Life in exile: A new approach to Russian democrats in Europe
European governments need a more coordinated response to Russian democrats in exile – to give them certainty for the future and help guard against Kremlin subversion
Experts & Staff
Ksenia Luchenko
Visiting Fellow
Areas of expertise
Russian Orthodox Christianity and its influence on Russian politics and society; church-state and church-public relations in eastern Europe; political and cultural history of the Russian Orthodox Church in the 20th and 21st centuries; Russian media and journalism, propaganda, and ideology
Languages
Russian, English, French
Biography
Ksenia Luchenko is a visiting fellow with the Wider Europe programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She is a journalist, researcher, and analyst who emigrated from Russia in April 2022. Previously, she was dean of the Department of Media Communications at the Moscow Higher School of Social and Economic Sciences and head of the Department of Theory and Practice of Media Communications at the School of Public Policy of the Russian Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
Luchenko is the author of several dozen journalistic and scholarly articles on religious life in post-Soviet Russia and the role of Orthodoxy in the formation of the Putin regime. She is also the editor of several documentaries about Soviet dissidents and intellectuals. She holds a PhD in philology from Moscow State University
Under the Overcoat: But the people are silent
This podcast explores deeper trends beneath the surface of Russia’s daily politics. In this episode, we examine public opinion in Russia
The women who could save Russia
The biggest threat to Vladimir Putin’s strongman rule may just come from women – especially when they base their activism on the very ‘traditional values’ he purports to venerate
Conservatism by decree: Putin as a figurehead for the global far-right
Vladimir Putin is ramping up his radical-right credentials. This reinforces his grip on power in Russia, but it could also increase his influence worldwide
Under the overcoat: God save the Tsar
The Russian Orthodox Church is supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine in its sermons, sending priests to the front, and collecting humanitarian aid for soldiers and…
Under the Overcoat: the past is unpredictable
On 1 September, Russian high schools transitioned to new “patriotic” history textbooks authored by one of Russia’s staunchest conservatives, former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky. How…
Propaganda in holy orders: Africa, Ukraine, and the Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church’s expansion into Africa is a reminder that Western policymakers should treat the church as an arm of the Russian state
Stuck in the ‘90s: How Russia’s opposition can shape its political future by reconciling with its past
Russian president Vladimir Putin presents himself as the antidote to the pain of the 1990s, instead fashioning his leadership as a continuation of Russia’s grand history. By reconciling with this past, Russia’s opposition can threaten Putin’s legitimacy and offer Russia a path towards a new political future
Publications
Life in exile: A new approach to Russian democrats in Europe
European governments need a more coordinated response to Russian democrats in exile – to give them certainty for the future and help guard against Kremlin subversion
Articles
The women who could save Russia
The biggest threat to Vladimir Putin’s strongman rule may just come from women – especially when they base their activism on the very ‘traditional values’ he purports to venerate
Conservatism by decree: Putin as a figurehead for the global far-right
Vladimir Putin is ramping up his radical-right credentials. This reinforces his grip on power in Russia, but it could also increase his influence worldwide
Propaganda in holy orders: Africa, Ukraine, and the Russian Orthodox Church
The Russian Orthodox Church’s expansion into Africa is a reminder that Western policymakers should treat the church as an arm of the Russian state
Stuck in the ‘90s: How Russia’s opposition can shape its political future by reconciling with its past
Russian president Vladimir Putin presents himself as the antidote to the pain of the 1990s, instead fashioning his leadership as a continuation of Russia’s grand history. By reconciling with this past, Russia’s opposition can threaten Putin’s legitimacy and offer Russia a path towards a new political future
Podcasts
Under the Overcoat: But the people are silent
This podcast explores deeper trends beneath the surface of Russia’s daily politics. In this episode, we examine public opinion in Russia
Under the overcoat: God save the Tsar
The Russian Orthodox Church is supporting Russia’s war on Ukraine in its sermons, sending priests to the front, and collecting humanitarian aid for soldiers and…
Under the Overcoat: the past is unpredictable
On 1 September, Russian high schools transitioned to new “patriotic” history textbooks authored by one of Russia’s staunchest conservatives, former culture minister Vladimir Medinsky. How…
In the media
Putin issues decree after decree to regulate morality and ethics, and demonstrates his power over the private lives of his citizens, ending liberal life in Russia and reinforcing his autocracy
Ksenia Luchenko analyses Putin regime’s far-right identity policies and their effect on domestic power control and global influence
Ksenia Luchenko on the verdict against Russian Orthodox priest Aleksiy Uminsky