Lucy Ash
@lucyaash.bsky.social
Foreign affairs broadcaster and author
BBC presenter
Russia / Ukraine / Orthodox Church expert
The Baton and The Cross is now in paperback https://www.iconbooks.com/ib-title/the-baton-and-the-cross-3/
Trustee of Jerwood Foundation
lucyashjournalism.com
BBC presenter
Russia / Ukraine / Orthodox Church expert
The Baton and The Cross is now in paperback https://www.iconbooks.com/ib-title/the-baton-and-the-cross-3/
Trustee of Jerwood Foundation
lucyashjournalism.com
Arms production is coming back to Berlin as Germany doubles defence spending. I spoke to locals angry about a repurposed weapons factory in the northern neighbourhood of Wedding. www.bbc.com/audio/play/p...
#Germany #DefenceSpending #Berlin #Wedding #Europe #ArmsIndustry
#Germany #DefenceSpending #Berlin #Wedding #Europe #ArmsIndustry
BBC Audio | From Our Own Correspondent | Venezuela: Maduro’s Downfall
The leader's legacy gives a clue as to why so many Venezuelans celebrated his capture
www.bbc.com
January 10, 2026 at 1:43 PM
Arms production is coming back to Berlin as Germany doubles defence spending. I spoke to locals angry about a repurposed weapons factory in the northern neighbourhood of Wedding. www.bbc.com/audio/play/p...
#Germany #DefenceSpending #Berlin #Wedding #Europe #ArmsIndustry
#Germany #DefenceSpending #Berlin #Wedding #Europe #ArmsIndustry
www.forum18.org/archive.php?...
So much for Russia's holiness and trad values. This priest, who is also a monk, was dragged out of his church in Krasnodar by armed men, beaten, shocked with a stun gun and forcibly shaved. He is charged with disrespecting the “military glory” of the Fatherland.
So much for Russia's holiness and trad values. This priest, who is also a monk, was dragged out of his church in Krasnodar by armed men, beaten, shocked with a stun gun and forcibly shaved. He is charged with disrespecting the “military glory” of the Fatherland.
RUSSIA: Peaceful clergy statements "can become the target of prosecution"
In a series of administrative prosecutions, a Krasnodar Region court fined Orthodox priest Fr Iona Sigida on 18 December for allegedly expressing "overt disrespect" for society, state bodies, and stat...
www.forum18.org
December 19, 2025 at 1:06 PM
www.forum18.org/archive.php?...
So much for Russia's holiness and trad values. This priest, who is also a monk, was dragged out of his church in Krasnodar by armed men, beaten, shocked with a stun gun and forcibly shaved. He is charged with disrespecting the “military glory” of the Fatherland.
So much for Russia's holiness and trad values. This priest, who is also a monk, was dragged out of his church in Krasnodar by armed men, beaten, shocked with a stun gun and forcibly shaved. He is charged with disrespecting the “military glory” of the Fatherland.
Reposted by Lucy Ash
Thirteen years after the ‘punk prayer’ that saw her jailed, Maria Alyokhina’s new book details how the art collective continues the fight against Putin
✏️ @lucyaash.bsky.social
✏️ @lucyaash.bsky.social
What Pussy Riot did next
Thirteen years after the ‘punk prayer’ that saw her jailed, Maria Alyokhina’s new book details how the art collective continues the fight against Putin
www.thenewworld.co.uk
November 23, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Thirteen years after the ‘punk prayer’ that saw her jailed, Maria Alyokhina’s new book details how the art collective continues the fight against Putin
✏️ @lucyaash.bsky.social
✏️ @lucyaash.bsky.social
Delighted that @edwardlucas.bsky.social has reviewed paperback of The Baton & the Cross today @thetimes.com If you want to know more about why Russian clerics promise eternal life to those who kill Ukrainians, I'm at Stanfords Travel Books in Covent Gdn 19th November.
November 16, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Delighted that @edwardlucas.bsky.social has reviewed paperback of The Baton & the Cross today @thetimes.com If you want to know more about why Russian clerics promise eternal life to those who kill Ukrainians, I'm at Stanfords Travel Books in Covent Gdn 19th November.
I was at Sherborne Historical Society this week to talk about the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and why on earth its leader unstintingly supports Putin‘s war. Paperback of The Baton & The Cross out this week @iconbooks #HistoryBooks #UkraineWar #NonfictionReads #PoliticsBooks
November 9, 2025 at 3:11 PM
I was at Sherborne Historical Society this week to talk about the history of the Russian Orthodox Church and why on earth its leader unstintingly supports Putin‘s war. Paperback of The Baton & The Cross out this week @iconbooks #HistoryBooks #UkraineWar #NonfictionReads #PoliticsBooks
How the Kremlin hijacks the Orthodox faith for its own ends - a must read from Fr Andrey Kordochkin who supports priests forced into silence, jail or exile: compass.icwa.org/p/the-kremli...
The Kremlin’s spiritual phishing
Click on ‘traditional values’ and get kidnapping, torture, murder
compass.icwa.org
October 31, 2025 at 9:34 AM
How the Kremlin hijacks the Orthodox faith for its own ends - a must read from Fr Andrey Kordochkin who supports priests forced into silence, jail or exile: compass.icwa.org/p/the-kremli...
Talking to Sergei Medvedev last week about a new report he co authored new report, ‘War with the Anglo-Saxons: How Britain became Russia’s enemy number one’. At least that is how the FSB sees it. More details here: nestcentre.org/war-with-the...
October 27, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Talking to Sergei Medvedev last week about a new report he co authored new report, ‘War with the Anglo-Saxons: How Britain became Russia’s enemy number one’. At least that is how the FSB sees it. More details here: nestcentre.org/war-with-the...
Songs which make Kremlin sycophants reach for the handcuffs.
open.substack.com/pub/zygaro/p...
open.substack.com/pub/zygaro/p...
Russia’s Gen Z Is Singing Back
On TikTok And In The Streets, Young Russians Are Finding Their Voice
open.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Songs which make Kremlin sycophants reach for the handcuffs.
open.substack.com/pub/zygaro/p...
open.substack.com/pub/zygaro/p...
Really enjoyed meeting fellow authors who have written on an astonishing range of topics at last night's event for shortlisted authors for the @britishacademy.bsky.social Book Prize. thanks to everybody who came and bought our books!
October 22, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Really enjoyed meeting fellow authors who have written on an astonishing range of topics at last night's event for shortlisted authors for the @britishacademy.bsky.social Book Prize. thanks to everybody who came and bought our books!
Reposted by Lucy Ash
In our fall issue, @lucyaash.bsky.social writes about Ukrainian artists & the ongoing war: ip-quarterly.com/en/ukraines-...
October 21, 2025 at 2:55 PM
In our fall issue, @lucyaash.bsky.social writes about Ukrainian artists & the ongoing war: ip-quarterly.com/en/ukraines-...
This is a good piece about Trump's reaction to Putin's crash course in medieval history - in short it pissed him off. on.ft.com/47ln9ou
How Vladimir Putin’s history rant in Alaska nudged Donald Trump closer to Ukraine
Fraught summit in Anchorage marked a nadir that reshaped how the presidents approach each other
on.ft.com
October 17, 2025 at 2:34 PM
This is a good piece about Trump's reaction to Putin's crash course in medieval history - in short it pissed him off. on.ft.com/47ln9ou
Enjoyed meeting @jenstout.bsky.social about The Baton & The Cross at Wigtown Book Festival. We talked about how Patriarch Kirill glorifies Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Now going to hear George Robertson on NATO & future of defence.
October 3, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Enjoyed meeting @jenstout.bsky.social about The Baton & The Cross at Wigtown Book Festival. We talked about how Patriarch Kirill glorifies Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Now going to hear George Robertson on NATO & future of defence.
I have only just caught up with this brilliant film - a year of video diaries featuring the lives of people under fire in #Kharkiv. Hope someone makes Trump watch.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alrr...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alrr...
Kharkiv War Diaries: Stories from a City on the Edge - BBC World Service Documentaries
YouTube video by BBC World Service
www.youtube.com
September 25, 2025 at 11:28 AM
I have only just caught up with this brilliant film - a year of video diaries featuring the lives of people under fire in #Kharkiv. Hope someone makes Trump watch.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alrr...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alrr...
Charlie Kirk has become a poster boy for the ultra right Orthodox in Russia. Putin's 'confessor', Metropolitan Shevkunov, heaped praise on him as a Christian missionary who "dared to swim against the tide" when "the truth dies in a sea of political correctness." meduza.io/en/feature/2...
How Charlie became a Russian propaganda hero Pundits, spokespeople, and even Putin’s so-called ‘personal confessor’ warn of U.S. civil war, cannibals, and more in the wake of Kirk’s murder — Meduza
The assassination of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk on September 10 and the subsequent political fallout have dominated news headlines across the U.S. and reverberated globally. Kirk beca...
meduza.io
September 25, 2025 at 7:41 AM
Charlie Kirk has become a poster boy for the ultra right Orthodox in Russia. Putin's 'confessor', Metropolitan Shevkunov, heaped praise on him as a Christian missionary who "dared to swim against the tide" when "the truth dies in a sea of political correctness." meduza.io/en/feature/2...
The many faces of Tikhon Khrennikov who controlled the Soviet Union of Composers for 42 years. On @bbcradio3bot.bsky.social I map his influence over decades of cultural control. Can music ever be apolitical in a dictatorship? Listen here from Sunday evening: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
September 20, 2025 at 10:29 AM
The many faces of Tikhon Khrennikov who controlled the Soviet Union of Composers for 42 years. On @bbcradio3bot.bsky.social I map his influence over decades of cultural control. Can music ever be apolitical in a dictatorship? Listen here from Sunday evening: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Lucy Ash
The British Academy Book Prize 2025 shortlist is here!
Each book offers a new perspective on issues of global importance, driven by rigorous research and an ability to tell powerful stories in an engaging and compelling way.
📖 Discover the full list here:
https://bit.ly/4glo8Jo
Each book offers a new perspective on issues of global importance, driven by rigorous research and an ability to tell powerful stories in an engaging and compelling way.
📖 Discover the full list here:
https://bit.ly/4glo8Jo
September 9, 2025 at 8:18 AM
The British Academy Book Prize 2025 shortlist is here!
Each book offers a new perspective on issues of global importance, driven by rigorous research and an ability to tell powerful stories in an engaging and compelling way.
📖 Discover the full list here:
https://bit.ly/4glo8Jo
Each book offers a new perspective on issues of global importance, driven by rigorous research and an ability to tell powerful stories in an engaging and compelling way.
📖 Discover the full list here:
https://bit.ly/4glo8Jo
open.substack.com/pub/zygaro/p...
This is beyond creepy
This is beyond creepy
Immortal Putin
How the Promise of Forever Became a Russian State Enterprise
open.substack.com
September 8, 2025 at 11:14 AM
open.substack.com/pub/zygaro/p...
This is beyond creepy
This is beyond creepy
open.substack.com/pub/zygaro/p... fascinating glimpse into the machinations which led to suicide of former Kursk governor.
A Bureaucrat’s Death
The Kremlin’s New Social Contract with Its Own Elite
open.substack.com
July 15, 2025 at 12:33 PM
open.substack.com/pub/zygaro/p... fascinating glimpse into the machinations which led to suicide of former Kursk governor.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... on air now - the story of the notorious book published à century ago.
BBC Radio 4 - Archive on 4, 100 Years of Mein Kampf
John Kampfner read the world’s most notorious book so you don’t have to.
www.bbc.co.uk
July 5, 2025 at 7:04 PM
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m... on air now - the story of the notorious book published à century ago.
Reposted by Lucy Ash
He understood the church could bring a sense of dignity to these humiliated parts of Russian society but pretty soon there were icons appearing in the cockpits of bomber jets & every army division battalion would be named after a saint @lucyaash.bsky.social on Kirill tinyurl.com/jexnt8hk
Why is the Orthodox church so supportive of Putin's war? In conversation with Lucy Ash
Podcast Episode · Reading Our Times · 17/06/2025 · 45m
tinyurl.com
June 19, 2025 at 8:41 AM
He understood the church could bring a sense of dignity to these humiliated parts of Russian society but pretty soon there were icons appearing in the cockpits of bomber jets & every army division battalion would be named after a saint @lucyaash.bsky.social on Kirill tinyurl.com/jexnt8hk
Great that @thetimes.com selected my edition of In The Studio on BBC world service as a must listen this week: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
June 17, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Great that @thetimes.com selected my edition of In The Studio on BBC world service as a must listen this week: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
Reposted by Lucy Ash
Why is the Orthodox church so supportive of Putin's war? This was a great conversation with @lucyaash.bsky.social about orthodoxy, Putin, Kirill, Ukraine, history and theology. tinyurl.com/jexnt8hk
Why is the Orthodox church so supportive of Putin's war? In conversation with Lucy Ash
Podcast Episode · Reading Our Times · 17/06/2025 · 45m
tinyurl.com
June 17, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Why is the Orthodox church so supportive of Putin's war? This was a great conversation with @lucyaash.bsky.social about orthodoxy, Putin, Kirill, Ukraine, history and theology. tinyurl.com/jexnt8hk
My dad was a pioneer of fibre optics - he would be so horrified to see how that technology is being used today. Great piece by @yogital.bsky.social www.bbc.com/news/article...
Fibre optic drones: The terrifying new weapon changing the war in Ukraine
The BBC reports from Donetsk where swarms of fibre optic drones give Russia the edge as Ukraine defends towns behind the front line.
www.bbc.com
May 29, 2025 at 8:11 AM
My dad was a pioneer of fibre optics - he would be so horrified to see how that technology is being used today. Great piece by @yogital.bsky.social www.bbc.com/news/article...
Heartbreak on the Cote d'Azur: why are the courts siding with a rogue state against a French association that has existed for over a hundred years? www.lemonde.fr/en/france/ar...
Russia takes over a second Orthodox church in Nice
The courts have ruled in favor of Moscow, which claimed ownership of the French Riviera church that had been managed for more than a century by descendants of White Russian émigrés. Representatives of...
www.lemonde.fr
May 27, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Heartbreak on the Cote d'Azur: why are the courts siding with a rogue state against a French association that has existed for over a hundred years? www.lemonde.fr/en/france/ar...