Vladimir Lenin in Red Square

A bit less visibly, Lenin’s ghost still haunts Russia

Feb. 5, 2024

This year is the 100th anniversary of the death of the Soviet Union’s first communist leader, whose legacy in Russia and former Soviet republics is complicated.

Wittenberg sisters on a sail boat

Teaching Russian at CU Boulder was not her plan

Aug. 31, 2023

Elizabeth Shevchenko Wittenberg was born in China, detained in World War II Japan and fully embraced her American life; a scholarship named for her describes her life in 54 words. Here is the rest of the story.

Child in the Red Army uniforms

Russia retools Soviet propaganda against Ukraine, expert says

Aug. 8, 2023

In her master’s thesis, CU grad student highlights how the current Russian regime is making use of Soviet narratives and symbols to justify its war with Ukraine.

Moscow

What’s next for Putin’s Russia?

June 29, 2023

An agreement between the Wagner mercenary group and the Russian government averts a civil war for now, but the future is less clear, according to CU Boulder Russia expert and political science professor

Ukraine's flag painted on a cracked surface

Having built a business in Russia, alum fled as war began

Feb. 15, 2023

Benjamin Lourie’s career has made twists and turns, taking him to outer Mongolia and back to Moscow, where he opened a Tex-Mex restaurant near Red Square—two weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.