Free Peoples of Russia House

Free Peoples of Russia House The Free Peoples of Russia House is a nonprofit initiative representing the Resistance to the Putin regime.

The project serves as a common platform for the Russian democratic opposition. The Board of Trustees is led by Presidents Walesa and Yuschenko

06/05/2026

How language policy reshapes everyday speech, distorts meaning, and reveals the mechanics of control in modern Russia

When the state dictates language, even a burger becomes political. Russia’s push to purge foreign words from business has triggered a wave of awkward translations, branding mishaps, and quiet resistance across storefronts, menus, and everyday speech. “Smoothies” become fruit-and-berry blended beverages, “fitness bars” turn into high-protein food products, and even a simple “coffee shop” expands into a fast-service coffee establishment. As English is increasingly recast as an “unfriendly” language, the state is not merely encouraging change — it is actively engineering it through policy, pressure, and cultural signaling. What emerges is a strange mix of compliance, improvisation, and unintended humor. Ksenia Turkova brings her signature wit to unpack the bloopers — and what they reveal about control, identity, and power in today’s Russia.

At each of our events you can expect a warm atmosphere, an ability to network as well as complimentary refreshments.
RSVP is recommended, and donations welcomed.

Each talk is broadcasted live from our auditorium when it starts at 6:00pm EST on our page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567824218964

Ksenia Turkova is an international journalist, editor, and media analyst specializing in disinformation, propaganda, and the language of media. With professional experience across Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, she has worked with Voice of America, Hromadske, The Insider, and other global outlets. Trained in linguistics and journalism, she examines how narratives are constructed, controlled, and weaponized across Russian-language media. She is a frequent commentator and speaker, known for breaking down complex information ecosystems with clarity and wit, and for exposing the mechanics behind disinformation, censorship, and the evolving role of language in authoritarian systems.

Spotlight on the speaker for your tomorrow's event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/from-borrowing-to-banning-russias-langu...
06/04/2026

Spotlight on the speaker for your tomorrow's event: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/from-borrowing-to-banning-russias-language-policy-on-anglicisms-tickets-1988580986261?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

Ksenia Turkova is an international journalist, editor, and media analyst specializing in disinformation, propaganda, and the language of media. With professional experience across Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, she has worked with Voice of America, Hromadske, The Insider, and other global outlets. Trained in linguistics and journalism, she examines how narratives are constructed, controlled, and weaponized across Russian-language media. She is a frequent commentator and speaker, known for breaking down complex information ecosystems with clarity and wit, and for exposing the mechanics behind disinformation, censorship, and the evolving role of language in authoritarian systems.

05/29/2026

Reporting Reality in a System Built on Fear and Fiction.

In authoritarian systems, truth is not merely suppressed — it is treated as a direct threat to power. After his 2013 expulsion from Russia, David Satter reflects on what it means to report in an environment where investigating reality can make you a target. From probing state violence and systemic deception to confronting censorship, surveillance, and ultimately exile, he lays out the personal and professional cost of refusing to conform.

This conversation widens the lens to the system itself: how control over information becomes a tool of governance, how pressure is applied to silence inconvenient facts, and how quickly the space for independent thought can disappear. When truth is pushed out of public life, what fills the vacuum — and what does that mean for a society’s ability to think, question, and respond?

At each of our events you can expect a warm atmosphere, an ability to network as well as complimentary refreshments.
RSVP is recommended, and donations welcomed.

Each talk is broadcasted live from our auditorium when it starts at 6:00pm EST on our page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567824218964

David Satter is an American journalist, historian, and leading Western expert on Russia’s political and moral evolution. A former Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times and longtime Wall Street Journal contributor, he has spent over four decades examining Russia’s transformation from late Soviet stagnation to Putin’s authoritarian rule.

Satter is best known for his investigation of the 1999 apartment bombings, which killed nearly 300 people and paved the way for Putin’s rise. In Darkness at Dawn: The Rise of the Russian Criminal State, he argued that the attacks were likely orchestrated by Russia’s own security services to create fear and justify war.

His reporting — which he calls “the original sin of Putin’s rule” — led to his expulsion from Russia in 2013. Through books such as Age of Delirium and The Less You Know, the Better You Sleep, Satter explores how deception, violence, and moral decay became pillars of modern Russian power — and why truth remains its most potent threat.

05/22/2026

From petrostate dependency to war economy — can the system sustain prolonged conflict?

Drawing on decades of research into Russia’s economic structure, Vladislav Inozemtsev examines how war, sanctions adaptation, and expanding state control have reshaped the country’s economic model. Record defense spending, industrial reorientation, and rerouted trade toward non-Western partners have created an appearance of resilience — yet this stability rests on fragile foundations.

Private enterprise is being crowded out, technological isolation is deepening as access to Western inputs declines, and labor shortages driven by military losses and emigration are constraining growth. At the same time, tightening internet controls and platform blockings disrupt digital infrastructure and impede business, while language mandates requiring the use of Russian erode long-established brands. Rising tax pressures on small and medium-sized businesses further squeeze the private sector.

Is Russia building a sustainable wartime economy, or merely postponing an inevitable reckoning? This discussion examines the model’s durability, the hidden costs beneath the surface, and the scenarios that could define Russia’s economic trajectory if permanent war continues.

Hors d'oeuvres and refreshments will be provided.
RSVP is recommended, and donations welcomed.

Vladislav Inozemtsev is a Russian economist and political scientist focused on global economic trends, the knowledge economy, and Russia’s development. He founded the Center for Post-Industrial Studies in Moscow in 1996 and has held fellowships at institutions including Johns Hopkins University, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the German Council on Foreign Relations.

He advised the Russian government’s modernization commission under Dmitry Medvedev (2009–2011) and left Russia in 2014 after the start of the war against Ukraine. Based in Washington, D.C., he is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Analysis and Strategies in Europe and a Special Advisor at the Middle East Media Research Institute, and has authored more than 20 books.

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