victory Day Without The Victory
No tanks, great camera work. Victory Day is supposed to be Russia’s most unshakeable story, the moment when the state proves its strength, its allies, and its confidence on Red Square. Yet watching…
In Moscow's Shadows 246: Is Russia A Great Power?
A battlefield setback in Mali sparks a much bigger question: what kind of power is Russia now, and what kind of power can it afford to be? Is it a superpower? No. Is it a great power? It depends what…
In Moscow's Shadows 245: Belousov And The War Machine
Putin didn’t pick a battlefield hero to run Russia’s Defence Ministry. He picked Andrei Belousov, an economist with a planner’s instincts and a technocrat’s patience. Thats what the Kremlin thinks it…
In Moscow's Shadows 244: The War Word And The Clickbait Trap
The fastest way to lose your grip on Russia is to reach for the word “war” every time a scary headline lands. The incentives are everywhere: politicians who want public backing for big defence…
In Moscow's Shadows 243: Who Controls The Story In Russia?
Power doesn’t just seize territory. It seizes the story. I’m using a selection of 6 excellent new books to follow the narrative battlegrounds where modern Russia tries to control what people see as…
In Moscow's Shadows 242: Igor Sechin, Sharpening Putin's Pencils for 30 Years
Putin reportedly gathered top oligarchs behind closed doors and asked them to chip in to help fill the budget, with the war in Ukraine sitting unmistakably in the background. The idea seems to have…
In Moscow's Shadows 241: When Attack Dogs Turn
A handful of memes and an online storm can look like nothing, right up until they start steering the news cycle. Efforts to talk up a secessionist Russian-speaking Estonian “Narva People’s Republic”…
In Moscow's Shadows 240: Frankenstein's Putinism
Or, 'Team Russia and the Undead Ideology Project' Can you create an ideology that is custom-engineered, poll-driven, focus grouped, workshopped and marketed? The Presidential Administration's…
In Moscow's Shadows 239: Wars Foreign and Domestic
How does the Iran war look to Russia, at once a potential morass for the USA (and Europe) and a case study, many in policy circles feel, on why not to trust Washington. It's also a laboratory for…
In Moscow's Shadows 238: Bangers and Mish
First, as the USA, Israel and Iran trade drone and missile strikes, how the war may play out for Russia: my sense is that on balance it will give Moscow more opportunities than headaches. Then, from…
In Moscow's Shadows 237: How A 1552 Siege Explains A 2022 Invasion
A frozen river swallows cannons in 1550; a traffic jam of armour stalls outside Kyiv in 2022. Different centuries, same lesson: wars are won by planning, logistics, and the courage to listen to…
In Moscow's Shadows 236: What Is Russia?
In the first half, I look at the latest news about Navalny's death, what a change in the composition of the Russian negotiation team in Geneva may mean, and why looking for a dubious Russian…
In Moscow's Shadows Bonus Minipod: Rebel Russia
A mini-episode that paying Patrons heard as part of their Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas bonuses. Forget the cliché that Russians accept power without protest, I sit down with author and analyst…
In Moscow's Shadows 235: From a GRU to a Kill
Yes, that's a lame James Bond title wordplay. Lieutenant General Vladimir Alexeyev, second in command of Russian military intelligence (technically, GU; colloquially, still GRU) is gunned down in…
In Moscow's Shadows Bonus Minipod: How Putin Is Protected
A mini-episode that paying Patrons heard as part of their Twelve Days of Shadowy Christmas bonuses, opening the gates on Vladimir Putin’s personal security. From rooftop snipers and sealed manholes…
In Moscow's Shadows 234: PACE’s Picks, Ukraine’s Grid, Russia’s Corruption
Four stories with counter-intuitive implications:PACE’s new platform for dialogue with “Russian democratic forces” beg the question of whether a handpicked roster, quota politics, and delegates…
Frequently Asked Questions
In Moscow's Shadows has published 273 episodes since April 2020, covering topics in Government, History.
In Moscow's Shadows is currently highly active with new episodes weekly. Average episode length is 46m.
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