King's Russia Institute

20/10/2026

📢 How We Got Here: Mikhail Fishman on Contemporary Russian Political History

The King’s Russia Institute is delighted to announce a new series of public lectures and discussions with Mikhail Fishman, award-winning Russian journalist, author and former editor-in-chief of Russian Newsweek and The Moscow Times, and presenter on TV Rain.

Across 10 sessions throughout the academic year, Fishman will explore the key turning points in contemporary Russian political history.

📅 Our first event takes place on Monday, 26 October!

Operation ‘Successor’: A Transfer of Power, or a Counterrevolution? How Vladimir Putin Became President

🗓 Date: Monday, 26 October 2026

🕔 Time: 17:00–18:30 (UK time)

📍 Venue: Bush House, North East Wing, Room 1.03, King’s College London

Find out more and register here:

A cycle of lectures and discussions on contemporary Russian political history with journalist and author Mikhail Fishman.

08/10/2026

Please find a new publication by Professor Tracey German, “Exercising power in the common neighbourhood: the EU and Russia between cooperation, competition, and conflict,” published in European Security.

The article examines how the EU and Russia have exercised power in their shared neighbourhood, tracing the shift in their relationship from cooperation to competition and conflict. It also explores the different tools of influence used by the EU and Russia, and what these competing approaches have meant for states situated between them.

You can read the full article here:

There has been a growing competition between Russia and the European Union (EU) in their common neighbourhood over the past decade, culminating in direct conflict following Russia's invasion of Ukr...

07/10/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the discussion with Keir Giles, author of American Overthrow: Moscow’s Endgame in Its Long War with Washington.

Drawing on his new book, Giles examined America’s political transformation through the prism of Kremlinology, exploring parallels between recent developments in the United States and patterns long familiar to Russia-watchers. He also discussed their implications for US foreign policy, Europe, and Russia’s wider strategic ambitions.

Many thanks to Keir Giles for a fascinating and thought-provoking discussion, and to everyone who joined us at King’s for the event.

06/10/2026

📚 We invite you to join us for a conversation with Jana Bakunina, author of «The Good Russian: In Search of a Nation’s Soul».

After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bakunina returned to her native Yekaterinburg to understand how ordinary Russians were experiencing the war, and how people navigate questions of identity, loyalty, conscience and political responsibility under authoritarianism. This journey became the basis for the book.

📅 Monday, 19 October 2026
🕔 17:00–18:30
📍 Bush House North East Wing, Room 1.03, King’s College London

Join us for a discussion of contemporary Russia, war, identity and the choices facing Russians today. Find out more about the author and the book, and register for the event here:

An insight into the hearts and minds of ordinary people in Putin’s Russia.

30/09/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us at King’s Russia Institute this week for “International Assistance and the End of the War: Ukrainian Perspectives.”

We were delighted to welcome Professor Mikhail Alexseev (San Diego State University) for a discussion drawing on large-scale longitudinal survey research.

The talk explored how perceptions of international assistance shape Ukrainians’ understandings of victory and acceptable war termination, as well as what wartime public attitudes can tell us about the resilience of Ukrainian democracy.

27/09/2026

Professor Gulnaz Sharafutdinova recently joined the Cambridge Mongolia Forum, hosted by the Mongolia and Inner Asia Studies Unit (MIASU) at the University of Cambridge in its 40th anniversary year.

Professor Sharafutdinova delivered a keynote, “Holding On to Who We Are: Land, Memory, and Minority Belonging in Russia,” drawing on personal experience and on her forthcoming volume with Dr Yana Hashamova, Soil and Soul: How Russia’s Minority Communities Create Meaning and Identity.

Her talk explored embodied belonging, minority identity, place and memory, and the ways in which war and political conditions reshape people’s relationships with home.

This year’s Forum, “Between War and Peace: Mongolia and the Making of Eurasian Order,” brought together scholars working across Mongolia, Russia, China and Central Asia to discuss war, empire, minority politics, migration, security and the possibilities of peace.

25/09/2026

New research by Dr Adnan Vatansever, co-authored with Andreas Goldthau, examines one of the most consequential economic transformations of the war: Europe’s move away from dependence on Russian gas.

The study explores why European countries developed such different relationships with Russian gas, and why their responses since 2022 have also diverged. It highlights the role of sunk costs, powerful energy-sector incumbents and policy ideology in shaping these choices.

The authors also ask a crucial question for Europe’s future energy security: could Russian gas make a significant return to European markets after the war?

Read the article here:

24/09/2026

Director of King’s Russia Institute Professor Gulnaz Sharafutdinova joined EJIL: The Podcast! for a discussion on Russia, imperial continuities and international law.

The conversation asks an important question: how can we take history and imperial legacies seriously while still recognising the role of political agency, choice and responsibility?

🎧 Listen to the full episode here:

Episodio de podcast · EJIL: The Podcast! · 7 de abril · 50 min

15/09/2026

Join the King’s Russia Institute for a discussion with Keir Giles, marking the publication of his new book, American Overthrow: Moscow’s Endgame in Its Long War with Washington.

In the book, Giles examines recent political developments in the United States through the prism of Kremlinology. He argues that, for Russia-watchers, many features of Donald Trump’s second presidency appear strikingly familiar: from challenges to established institutions and the information environment to shifts in US foreign policy that align with longstanding Russian strategic objectives.

The discussion will explore the parallels Giles draws between political transformation in Russia and the United States, Moscow’s long-term approach to its relationship with Washington, and the implications for Ukraine, Europe and the future of the international order.

Keir Giles has advised governments worldwide on Russia and is a former senior fellow with Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia Programme. His previous books include Who Will Defend Europe? and Moscow Rules.

📅 Monday, 5 October 2026

🕔 17:00–18:30

📍 Bush House North East Wing, Room 1.03, King’s College London

🎟️ Register via Eventbrite:

In his new book, American Overthrow, Keir Giles examines America’s political transformation through the prism of Kremlinology.

14/09/2026

How do perceptions of international assistance shape Ukrainians’ preferences regarding the outcome of the war? And what can public attitudes tell us about Ukraine’s democratic resilience under the extraordinary pressures of wartime?

Join the King’s Russia Institute for a talk by Professor Mikhail Alexseev (San Diego State University), who will present findings from large-scale longitudinal survey research conducted in collaboration with the British Association for the Study of Ukraine (BASU).

The discussion will offer a fine-grained perspective on the factors shaping Ukrainians’ understandings of victory and acceptable war termination, while also exploring the resilience of Ukrainian democracy in the context of Russia’s ongoing war.

📅 Monday, 28 September 2026

🕔 17:00–18:30

📍 Bush House North East Wing, Room 1.03, King’s College London

🎟️ Register here:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/international-assistance-and-the-end-of-the-war-ukrainian-perspectives-tickets-2000564572490

We look forward to welcoming you to King’s.

How do perceptions of international assistance affect Ukrainians’ preferences regarding the outcome of the war?