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Nataliya Vasilyeva

@nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social

1.6K followers 370 following 55 posts

Freelance reporter @nytimes.com Past: Jerusalem and Moscow, ex-Telegraph, AP survivor. Shortlisted for 2024 UK Press Awards Foreign Correspondent of the Year.

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Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Aug 29

My piece on the growing water crisis in occupied eastern Ukraine. Completely man-made and not solvable until the war ends.
“Dams have been destroyed, and there is no canal: It’s just not there. You will have to build it all from scratch.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/29/w...

With Canal and Dams Wrecked, a Russian-Occupied City’s Taps Run Dry

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Aug 18

I got to sit down with the Tikhanovskys in Vilnius last month to talk about the future of Belarus and a stunning role reversal that his couple is now having to navigate.
"I’m teaching him to be more careful about the words you say."
www.nytimes.com/2025/08/18/w...

He Left a Belarus Prison 132 Pounds Lighter, but Just as Outspoken

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Jul 31

My deep condolences to Derk's family. He was such a towering presence in Russian media - and a helping hand to many newsrooms.

Het Parool @parool.nl · Jul 31

Journalist en ondernemer Derk Sauer (1952-2025) was een moedig en gelukkig mens, met een groot talent: hij kreeg dingen voor elkaar

Journalist en ondernemer Derk Sauer (1952-2025) was een moedig en gelukkig mens, met een groot talent: hij kreeg dingen voor elkaar

De Amsterdamse journalist, uitgever en ondernemer Derk Sauer is donderdag op 72-jarige leeftijd overleden. Hij kwam de gevolgen van een ongeluk met zijn zeilboot vorige maand niet meer te boven. De laatste column van Sauer, sinds 1991 verbonden aan Het Parool, stond 27 juni in de krant.

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Jul 29

In Russia, the war in Ukraine has claimed an unlikely casualty: mobile internet networks.
Piece by me and Alina Lobzina on how Russians from big cities are getting used to navigate a life without apps, online maps and contactless pay.
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/w...

Russia Counters Ukrainian Drones by Turning Off Russians’ Mobile Internet

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Jul 3

“It’s utterly surreal to see adult men with veritable military distinctions give reports to and grovel in front of a child.”
There's a looming issue for the Kremlin that doesn't get as much attention as it deserves. My piece on succession plans for Chechnya:
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/03/w...

Once Russia’s Most Volatile Region, Chechnya Is Bracing for Succession

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · May 28

I went on TV Rain this morning to speak about Kaskad:
www.youtube.com/live/X2KagdF...

Дроны повредили дома в Подмосковье. Ответ США Медведеву. Подростков зарезали в Иркутской области

YouTube video by Телеканал Дождь

www.youtube.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · May 27

Following up on my earlier reporting:
Kolesnikova that I mentioned in the story has won her nomination for parliament, along with over 800 Ukraine war "veterans" who ran into United Russia's primaries:
www.kommersant.ru/doc/7754392
www.kommersant.ru/doc/7754164

Восемь участников СВО победили в праймериз для выдвижения в заксобрание

Подробнее на сайте

www.kommersant.ru

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · May 25

My piece on Kaskad, an obscure Russian army unit that offers officials, pro-Kremlin youth activists and various regime "Mitläufer"s a chance to get the badge of war veteran and come back home safe and sound after a short deployment in Ukraine:
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/25/w...

Selfies From the Front: Inside the ‘V.I.P.’ Brigade for Ambitious Russian Officials

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · May 14

Landmark case, even by today's Russian standards:
Melkonyants is Russia's preeminent election expert and co-chairman of Golos which has provided unrivaled expertise and training to elex monitors who went on to expose widespread fraud.
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/w...

Russia Sentences Prominent Election Expert to 5 Years in Prison

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · May 6

"You constantly have to play cat-and-mouse with the school."
Grateful to the brave teachers and parents who were willing to share their experience battling propaganda at school:
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/w...

With Acts of Subversion, Some Russians Fight Propaganda in Schools

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Apr 16

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/w...

Russia Jails 4 Journalists for Working With Navalny’s Organization

The case highlighted the perils of independent journalism amid an intensified Kremlin crackdown on freedom of expression.

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Apr 16

Colleagues are still crowdfunding to avoid a shutdown:
en.zona.media/article/2025...

Mediazona on the brink. We need 5,000 monthly subscribers to survive

Mediazona is running out of money. We’ve had to cut staff and slash salaries. Editor-in-chief Sergey Smirnov and editor Dmitry Treshchanin will now be working without pay. If thing...

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Apr 16

Russian independent newsrooms in exile have been essential for our understanding of the Kremlin's crackdown on civil society in Russia: A lot of what we know about the closed-door trial of four journalists in Moscow is thanks to the excellent Mediazona:
zona.media/online/2025/...

Журналистов судят по делу ФБК. Приговор

Антонину Фаворскую, Сергея Карелина, Константина Габова и Артема Кригера приговорили к 5,5 годам колонии каждого

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Apr 16

Mr. Kuznechyk said he could not understand why Washington would shutter RFE/RL at a time when Belarus and its patron Russia have curtailed freedoms to a degree unseen since the Soviet era.
“Why make this gift” to authoritarians, he asked. “What will the world be like next?”

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Apr 16

Strong story by NYT colleagues @paulsonne.bsky.social Alina Lobzina, Milana Mazaeva on what Eastern Europe and Central Asia stand to lose if RFE/RL shuts down following Trump's executive order:
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/16/w...

Its Journalism Challenged Autocrats. Trump Wants to Silence It.

Journalists at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who have been imprisoned for their work are dismayed by the effort to close the outlet.

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Apr 7

Donald Trump may very well believe Vladimir Putin's word to stick to any peace deal they might negotiate.
Hundreds of thousands of Russians who fled the country in the aftermath of the invasion are not that gullible. My Sunday piece:
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/w...

Peace in Ukraine Will Not Mean a Return Home, Russian Émigrés Say

Hundreds of thousands fled Russia after the Ukraine invasion, fearing the draft and widening repression. Talks toward a possible truce have done little to allay their fears.

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Apr 1

With the war in Ukraine and war-related repression expanding in Russia, it's easy to overlook a major transformation in Russia right now: thanks to a new 'extremism' designation, gay people are virtually outlawed in Russia.
My piece with Alina Lobzina:
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/01/w...

A Prison Death Highlights Russia’s LGBTQ Crackdown

The Russian government has unleashed a wave of repression against L.G.B.T.Q. people, with the police raiding gay night clubs and investigators targeting people they suspect of being gay.

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Mar 31

Three years into the war and exile, Russian independent media are feeing the squeeze: The editor-in-chief of the excellent @en.zona.media is making an urgent appeal for donations - he has taken himself off the payroll to avoid more cuts.
en.zona.media/article/2025...

Mediazona on the brink. We need 5,000 monthly subscribers to survive

Mediazona is running out of money. We’ve had to cut staff and slash salaries. Editor-in-chief Sergey Smirnov and editor Dmitry Treshchanin will now be working without pay. If thing...

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Mar 4

11 years on, Russia is still paying for Crimea in a variety of ways.

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Mar 4

Curious stats from Russia's Federal Treasury this morning:
The federal budget last year sent some $2 billion (176 billion rubles) to Crimea in budget subsidies.
Putin claimed in 2014 that the Crimean annexation would be profitable for Russia.
www.rbc.ru/economics/04...

Крым вышел на первое место по объему внешней поддержки бюджета

Республика Крым по итогам 2024 года заняла первое место по общему объему так называемых безвозмездных перечислений в ее бюджет — из федерального центра и других источников. По этому показателю регион ...

Reposted by Nataliya Vasilyeva

Todd Tucker @toddntucker.com · Feb 23

LSE researchers have "identified more than 200 Russian court rulings to nationalize private companies since the start of the invasion of Ukraine in 2022," for violating privatization laws, per
@nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social.
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/w...

Emboldened Kremlin Steps Up Efforts to Seize Businesses in Russia

The legal onslaught on Moscow’s second-largest airport has been seen as part of the Kremlin’s wartime drive to seize control of key assets still in private hands.

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Feb 24

In Russia, the devastating war has had a profound impact on all spheres of life including business where entire industries saw transformative sell-offs and covert nationalizations. My piece for the NYT:
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/22/w...
2/2

Emboldened Kremlin Steps Up Efforts to Seize Businesses in Russia

The legal onslaught on Moscow’s second-largest airport has been seen as part of the Kremlin’s wartime drive to seize control of key assets still in private hands.

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Feb 24

Three years ago today Russia launched the invasion of Ukraine that killed tens of thousands and erased entire cities from the face of the earth. 1/2

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Jan 26

My story on the aftermath of the Kerch oil spill:
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/26/w...
"Two weeks into the new year, and four weeks after the spill, President Vladimir V. Putin acknowledged the extent of the disaster and dispatched senior officials to deal with Russia’s largest oil spill in years."

A Storm, a Spill and a Disaster for the Black Sea’s Beaches

Vast stretches of Russian coast have been tarred by heavy fuel oil from two freighters that foundered in a storm.

www.nytimes.com

Nataliya Vasilyeva @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social · Jan 25

This Sunday’s presidential election in Belarus couldn’t be more different from the heady days of the 2020 election campaign.
My preview:
www.nytimes.com/2025/01/25/w...

His Opponents Sidelined, Lukashenko Is Set for a 7th Term in Belarus

President Aleksandr G. Lukashenko, a close ally of Russia’s leader, Vladimir V. Putin, has been making signs of reaching out to the West. He is all but certain to win an election on Sunday.

www.nytimes.com