Eclipsed from the headlines by the war in the Middle East, Russia launches a new offensive [12] in Ukraine with an unprecedented wave of drone and missile strikes [13] across the country—even striking an historic monastery [14] in Lviv. Meanwhile, two young Russian poets, Artyom Kamadarin and Yegor Shtovba, remain imprisoned [15] on "state subversion" charges related to public readings of anti-war poetry. They join other imprisoned anti-war poets [16], such as Daria Kozyreva, and numerous artists and activists [17] imprisoned for opposing the new dictatorship of Vladimir Putin. The recently passed Russian rocker Nikolay Komyagin [18], frontman for the post-punk band Shortparis [19], was also an icon of artistic resistance [20]. Long known for their defiant sound [21], after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine they released the music video "Apple Orchard [22]," on an anti-war theme—resulting in them being blacklisted from major venues in Russia. In Episode 320 of the CounterVortex podcast [23], Bill Weinberg places these courageous voices [24] in the context of a dissident tradition in Russia under the decitatorships of the czars, the Soviets, and now Putin—from Leo Tolstoy [25] to Shortparis.
Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon [30].
Book discussed:
Tolstoy's Search for the Kingdom of God: Gender and Queer Anarchism [31], by Javier Sethness Castro, Routledge 2026
Production by Chris Rywalt [32]
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