Viktor Erofeev, a critical anti-war voice since Crimea, presented his latest work. In Russia, repressing guilt has become automatic. The collapse of the Soviet Union is one example and the Orthodox Church, which never apologised for collaborating with the atheist regime, is another. Khrushchev words about Russia's wars in Georgia and Ukraine appear prophetic; meanwhile, the opposition abroad is failing.
The Mongolian government – which has always balanced between China and Russia, its two large neighbours – has in recent months entered into “strategic partnership” agreements with each of the major Western economies. Under the presidency of Khurelsukh Ukhnaa, Mongolia is seeking to use international relations as a way out of economic and social stagnation.
Leo XIV received the president of Mongolia in audience. The Holy See and the Chinggis Khan National Museum in Ulaanbaatar plan to expand cooperation in archival research, joint studies, and conferences, the result of growing diplomatic ties boosted by Pope Francis's trip in 2023.
2025 does not mark the end of wars, but the division between the dictatorships of East and West. The new Russian language dictionary relaunches visions of democracy and autocracy in official ideology. The speciality of Witkoff and Dmitriev, architects of the truce “project”, is counting money and dividing the spoils. The clash over language and the issue of coexistence between Orthodox Churches.
Around one million people moved there after the 2014 annexation from the northern regions, as well as Moscow and St Petersburg. Over time, difficulties in adapting have emerged, and many have decided to return. The cost of property and the lack of infrastructure, combined with the ‘Crimean mentality’, weigh heavily. Of the 10 Russians who have arrived in recent years, only two on average stay.
The 68-year-old Russian sociologist is one of Putin's most prominent political prisoners, but he was already one in Brezhnev's USSR. From prison, he says he feels freer to express his opinions. He is serving a five-year sentence for ‘justifying terrorism’ in reference to his criticism of the war. His health is deteriorating in prison.
