The Future of Russia

Aspen UK

When Russia’s President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022, he plunged his country and his citizens into an ongoing period of economic decline and global isolation. On day one of the war, he ramped up Russia’s propaganda machine and began conducting country-wide crackdowns on signs of protest and dissent. The government imposed travel restrictions on its citizens, but nearly 4 million Russians were reported to have left the country by early May 2022.

Many of those who have left belong to the generation of outward-looking entrepreneurs and creatives who have lived, worked, or studied outside of Russia in the past – the same people who were driving Russia’s economic and cultural sectors until a few months ago.

Bill Browder, CEO of Hermitage Capital, Head of the Global Magnitsky Campaign, and author of Red Notice and Freezing Order and Nataliya Vasilyeva, Russia correspondent for The Telegraph, join Dr James Rodgers, lecturer at City University in conversation on the future of Russia. They discuss whether Russia is facing a ‘brain-drain, the impact of Western and global sanctions on Russia’s economy and society, and if Russia will ever be able to repair its relations with the rest of the world.

This episode was recorded as a live broadcast on 22 June 2022.

Support the show