Russia’s elites know the war is a disaster. They fear what peace would expose..... youtu.be/ZkYJiCE-jPk
The Real Reason Russia’s Ruling Class Is Struggling to Stop the War
YouTube video by Elvira Bary
youtu.be
Elvira Bary
@elvirabary.bsky.social
Discover fearless, source-based insights into power, history, and culture. I’m Elvira Bary - Soviet-born author sharing articles that reframe the familiar with clarity, depth, and honesty. No trends - just truths I’ve lived and researched.
Russian oil refineries are burning. Not only in border regions. Ukrainian drones are reaching deep into Russia and hitting the infrastructure that keeps the country moving. And this creates a very simple question: How is this possible? medium.com/p/the-real-r...
The Real Reason Russia Can’t Stop Ukrainian Drones
Russian oil refineries are burning.
medium.com
My English-speaking readers keep asking me one question: how can we inform Putin’s supporters about what is really happening in Ukraine? How can we get the truth through to them? Should we pay hackers to break into Russian state media? Should we drop leaflets from drones? medium.com/p/putins-sup...
Putin’s Supporters Already Know the Truth
My English-speaking readers keep asking me the same question: how can we inform Putin’s supporters about what is really happening in…
medium.com
Get the explanation of the psychology behind Russia’s last remaining superweapon: the belief that one final threat, one miracle strike, or one hidden force can still save Putin’s failed war...... youtu.be/kVUjzRpVhAE
Russia’s Last Superweapon: The Reality Behind the Kremlin’s Final Threat
YouTube video by Elvira Bary
youtu.be
I have watched countless English-language analyses in which scholars confidently try to decode the minds of Russian officials and uncover the deeper logic behind their actions. The problem is that these interpretations often have very little to do with reality..... medium.com/p/why-wester...
Why Western Analysts Keep Misreading the Kremlin
I have watched countless English-language analyses in which scholars confidently try to decode the minds of Russian officials and uncover…
medium.com
The weakest point in Putin’s Russia is finance. You do not see it on the surface, because state money is like ocean waves. You may be sitting on a raft and not even notice that you are being carried somewhere, lifted or lowered..... medium.com/p/the-financ...
The Financial Collapse Putin Cannot Bomb His Way Out Of
The weakest point in Putin’s Russia is finance.
medium.com
If you are an aspiring dictator, one of your first problems is very practical: how do you persuade millions of people to give up freedom, property rights, and control over their own future? medium.com/p/why-russia...
Why Russians Fear the West
If you are an aspiring dictator, one of your first problems is very practical: how do you persuade millions of people to give up freedom…
medium.com
Putin’s admirers ask indignantly: “Mind your own business. What concern is it of yours what is happening in Russia?” medium.com/p/why-russia...
Why Russia Is Everyone’s Business
Putin’s admirers ask indignantly:
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Russia is one of the world’s biggest oil exporters. And yet, in parts of Russia, people are standing in line for gasoline.... medium.com/@elvirabary/...
How an Oil Superpower Ran Out of Fuel
Russia is one of the world’s biggest oil exporters.
medium.com
I suddenly realized what my deepest motivation is here and now. It is anger. Anger, because Putin commits unspeakable evil in the name of Russians, and therefore in my name as well...... medium.com/p/russian-cu...
Russian Culture Is Mine, Not Putin’s
I suddenly realized what my deepest motivation is here and now.
medium.com
I just published You Bought a Dream by the Sea. Now the War Has Arrived. medium.com/p/you-bought...
You Bought a Dream by the Sea. Now the War Has Arrived.
If I were living in Crimea, I would do everything possible to get out — and quickly.
medium.com
At first glance, it seems strange: how can an autocrat hold on to power? He is literally harming all his subjects, except for a small handful of people close to him. Why do they obey him? medium.com/p/the-ancien...
The Ancient Trick That Keeps Autocrats in Power
At first glance, it seems strange: how can an autocrat hold on to power? He is literally harming all his subjects, except for a small…
medium.com
Crimea was Putin’s trophy. Now it is becoming Russia’s strategic trap.... www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq3O...
Why the Ukraine War Turned Crimea Into Russia’s Biggest Strategic Trap
YouTube video by Elvira Bary
youtube.com
Russia does not fail like a normal state. It extracts like a mafia — and calls it patriotism. youtu.be/R-YcrKmeGnQ
Is Russia Actually Just a Giant Mafia Extortion Racket?
YouTube video by Elvira Bary
youtu.be
I just published: Why Russian Society Never Grew Up medium.com/p/why-russia...
Why Russian Society Never Grew Up
My social feeds are overflowing with posts and videos about drones reaching the Moscow region.
medium.com
I just published The Coming Reckoning: What Happens to Russia When the War in Ukraine Ends: medium.com/p/the-coming...
The Coming Reckoning: What Happens to Russia When the War in Ukraine Ends
When people imagine the end of the war in Ukraine, they usually imagine a finish line.
medium.com
Many Russians fear Putin’s fall more than his rule. Here’s the hidden reason why: youtu.be/WaktJKxaw1U
Why Life Without Putin Terrifies Russians
YouTube video by Elvira Bary
youtu.be
Russia didn’t just go to war in Ukraine. It became a different country.... youtu.be/cDCFVljJoLg
The Third Collapse: How Four Years of The War in Ukraine Changed Russia
YouTube video by Elvira Bary
youtu.be
I just published How the Iran War Changes the Reality in Ukraine and Russia medium.com/p/how-the-ir...
How the Iran War Changes the Reality in Ukraine and Russia
At first glance, war in Iran looks like a gift to the Kremlin.
medium.com
I just published The Only War Putin’s Russia Can Still Win medium.com/p/the-only-w...
The Only War Putin’s Russia Can Still Win
Most Americans still imagine danger from Russia like an old war movie: missiles, submarines, or tanks rolling across Europe. Maybe even a…
medium.com
For years, the West has talked about China as if it were something almost superhuman. A state that always plans ahead. A disciplined machine buying the future while democracies bicker, panic, and waste time. But I’ve heard this music before: medium.com/p/soviet-tra...
Soviet Trap: Why China is Making Moscow’s Fatal Mistake
For years, the West has talked about China as if it were something almost superhuman.
medium.com
I just published Russia Had Everything. Here’s How Putin Wasted It All medium.com/p/russia-had...
Russia Had Everything. Here’s How Putin Wasted It All
Russia had everything a great power needs. A continent of land. Nuclear weapons. Oil, gas, metals, grain. A large population. A serious…
medium.com
I just published The Artificial Russian Patriots medium.com/p/the-artifi...
The Artificial Russian Patriots
Lately, I’ve been noticing another very specific group of Putin supporters.
medium.com
I just published Why 4 Years of Putin’s War in Ukraine Made Russia Angry at the Wrong Things medium.com/p/why-4-year...
Why 4 Years of Putin’s War in Ukraine Made Russia Angry at the Wrong Things
If you want to understand Russia in 2026, don’t look for anger where it should be.
medium.com
Why does Russia keep the supreme leader “clean” while dumping every failure onto ministers, mayors, and faceless чиновники? youtu.be/J7Oj847B4z0
The “Good Tsar” Trap: Why Russians Never Blame Putin
YouTube video by Elvira Bary
youtu.be
Freedom doesn’t vanish overnight. In Putin’s Russia, it’s dismantled piece by piece - here’s how. youtu.be/Jh074d0Nd6s
Inside Putin's Russia: What Losing Your Freedom Actually Looks Like
YouTube video by Elvira Bary
youtu.be
I just published So, You Want a Russian Wife? medium.com/p/so-you-wan...
So, You Want a Russian Wife?
If you say “I want a Russian wife,” you’re already making the first mistake.
medium.com
What Jeffrey Epstein did was monstrous. The victims deserve justice. But the public conversation keeps fixating on the cinematic details - the island, the plane, the photos, the “list.” It’s like staring at the bloodstain and never asking who fired the gun - and why. youtu.be/Zn86C4ZwBSg
The Epstein Scandal Isn't What You Think It Is! It’s about "Blat"...
YouTube video by Elvira Bary
youtu.be
I just published When the Axis Cracks: Why the Strike on Iran is a Nightmare for Moscow medium.com/p/when-the-a...
When the Axis Cracks: Why the Strike on Iran is a Nightmare for Moscow
I don’t pretend to predict the future. But history has a way of outlining the direction of the wind.
medium.com