Botakoz Kassymbekova
@kassymbekova.bsky.social
Professor of eastern European history, University of Zurich, Switzerland. Russian and Russo-Soviet colonialism, imperialism, stalinism, post-stalinism.
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
A reminder about tomorrow’s RUTA webinar, that will explore our approaches to understanding family history, its personal and collective significance, and how we can translate these stories into our contemporary lives and practices in the context of multiple crises.
See the registration link below
See the registration link below
Join us for our next RUTA webinar on family stories through art, literature, and decolonial thinking, featuring a round table conversation with Elmira Kakabayeva, Aida Sulova & Victoria Sarangova
October 31, 11:00 EST / 18:00 EEST - Kyiv time
Link for registration: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
October 31, 11:00 EST / 18:00 EEST - Kyiv time
Link for registration: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
October 30, 2025 at 2:12 PM
A reminder about tomorrow’s RUTA webinar, that will explore our approaches to understanding family history, its personal and collective significance, and how we can translate these stories into our contemporary lives and practices in the context of multiple crises.
See the registration link below
See the registration link below
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
Russian shadowfleet tanker suspected of launching drones over Denmark which was stopped by the French Navy has been allowed to continue its voyage
www.spiegel.de/ausland/scha...
www.spiegel.de/ausland/scha...
Schattenflotte: Von Frankreich festgesetzter russischer Öltanker setzt Fahrt fort
Französische Soldaten hatten den Öltanker »Boracay« gestoppt. Der Verdacht: Das Schiff soll zu Russlands Schattenflotte gehören. Nun durfte die Crew aber wieder aufbrechen.
www.spiegel.de
October 3, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Russian shadowfleet tanker suspected of launching drones over Denmark which was stopped by the French Navy has been allowed to continue its voyage
www.spiegel.de/ausland/scha...
www.spiegel.de/ausland/scha...
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
Russia murdered French photojournalist Antoni Lallican with an FPV drone.
During the attack, Ukrainian photojournalist Heorhii Ivanchenko was with him and sustained serious injuries.
Both journalists were clearly marked with “PRESS,” but that did not stop Russians.
During the attack, Ukrainian photojournalist Heorhii Ivanchenko was with him and sustained serious injuries.
Both journalists were clearly marked with “PRESS,” but that did not stop Russians.
October 3, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Russia murdered French photojournalist Antoni Lallican with an FPV drone.
During the attack, Ukrainian photojournalist Heorhii Ivanchenko was with him and sustained serious injuries.
Both journalists were clearly marked with “PRESS,” but that did not stop Russians.
During the attack, Ukrainian photojournalist Heorhii Ivanchenko was with him and sustained serious injuries.
Both journalists were clearly marked with “PRESS,” but that did not stop Russians.
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
In the newest addition to my newsletter, I wrote about @associationruta.bsky.social, a new academic association challenging the traditional Russocentrism in our field. A huge shoutout and thank you to @terezahendl.bsky.social for curating this year's amazing conference programme!
Beyond Russo-centrism in academia
A new academic organisation is enriching the debate on the legacies of colonialism
efdavies.substack.com
July 8, 2025 at 10:06 AM
In the newest addition to my newsletter, I wrote about @associationruta.bsky.social, a new academic association challenging the traditional Russocentrism in our field. A huge shoutout and thank you to @terezahendl.bsky.social for curating this year's amazing conference programme!
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
This was such an insightful discussion about the need to more closely get to know our socio-historical contexts and struggles, strengthen our solidarities and antiracist movements, and translate our work on russian imperialism into more languages, including Spanish and for Latin American audiences
Our second featured panel at the RUTA conference Imagination: New Visions and Connections will discuss protest in the RUTA regions and in global dialogues with @maiabarkaia.bsky.social, @ferezmanuel14.bsky.social, Zhanar Sekerbayeva & @terrelljstarr.bsky.social
ruta-association.org/event/featur...
ruta-association.org/event/featur...
June 27, 2025 at 2:30 PM
This was such an insightful discussion about the need to more closely get to know our socio-historical contexts and struggles, strengthen our solidarities and antiracist movements, and translate our work on russian imperialism into more languages, including Spanish and for Latin American audiences
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
What an amazing panel we just had at @associationruta.bsky.social annual conference abt unequal citizenship within and outside of Ukraine! We talked abt Ukr Roma experiences as IDP & forced migrants in Poland, with our colleaques, co-workers and co-thinkers, very grateful for all contributions! 💙❤️💚
June 28, 2025 at 2:05 PM
What an amazing panel we just had at @associationruta.bsky.social annual conference abt unequal citizenship within and outside of Ukraine! We talked abt Ukr Roma experiences as IDP & forced migrants in Poland, with our colleaques, co-workers and co-thinkers, very grateful for all contributions! 💙❤️💚
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
"Ninety per cent of our way of life, everything from you being able to do your orders online for your food, to your ability to function at work would be taken out by a massive strike on all of the power grid.” www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/...
Fiona Hill: Trump is terrified of Putin, I’ve seen it first hand
US president’s former Russia tsar believes World War Three is upon us as White House struggles to secure peace with the Kremlin
www.telegraph.co.uk
May 25, 2025 at 2:37 PM
"Ninety per cent of our way of life, everything from you being able to do your orders online for your food, to your ability to function at work would be taken out by a massive strike on all of the power grid.” www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/...
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
I want to ask you all for your contribution to this important goal: a rehabilitation centre for Ukrainian women who got out Russian imprisonment. They survived abuse, torture, starvation, and sexual violence. Now they need a place to become human again.
donio.cz/pribeh/26346...
donio.cz/pribeh/26346...
Rehabilitační centrum pro ženy propuštěné z ruského zajetí
Představte si, že vám seberou všechno – důstojnost, svobodu i naději. Tohle není představa. Tohle je realita žen, které přežily ruské zajetí.
donio.cz
May 21, 2025 at 5:34 PM
I want to ask you all for your contribution to this important goal: a rehabilitation centre for Ukrainian women who got out Russian imprisonment. They survived abuse, torture, starvation, and sexual violence. Now they need a place to become human again.
donio.cz/pribeh/26346...
donio.cz/pribeh/26346...
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
Bloomberg citing its sources writes that Putin is confident his troops will breach 🇺🇦 defenses by year-end to control four claimed regions, suggesting he won't rush a deal or offer Trump significant concessions during their conversation.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Putin Heads Into Trump Call Confident That Russia Has Upper Hand
Vladimir Putin believes he has a strong hand ahead of a phone call Monday with Donald Trump and European leaders are trying to prevent the US president from rushing through a deal.
www.bloomberg.com
May 19, 2025 at 6:39 AM
Bloomberg citing its sources writes that Putin is confident his troops will breach 🇺🇦 defenses by year-end to control four claimed regions, suggesting he won't rush a deal or offer Trump significant concessions during their conversation.
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Happenung in 2 hours
Our next webinar will focus on Indigenous liberation struggles in North Caucasus, Central and North Asia, with leading Indigenous scholars and decolonial activists Seseg Jigjitova, Madina Tlostanova and Lidia Zhigunova. Register for this crucial discussion: ruta-association.org/event/indige...
May 16, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Happenung in 2 hours
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
Join us tomorrow for this key debate
Our next webinar will focus on Indigenous liberation struggles in North Caucasus, Central and North Asia, with leading Indigenous scholars and decolonial activists Seseg Jigjitova, Madina Tlostanova and Lidia Zhigunova. Register for this crucial discussion: ruta-association.org/event/indige...
May 15, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Join us tomorrow for this key debate
We are founding a new interdisciplinary Institute for Slavic and Eastern European Studies (ISOS) at the University of Zurich. Please apply to our Inaugural Conference "Eastern Europe's Invisibilities: Politics, Epistmics, Arts" at the University of Zurich, May 6-8, 2026.
May 15, 2025 at 5:30 PM
We are founding a new interdisciplinary Institute for Slavic and Eastern European Studies (ISOS) at the University of Zurich. Please apply to our Inaugural Conference "Eastern Europe's Invisibilities: Politics, Epistmics, Arts" at the University of Zurich, May 6-8, 2026.
Russia‘s war is ideological and academic production on Eastern Europe suffered from buying into Russian colonial narratives on the region. How to teach Eastern Europe today? Read these important insights curated by brilliant @oksanadudko.bsky.social and @ankahajkova.bsky.social
So happy that our piece with @ankahajkova.bsky.social—"Teaching Eastern Europe in the Age of Russia’s Imperial Invasions: A Conversation on Being Postcolonial When No One Takes Any Notice"—is finally out in @historyworkshop.org.uk
academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
academic.oup.com/hwj/advance-...
May 4, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Russia‘s war is ideological and academic production on Eastern Europe suffered from buying into Russian colonial narratives on the region. How to teach Eastern Europe today? Read these important insights curated by brilliant @oksanadudko.bsky.social and @ankahajkova.bsky.social
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
„The book claims that the Lithuanian nation and language do not exist.“
This is the Russian playbook. This is the exact same narrative with which Russia prepared its attack on Ukraine.
This is the Russian playbook. This is the exact same narrative with which Russia prepared its attack on Ukraine.
Russia publishes book on Lithuanian history, preface written by Lavrov
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys has criticised a book on the country’s history published in Russia, which fe...
www.lrt.lt
May 2, 2025 at 12:19 PM
„The book claims that the Lithuanian nation and language do not exist.“
This is the Russian playbook. This is the exact same narrative with which Russia prepared its attack on Ukraine.
This is the Russian playbook. This is the exact same narrative with which Russia prepared its attack on Ukraine.
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
Kharkiv right now!
Russia yet again attacked our city with drones. Several households and businesses are on fire
Russia yet again attacked our city with drones. Several households and businesses are on fire
April 24, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Kharkiv right now!
Russia yet again attacked our city with drones. Several households and businesses are on fire
Russia yet again attacked our city with drones. Several households and businesses are on fire
Join tomorrow!
Our next webinar will be taking a close look at the destabilizing impact of Russian disinformation campaigns, largely focusing on the Balkans but also integrating latest insights from Romania and Moldova. Register and join us for this important timely discussion: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
April 24, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Join tomorrow!
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
Unlike classic fascism, #MemeFascism doesn't even try to produce a coherent narrative. Like Bukele with his torture camps, it can simultaneously celebrate and deny the crimes it commits. Its followers do not want to be seduced, they want to be entertained. And they are entertained by our outrage
1/
1/
«… according to a person familiar with the situation, a Bukele aide placed the two glasses with cherries and salted rims on the table in front of Mr. Van Hollen and Mr. Abrego Garcia in the middle of their meeting in an attempt to stage the photo.» #MemeFascism www.nytimes.com/live/2025/04...
Trump Administration Highlights: Senator Meets With Wrongly Deported Maryland Man in El Salvador
www.nytimes.com
April 19, 2025 at 5:51 AM
Unlike classic fascism, #MemeFascism doesn't even try to produce a coherent narrative. Like Bukele with his torture camps, it can simultaneously celebrate and deny the crimes it commits. Its followers do not want to be seduced, they want to be entertained. And they are entertained by our outrage
1/
1/
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
Her name was Olena. A Russian missile killed her today in 🇺🇦 Sumy.
One of 34 dead (so far).
#StandWithUkraine
One of 34 dead (so far).
#StandWithUkraine
April 13, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Her name was Olena. A Russian missile killed her today in 🇺🇦 Sumy.
One of 34 dead (so far).
#StandWithUkraine
One of 34 dead (so far).
#StandWithUkraine
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
NEW: Russian officials continue to advertise programs that deport and Russify Ukrainian children and teenagers.
Read more in the April 17 Russian Occupation Update from @karolinahird.bsky.social: isw.pub/OccupationUp...
Read more in the April 17 Russian Occupation Update from @karolinahird.bsky.social: isw.pub/OccupationUp...
April 17, 2025 at 2:36 PM
NEW: Russian officials continue to advertise programs that deport and Russify Ukrainian children and teenagers.
Read more in the April 17 Russian Occupation Update from @karolinahird.bsky.social: isw.pub/OccupationUp...
Read more in the April 17 Russian Occupation Update from @karolinahird.bsky.social: isw.pub/OccupationUp...
“Kara-Murza's statement also denies self-determination to Ukrainians themselves, whom he, in the best traditions of Russian colonial thought, calls “practically one people” with Russians” www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/04/15/a...
An Open Letter to Vladimir Kara-Murza: Don't Spread Racist Myths About Indigenous Peoples - The Moscow Times
Opinion | Editor's note: Vladimir Kara-Murza has since released a statement on social media saying his comments that were interpreted as claiming Russians and Ukrainians are the same people were taken...
www.themoscowtimes.com
April 17, 2025 at 2:40 PM
“Kara-Murza's statement also denies self-determination to Ukrainians themselves, whom he, in the best traditions of Russian colonial thought, calls “practically one people” with Russians” www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/04/15/a...
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
„Ein gemeinsames Erinnern mit Russland ist derzeit nicht möglich.“
– DUG-Präsidentin @efdavies.bsky.social über das Gedenken des Endes des Zweiten Weltkriegs.
Zum Interview:
www1.wdr.de/mediathek/au...
– DUG-Präsidentin @efdavies.bsky.social über das Gedenken des Endes des Zweiten Weltkriegs.
Zum Interview:
www1.wdr.de/mediathek/au...
80 Jahre Seelower Höhen: Schwieriges Gedenken
Zur Gedenkfeier der Schlacht der Seelower Höhen sollen russische Vertreter diesmal nicht zugelassen werden. "Es wird den Opfern mehr gerecht, wenn man sich nicht instrumentalisieren lässt von einem fa...
www1.wdr.de
April 16, 2025 at 9:17 AM
„Ein gemeinsames Erinnern mit Russland ist derzeit nicht möglich.“
– DUG-Präsidentin @efdavies.bsky.social über das Gedenken des Endes des Zweiten Weltkriegs.
Zum Interview:
www1.wdr.de/mediathek/au...
– DUG-Präsidentin @efdavies.bsky.social über das Gedenken des Endes des Zweiten Weltkriegs.
Zum Interview:
www1.wdr.de/mediathek/au...
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
"I asked whether it would include the voices of minorities living in Russia – Buryats, Yakuts or Chuvash, for example. Genuinely puzzled at my question, he responded that such minorities do not produce poetry." voxeurop.eu/en/olha-mukh...
Olha Mukha: ‘We must not let the war dominate our perception of history’
The Ukrainian philosopher discusses the war in Ukraine, the issue of Russian imperialism (or colonialism) in Western perceptions, and Ukrainian national memory.
voxeurop.eu
April 15, 2025 at 6:50 AM
"I asked whether it would include the voices of minorities living in Russia – Buryats, Yakuts or Chuvash, for example. Genuinely puzzled at my question, he responded that such minorities do not produce poetry." voxeurop.eu/en/olha-mukh...
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
I just attended a conference in the US. We had one speaker detained and two others turned away at the border.
There are great conferences and science in the US, but with the way things are right now, it’s too risky to attend.
Australian academics refuse to attend US conferences for fear of being detained
‘When academics fear travelling or partnering with US institutions, the impacts ripple through the entire global knowledge ecosystem,’ one says
www.theguardian.com
April 13, 2025 at 11:10 PM
I just attended a conference in the US. We had one speaker detained and two others turned away at the border.
Reposted by Botakoz Kassymbekova
No, russia's attack on Sumy wasn't 'a mistake.' No one accidentally uses a cluster munition warhead against a crowded city center on a major holiday. Neither was the bombing of the Kryvyi Rih playground a mistake, nor were the filmed murders of POWs.
russia systematically uses terrorism as a weapon.
russia systematically uses terrorism as a weapon.
April 14, 2025 at 6:27 AM
No, russia's attack on Sumy wasn't 'a mistake.' No one accidentally uses a cluster munition warhead against a crowded city center on a major holiday. Neither was the bombing of the Kryvyi Rih playground a mistake, nor were the filmed murders of POWs.
russia systematically uses terrorism as a weapon.
russia systematically uses terrorism as a weapon.
“There is simply no way that Kara-Murza does not know how utterly disrespectful the „one people“ ideology is towards Ukrainians... Russians are committing the most horrific crimes in the name of this colonial myth”
efdavies.substack.com/p/vladimir-t...
efdavies.substack.com/p/vladimir-t...
Vladimir, the good Russian
When Kara-Murza spoke at the French Assembly, Russian colonialism and racism were on full display
efdavies.substack.com
April 14, 2025 at 6:31 AM
“There is simply no way that Kara-Murza does not know how utterly disrespectful the „one people“ ideology is towards Ukrainians... Russians are committing the most horrific crimes in the name of this colonial myth”
efdavies.substack.com/p/vladimir-t...
efdavies.substack.com/p/vladimir-t...