In Moscow's Shadows 236: What Is Russia?

In Moscow's Shadows 236: What Is Russia?

From In Moscow's Shadows by Mark Galeotti

February 15, 2026 · 53 min · Episode 236

About this episode

The episode discusses recent news regarding Navalny's death and explores the nature of Russia as a country through various analyses.

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 connection in the Epstein case risks missing the real scandal: how powerful people and institutions tolerated what they knew. Then, to answer the larger question—what kind of country is Russia?—I spin off two books: a long view of survey data that charts a hybrid regime’s rise and fracture after 2014, an...

People in this episode

Host: Mark Galeotti

Topics covered

  • Russia
  • Navalny
  • negotiation
  • Epstein case
  • hybrid regime
  • political analysis

Keywords

  • Navalny
  • Russia
  • negotiation team
  • Epstein
  • hybrid regime
  • political scandal
  • survey data

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Russian negotiation team, Epstein

Books & works: survey data

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