20 palaces and villas: with opulent fittings worthy of an emperor 15 helicopters. 43 aircraft including an airliner that features an $11 million cabin fitted out by jewelers -and that toilet which, ...

When people in Moscow or the West talk about “nationality problems” in Russia, they typically focus on ethnic groups which, because of their large size, activism or political utility, have the status ...

In the West, novels about Russia’s sphere of influence and the idea of historic privilege are not written for the general public. There are no films on the subject, yet there are about colonialism, ...

Vladimir Putin has tapped deep into a line of dependable Soviet era nomenklatura, reaching back to the time of Stalin, to appoint his latest chief of staff, Anton Vaino. Vaino’s grandfather, Karl ...

Estonia’s student resistance movement built a British NATO base in Estonia in 1982. And, of course, they wrote a song about it. This week, Britain’s prime minister is heading to Ukraine, and the UK ...

The fortress these days is really a grab-bag of the last two centuries: long, low 19 th century barracks alternate with countless scuffed-up blocks of flats, disused warehouses and administrative ...

Little known to those outside of Finland, Finnish Karelia is a land of lakes and deep forests and the home of a culture that founded elements of today’s Finnish identity and politics. It is also a ...

Contrary to the widespread notions that are currently dominating discussions and headlines in Estonia: nobody actually wants to come to Estonia. Estonia is not threatened by the “Islamist masses.” A ...

A self-declared candidate for the upcoming Estonian Presidential election, Tarmo Soomere, has suggested that Estonia’s security chief should call his Russian colleague on an annual basis. Soomere is a ...

How is that Putin only peacefully annexed Crimea, which planet are you? There were casualties in Crimea. What about 6000 dead in East Ukraine with Russian proven direct involvement in the war, what ...

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, the war has unified Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian societies while Russian speakers in these countries remain divided. During the early months of the war, a survey ...

Sofi Oksanen speaking at the Toronto Conference on Repressions and Human Rights. March 27, 2015 Photo: UpNorth Sofi Oksanen’s speech at the Toronto Conference on Repressions and Human Rights: ...