
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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