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Steve Gutterman

Steve Gutterman is the editor of the Russia/Ukraine/Belarus Desk in RFE/RL's Central Newsroom in Prague and the author of The Week In Russia newsletter. He lived and worked in Russia and the former Soviet Union for nearly 20 years between 1989 and 2014, including postings in Moscow with the AP and Reuters. He has also reported from Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as other parts of Asia, Europe, and the United States.

GuttermanS@rferl.org

Also by Steve Gutterman

November 03, 2023
The Week In Russia: Makhachkala, Moscow, And The Middle East

Moscow’s geopolitical juggling act in the Middle East tilts, and an anti-Semitic riot at an airport in the North Caucasus underscores the ramifications for Russia.
October 20, 2023
The Week In Russia: 'An Arsonist For A Firefighter'

A trip to China, an eye on the Middle East -- and for Russia, a continued focus on the war in Ukraine, where its forces struggle on the battlefield and Kyiv uses newly delivered Western weapons. And 20 months into the full-scale invasion, the Kremlin's clampdown at home continues.
October 06, 2023
The Week In Russia: Wavering In The West, Horror In Ukraine

Yeltsin's fateful decision. Putin's last hope. An "absolutely horrifying" missile strike in Ukraine.
September 22, 2023
The Week In Russia: Limited Leverage In The 'Near Abroad'

Dramatic developments in the South Caucasus underline the limits to Moscow’s clout in regions it still seeks to dominate, as does Russia’s war on Ukraine. At home, the clampdown on dissent continues with the trial of an advocate of human rights and historical truth.
August 25, 2023
The Week In Russia: 'Force And Fear' And A Fiery Crash

Signs of the times: The Sakharov Center is shut, suspicions settle on the Kremlin as Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin is presumed dead in a plane crash, and Ukraine celebrates the independence it is guarding from relentless Russian attacks.
August 18, 2023
The Week In Russia: The Dramatic Pace Of Regress

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has killed more than 500 children -- possibly many more. A Kremlin foe, sentenced to 25 years in prison on a treason conviction after criticizing Putin and the war, draws parallels with the Stalin-era persecution of Russians branded “enemies of the people.”
August 04, 2023
The Week In Russia: Off-Ramps And Obsessions

Putin says he’s not against negotiations for peace in Ukraine. Analysts say that, despite setbacks in the more than 17 months since he launched Russia’s large-scale invasion, he is still bent on “destroying and subordinating” that country and determined to “redraw the world map.”
July 28, 2023
The Week In Russia: Mud, Blood, And An 'Empire Of Spite'

Scuttling a deal that helped feed the hungry, Russia attacks Odesa and a Ukrainian port 200 meters from NATO territory. President Vladimir Putin mixes threats against Poland with twisted history. Aleksei Navalny, already imprisoned, faces a verdict that could hand him two more decades behind bars.
July 14, 2023
The Week In Russia: Rebellion, Alliance, And War

A "traitor" is welcomed to the Kremlin and a Russian field commander lashes out, echoing the invective that preceded the Wagner mutiny last month. Meanwhile, NATO pledges staunch support for Ukraine but won't say when it can join. And after more than 500 days, Russia's invasion raged on.
July 07, 2023
The Week In Russia: 'Sowing The Field With Pain'

Attacks in Ukraine and Chechnya, horrific but now not unusual, lay bare President Vladimir Putin’s legacy at home and abroad. Meanwhile, two of his most prominent foes languish in prison, one in Russia and one in Georgia.
June 30, 2023
The Week In Russia: Rebellion, Repression, Weakness, And War

In the wake of the Wagner mutiny, President Vladimir Putin looks vulnerable, but the consequences of the short-lived revolt are far less clear than its causes. And while the political landscape may have shifted, Russia's war on Ukraine and repression at home continue unabated.
June 24, 2023
Prigozhin's 'Mutiny' And The Challenge To Putin

Wagner mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin took pains to emphasize his rebellious actions are “not a military coup” and that President Vladimir Putin is not his target. But few possible outcomes bode well for Putin, and this challenge to his regime is a result of his own methods and actions.
June 16, 2023
The Week In Russia: Putin's 'Addictive Crusade'

Twenty years ago, an important part of President Vladimir Putin's agenda for an oil-fueled Russian resurgence was building ties with the West. His war on Ukraine has destroyed them instead -- but it didn't have to.
June 09, 2023
The Week In Russia: Flood, Fire, And A 'Travesty Of Justice'

The destruction of a massive Dnieper River dam in occupied territory adds another line to the list of calamities unleashed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow’s propaganda machine lets a trial balloon fly amid signs Kyiv’s counteroffensive has begun, while the clampdown continues at home.
June 02, 2023
The Week In Russia: Drone Wars

An apparent drone attack on Moscow fits President Vladimir Putin’s narrative about Russia’s war on Ukraine. But more than 15 months into what was meant to be a "special operation" to swiftly subjugate the neighboring nation, it’s still another piece of bad news for the Kremlin.
May 19, 2023
The Week In Russia: At Daggers Drawn

Russia tries hypersonic missile attacks in Ukraine and treason accusations at home. And in the battle for Bakhmut, the "culture of mutual suspicion, cannibalistic competition, and opportunistic self-interest" President Vladimir Putin has created to maintain power is backfiring, an analyst says.
May 12, 2023
The Week In Russia: Theater Of War

There’s Red Square, and there’s reality. Russian President Putin Vladimir Putin rehearsed grievances and repeated falsehoods at a Victory Day military parade as the war ground on in Ukraine. Farther from the Kremlin, the clampdown continued.
April 28, 2023
The Week In Russia: Putin's 'Snarling Revanche'

Russian President Vladimir Putin decided on the large-scale invasion of Ukraine about a year before he launched it in late February 2022, and his main motives were personal, an investigative report released at a potentially crucial juncture in the devastating war concludes.
April 21, 2023
The Week In Russia: A Long Prison Term And A 'Risky Path' For Putin

Vladimir Kara-Murza is sentenced to 25 years in prison, the longest term handed down to an opponent of President Vladimir Putin or a critic of Russia's war on Ukraine. As fighting persists, Putin is "tethering his future to that of an unpredictable conflict," an analyst and Kremlin expert says.
April 14, 2023
The Week In Russia: Trial And Terror

A gruesome video adds to apparent evidence of Russian atrocities in Ukraine. Accounts of “terrifying torture” during the occupation of Kherson expand with a Human Rights Watch report. And in Russia, a Kremlin opponent faces a verdict in a treason trial widely condemned as a farce.

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