https://www.lucyashjournalism.com/events daily 0.75 2020-07-12 https://www.lucyashjournalism.com/work daily 0.75 2020-07-12 https://www.lucyashjournalism.com/home daily 1.0 2025-11-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594571939760-IVPL6G6I3ZX0XAPVNODC/1200px-BBC_News_2019.png HOME https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594572238577-ONYSTBVKSDANDKAZIJGJ/daily-mail-logo-midwives-30g0n5zfozvcpj36lh6p3wufxbr2x2d36rafeyjg0auntmqay.png HOME https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594572061020-NDJIP5MU7J9OHRHQ8E28/ns-web.png HOME https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594572030688-R78CNK06UV4HNJID4PJR/guardian-logo-kooth.png HOME https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594572154929-ZMKMNHB4JSVUU40H2LXW/Telegraph-square.png HOME https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/af9f6b8a-e76c-4f93-84ba-b519f3d93de0/la-banner-4.jpg https://www.lucyashjournalism.com/about daily 0.75 2020-12-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1607191801314-SW8K20YPNTHIE72Y752B/Lucy_A+0090%C2%A9ivan+weiss_FULL.jpg ABOUT Copyright Ivan Weiss https://www.lucyashjournalism.com/contact daily 0.75 2022-06-28 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594646076154-O9TK320461G74X84YWRH/2forhomepage-Seaweed-farmer-on-Zanzibar.jpg CONTACT https://www.lucyashjournalism.com/upcoming-events daily 0.75 2026-04-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/3d18b689-a303-41a8-bc33-f97f3693beae/CLF25-LH28-Power-and-Faith-in-Russia.png.jpg UPCOMING - Lucy Ash | Russia’s Church from Pagans to Putin Cambridge Literary Festival In her provocative and prize-shortlisted book The Baton and the Cross, Lucy Ash reveals how, under Vladimir Putin, religion has been stripped of its spiritual content and repurposed as a weapon of state control. Tracing more than a millennium of the Russian Orthodox Church’s astonishing survival skills – from tsarist rule and Soviet atheism to the chaos of the 1990s – Lucy Ash shows how the Church has once again moved to the right hand of power, sanctifying Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Combining historical research with vivid, on-the-ground reportage, she explores how Orthodox clerics preach a dangerous ideology of supremacy, dragging Russia towards a new Middle Ages. Join Lucy as she exposes the underbelly of politics, state security and big money, and their unholy alliance with Orthodoxy in the dystopia of twenty-first-century Russia. Chaired by author and Master of Trinity Hall, Mary Hockaday. Venue: Old Divinity School Friday 24th April 2026 6:00pm–7:00pm https://www.lucyashjournalism.com/past daily 0.75 2026-04-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/0650584d-021e-4e36-9777-1ad7a0f96190/olf.jpg PAST - Russia Today: What do its People Really Think Oxford Literary Festival Russian dissident author and journalist Jana Bakunina, journalist Joe Luc Barnes and presenter and documentary maker Lucy Ash discuss what life is like in Russia and its satellites today, what people really think about Putin and war in Ukraine and how the Church is being used to control the population. Discussions are chaired by writer, editor and researcher Alex Diggins. Pusey House Chapel, Oxford Wednesday, 25th March 2026 2:00pm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/3d18b689-a303-41a8-bc33-f97f3693beae/CLF25-LH28-Power-and-Faith-in-Russia.png.jpg PAST - The Baton and the Cross The Great Hall, Oundle In this provocative new book, Lucy Ash reveals how, under Putin, religion is being stripped of its spiritual content and used as a weapon to control the population. Lucy will be in conversation with Keir Giles, a regular contributor and commentator on Russian affairs and a Senior Consulting Fellow at the UK’s Royal Institute of International Affairs. 'A TIMELY AND IMPORTANT BOOK' - ORLANDO FIGES 'SPELLBINDING' - ANDREI KURKOV The Great Hall New Street, Oundle, Peterborough, PE8 4GH Thursday 19th February 2026 7.30pm–8.30pm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/46a5f42b-12d9-49f5-80b2-660646317120/stanfords-event.jpeg PAST - An Evening with Lucy Ash: The Baton and the Cross Stanfords London Stanfords London welcome acclaimed journalist Lucy Ash for an evening of conversation and insight as she discusses her powerful and provocative new book, The Baton and the Cross - shortlisted for 2025 British Academy Book Prize. Join us for an eye-opening discussion that lifts the veil on one of the most powerful yet least understood forces in today’s Russia. “A vivid picture of the ways seismic moments of Russia’s religious past are reverberating today” — The Financial Times “Her extensive reading, linguistic gifts and objectivity make this an important book” — Literary Review 7 Mercer Walk, Covent Garden, WC2H 9FA Wednesday 19th November 2025 7pm–8.30pm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/ca2ef3ab-f3db-42c9-9ea8-0381d4d864b4/IMG_1717.jpg PAST - A Toxic Embrace: Russia’s Church and State through the Centuries Sherborne Historical Society For 1000 years Russia’s Orthodox Church has sought to ensure its survival, its influence and its wealth - whatever the moral cost. It has done the bidding of Muscovy princes, imperial tsars, Politburo members and now Putin whose actions are at odds with the Orthodox faith he claims to hold. His invasion of Ukraine has brought to the fore an angry yearning for a revival of Slav Christian supremacy. Other Eastern Orthodox churches have denounced his vision of Moscow as a Third Rome as a sacrilegious form of nationalism. Digby Hall, Hound Street, Sherborne. Thursday 6th November 2025 8pm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/da0770da-175f-4a09-9959-5b4481793998/BP2025-Aerial-Shot.2e16d0ba.fill-1024x576.jpg PAST - British Academy Book Prize: 2025 shortlist Join the shortlisted authors of this year's prize for a dynamic conversation exploring the issues that define our time. These imaginative writers will share insights from their groundbreaking books that deepen our understanding of peoples, cultures and societies, offering fresh perspectives on global challenges, both past and present. This in conversation will be chaired by award-winning journalising Rosie Goldsmith. The British Academy 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AH Tuesday 21st October 2025 6pm–8pm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/3d18b689-a303-41a8-bc33-f97f3693beae/CLF25-LH28-Power-and-Faith-in-Russia.png.jpg PAST - Power and Faith in Russia Cheltenham Literature Festival 2025 The British Academy Book Prize shortlist features powerful non-fiction that deepens our understandings of people and cultures across the world. Ahead of the winner announcement, prize judge and former BBC Foreign Correspondent Bridget Kendall is joined by Lucy Ash, author of shortlisted title The Baton and the Cross, to discuss the complex ties between religion and politics that have formed Russia, how faith is used today to shape national identity and justify conflict, and how the Russian Orthodox Church became a vital force in Putin's existential war against Ukraine. Friday 10th October 2025 12.30pm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/57cf9bac-d463-41fa-b373-c7dff39af6f6/Image.ashx.jpeg PAST - Lucy Ash, The Baton and the Cross: Russia's Church from Pagans to Putin Wigtown Book Festival The former Moscow correspondent discusses her Orwell Prize-winning exploration of Russia's Orthodox church from pagan times to the age of Putin. Lucy Ash is in conversation with Jen Stout. "Spellbinding", Andrei Kurkov. Friday 3rd October 2025 12pm https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/a98301a3-8c60-44b6-bb1e-b04670377467/IMG_1840.jpg PAST - Culture or Collusion? The Kremlin’s Weaponisation of Art, Faith, and Influence Parliamentary event The Russian Orthodox Church as Geopolitical Actor with Professor Sr. Vassa Larin, Steven Lacey, and Lucy Ash. Church networks, propaganda, and community impacts. Thursday 11th September 2025 2pm The Palace of Westminster https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/12292ad1-a6d7-48d0-b1b9-6b4517d0bed2/Book_Prize_2025.jpeg PAST - Pushkin House Book Prize 2025 Award Ceremony The evening will include illuminating discussions with the shortlisted authors – including Lucy – and distinguished judges, a stand-up performance by Vladimir Raevskiy, a speech by Ekaterina Schulmann, and a reception-style dinner presented by Zima. This year’s ceremony will be held at The Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury, London from 6:30pm to 10pm. It will be hosted by Andrew Jack, founder of the Prize, and Elena Sudakova, Executive Director of Pushkin House. Thursday 19th June 2025 6:30—10.00pm Pushkin House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/6e5a18b3-0aae-4136-bbea-96a4b58ad906/krug.jpeg PAST - Christian Non-Conformism in East & West: Modern-Day Challenges Join us at KRUG Community Circle for thought-provoking discussions on the challenges faced by Christians in both Eastern and Western society. In the Russian Church’s world of an almost schizophrenic amorality, Lucy Ash reflects on the new truth tellers, the men and women acting as prophetic voices against abuses of power. 21st March 2025, 5.30pm KRUG Community Circle https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/74818d23-5870-42c6-a619-5811864508b0/lucy-ash.jpg PAST - The Baton and The Cross: Russia's Church and its Embrace of State Power Using interviews gathered across the country and evidence from the archives, Ash has assembled a compelling picture of an institution with a distinct line of politics. She tracks its engagement with the KGB, the FSB, and Russia’s current incursions into Africa, showing how the Church has long been part of the Kremlin's geopolitical ‘crusade’ for multipolarity. In conversation with Denis Maksimov, Ash will uncover some surprising tenets of Russia's ‘official' spirituality. 13th February 2025, 6.00pm to 7.30pm Pushkin House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/ccbe1605-6f05-4dfc-84c4-09d5be5e110b/Door-10.jpg PAST - The Orthodox battlefield The role and abuse of the church in Russia’s war on Ukraine, and the state of freedom of faith in Ukraine. 29th January 2025, 2:30pm to 4:00pm Chatham House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/73f3c337-42ff-42a3-a100-ef94c26639ab/The-Baton-and-the-Cross-Facebook-Banner.jpg PAST - Power and The Russian Orthodox Church with Lucy Ash Join us for a captivating interview with award-winning journliast, Lucy Ash, as she delves into the powerful role of the Russian Orthodox Church in modern-day politics and its influence under Vladimir Putin. 7:00pm, Tuesday 3rd of December 2024, The Hearth Trouble https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/50dfddf2-a488-436e-80e6-83ac81253db8/charity-and-war.jpg PAST - Charity and War: The Russian Orthodox Church in Britain Wednesday 11th December 2024, 5–6pm House of Commons https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/827d0c57-edf9-481a-99a8-7bba937c4463/Women%27s-Day-fb.jpeg PAST - Women’s Day: Screening and Q&A with Dolya Gavanski and Lucy Ash Pushkin House is proud to present WOMEN’S DAY, a documentary film by Dolya Gavanski that includes personal testimonies by extraordinary women born in the Soviet Union. After the screening, Dolya Gavanski will be in conversation with journalist Lucy Ash. Monday 28 June 2021 7:00 pm Sunday 4 July 2021 11:00 pm Pushkin House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594574928512-Y6FLH2C5ZZ1S9IGKEXNJ/Marianna-Yarovskaya-WOG-02-1.jpg PAST - Making The Women Of The Gulag Join us for an evening with filmmaker Marianna Yarovskaya director of ground breaking documentary film Women of the Gulag, that tells the compelling and tragic stories of the female last survivors of the Gulag, the brutal system of repression and terror that devastated the Soviet population under Stalin. In conversation with Lucy Ash. Wednesday, 24 April 2019 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Pushkin House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594575426319-1DS79I0CRONE35Y2Y9X6/THE-LONG-HANGOVER-1.jpg PAST - The Long Hangover: Shaun Walker in Conversation With Lucy Ash The outgoing Moscow correspondent for the Guardian, Shaun Walker, in conversation with BBC journalist Lucy Ash about his new book, 'The Long Hangover: Putin's New Russia and the Ghosts of the Past'. Thursday, 1 March 2018 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Pushkin House https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1607192122062-6Z7YL0Z8N62CR8Q5UWJD/ukraine%281%29.png PAST - The War in Ukraine: Why It Matters to the World The webinar with Serhy Yekelchyk explores Ukraine’s complicated history of ethnic and civic identity, its fraught relations with its former imperial master, Russia, and will situate the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine in the wider international political context. https://www.lucyashjournalism.com/tv-work daily 0.75 2025-11-15 https://www.lucyashjournalism.com/radio daily 0.75 2026-04-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/c0e7a44d-0a34-4868-bfb3-4d2ccba5f4e4/image.png RADIO - Last Supper A renowned restaurant in Berlin which cast itself as a symbol of breaking bread across religious and political divides has just gone out of business. Is it just another victim of rising rents and economic instability? Lucy Ash pulled up a chair as one of its last diners. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/c223c5c8-090e-48d8-93ba-57d8f00389cc/p0m1qfqm.jpg RADIO - Lesia Khomenko: Art and war Lucy Ash has been to Kyiv to witness the creation of Khomenko’s largest works to date, including one which mirrors Kyiv railway station’s staircase, where it will be hung, crowded with figures, symbolising the nation defending its land, culture and democracy. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/e1502bc4-7ac8-47db-bf19-1159e6cb09a0/p0m2frwx.jpg RADIO - The Man Who Played The Kremlin's Tune Tikhon Khrennikov was the most powerful - and controversial - figure of 20th century Soviet music. Lucy Ash uncovers the contradictions of a man who thrived under a system that crushed others. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1bbc3fa2-bd0f-4427-b71b-3232a9c3e164/p0m3ccbx.jpg RADIO - Faith on the Russia-Ukraine frontline Lucy Ash hears from two military chaplains who live alongside troops on the Ukrainian side of the trenches. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/5a4b6d73-2dd8-4a46-b02a-227ac6244de2/p0c33d5q.jpg RADIO - Troubadour of the Caucasus Lucy Ash explores the life and legacy of Armenian filmmaker Sergei Parajanov, a giant of world cinema. Soviet officials tried to ban him but he continues to inspire global artists. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/ca3bbb99-f17a-4748-b386-b5a01ddf61a2/p0l7bkxv.jpg RADIO - Assignment: Russia's Church in Texas Increasing numbers of US Catholics and Protestants are embracing Eastern Orthodoxy. Lucy Ash has been to Texas – one of the most religious states in the US – to meet some new converts. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/08808150-7159-4e77-95be-48831720c0e1/p0c6mgtk.jpg RADIO - Start the Week: On Freedom Timothy Snyder, Oksana Maksymchuk and Lucy Ash discuss tyranny and freedom in the US, Russia and Ukraine, with Tom Sutcliffe. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/9c171fc5-d38a-4b72-819b-32e8fb7cc3a4/p0hfd169.jpg RADIO - Is Russia waging a “holy war”? What role does religion play in the Ukraine war? Producers: Arsenii Sokolov, Elliot Ryder and Ivana Davidovic. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/f5cd0f78-ea15-44e4-ad0a-ab259b98a76b/p0h5tprk.jpg RADIO - Heart and Soul: Russia’s Africa crusade How Moscow is using divisions within Orthodox Christianity to extend its power in Africa. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/ae03d8e5-ff02-4e50-87ec-bebc8c722b45/p0gxgr9q.jpg RADIO - Film-maker Iryna Tsilyk: Animating Ukraine’s war Iryna Tsilyk has won awards for her documentaries in east Ukraine. However after Russia’s full-scale invasion she’s decided to tell her own story in a new way - through animation. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/363a40e6-6f27-4ae0-98c6-c7170db70ed6/4950040.jpg RADIO - Shostakovich and the Battle for Babi Yar How a holocaust massacre in Ukraine and an unflinching poem inspired one of the greatest choral works of the 20th century – Shostakovich’s 'Babi Yar' Symphony. Producer: Tatyana Movshevich https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/64fbf3c1-29a7-438a-9825-27c03cf0ce7f/image_6483441.jpeg RADIO - War Photography in Ukraine Mykhaylo Palinchak was the official photographer of Ukraine’s former president and now captures the horrors of the Russian invasion. Olexiy Sai, a graphic designer and artist talks about the new work he created from 6500 images taken by Ukraine’s army of war photographers. Producer: Andrea Kidd https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/5d443525-d0f7-4615-9ddb-0e56b10e65db/Floating-Points-by-Anastassia-Volkova-crop.jpeg RADIO - Love-bombing Estonia’s Russian Speakers For the first time Estonia’s annual Tallinn Music Week is held in Narva, a city on the Russian border. Against the backdrop of war in Ukraine, can this festival do anything to unite Estonia’s Russian speakers? Producer: Phoebe Keane https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1658479896944-50H7FEZXQJ2P0S2MK9KG/p0bwfmz1.jpeg RADIO - Dying to hunt in France A string of fatal hunting accidents has led for calls for tighter control over one of the most popular pastimes in France. Public opinion, concerned about safety and animal rights, is hardening and the battle for la France Profonde is on. Producer: Phoebe Keane https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1658481375621-VC8221WSQM5GVNYOM6NO/p0b8tqrd.jpeg RADIO - Poland’s Fractured Borderlands A battle of wills between Belarus and the EU leaves a border community divided about how to deal with an unfolding humanitarian disaster. Producers: Eva Krysiak and Grzegorz Sokol https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1658482079846-DR6MD503DEQWL7W7B2YF/p0bcl4m4.jpeg RADIO - Tchaikovsky's Island of Inspiration For this Sunday Feature on Radio 3, Lucy Ash recreates Tchaikovsky's voyage 155 years ago to an island monastery and meets some singing monks to discover the remarkable story behind his First Symphony in G minor. Producer: Tatyana Movshevich Editor: Penny Murphy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1658482660444-NXZKYFTV86AQER0XFVGM/p09x920r.jpeg RADIO - Northern Ireland’s Ceasefire Babies In the UK’s most disputed region, a new generation now seem less interested in the sectarian politics of their parents and grandparents. For Assignment, Lucy Ash travels to Northern Ireland to find out if Unionism’s Ceasefire Babies can really escape the past. Producer: Mike Gallagher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1658483012384-R6PN7X096ZSZDEN5I5UH/p09mvc1f.jpeg RADIO - Missing from Manhattan How has the pandemic affected life in the most densely populated part of America’s biggest city? Lucy Ash meets those who live and work in Manhattan’s Midtown. Editor: Bridget Harney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1658483300482-WT4YSAGGNJTB87BNZGXT/p09b0m2z.jpeg RADIO - Scotland's contested identity As the Scottish National Party calls for another referendum on leaving the UK, Lucy Ash travels from Dundee to Orkney hearing both sides. What's changed since the poll in 2014? Producer: Mike Gallagher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1658483575885-1CPIQ4H9GW5Z939XQV9E/p09f79c7.jpeg RADIO - Kenya's Unhappy Doctors and Nurses All over the world, frontline workers have paid the ultimate price during the pandemic. But in Kenya the story of one young doctor’s heroism has made headlines for all the wrong reasons. 28-year old Stephen Mogusu died from Covid 19 in December after working on an isolation ward and complaining he lacked adequate protective clothing. Despite his vital service, he hadn’t been paid for five months. Producer: Mike Gallagher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1607187015081-B4496D32DFKJWP8IELLF/balaclava.jpg RADIO - Belarusian Police – Behind the Balaclavas Minsk, early December. A wall of masked men in black body armour, beating their truncheons on steel shields. In front of them stand women bundled in winter coats and teenagers wrapped in red and white flags. For Crossing Continents Lucy Ash explores the world of the security forces that keep Lukashenko in power, peeling back the ubiquitous balaclavas to find the men and women beneath. Producer, Monica Whitlock Editor, Bridget Harney https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1607188874485-Z4XSIIXZWI8AGVDWOG1I/grimsby.jpg RADIO - The British and their Fish Lucy Ash travels to Grimsby to explore the huge place fishing plays in the British psyche and to ask if the cold, stormy seas around Britain really can make coastal communities rich once again. Producer Mike Gallagher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1601414079825-ECXV0MLYIWBU86WQ1728/p08rn2rm.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4- Poland's Gay Pride and Prejudice How some of Poland’s smallest towns are trying to defend traditional family values by rejecting so-called LGBT ideology – and how the reaction threatens to unleash a culture war. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594814157052-NMQCYAU793SZ1MTBJBCM/p080n9gl.jpg RADIO - BBC World Service - Temples of discord: Church building in Putin’s Russia The Russian Orthodox Church say three new churches are built in Russia every day. The building programme has sparked protests across the country. Producer: Tatyana Movshevich https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595073456149-SRXOYQEUM3GAZUJ6WJUP/p07vl9z4.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - Russian Women Fight Back Hundreds of Russian women are killed by their partners every year. Lucy Ash talks to the activists who are pushing for legal reforms and fighting back against domestic abuse. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595073551584-DJO4LYF3NYUIZY4647M8/p07gn16b.jpg RADIO - BBC World Service - The Dyatlov Pass Mystery In 1959, a group of nine Russian students met a mysterious death in the Ural mountains. Experienced cross-country skiers, their bodies were found scattered around a campsite, their tent cut from the inside, as they seemingly panicked to escape from someone – or something. Sixty years on, Lucy Ash traces their footsteps to try to find out what happened. Producer: Richard Fenton Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595076319151-LQ3XU626AVPUKYTLSQ0F/p07rtnkz.jpg RADIO - BBC World Service - The Zogos of Liberia Miatta is what many Liberians would call a Zogo. The Zogos are Liberia’s underclass: jobless, homeless and addicted to drugs. They’re a menace on the streets of the capital, Monrovia, where many make their living by snatching purses and phones from passers-by. Lucy Ash follows a projects aiming to rehabilitate hundreds of Liberia’s Zogos – including Miatta. Producer: Josephine Casserly https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595076718383-WZPP8ENS19F61Z30XB7N/p07h3grf.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - From College To Clink What happens when top graduates work behind bars as prison officers? Lucy Ash meets young people who have forsaken lucrative careers in the City or elsewhere, for what many see as one of the world’s worst jobs. They’re part of Graduates Unlocked, a scheme which, which is trying to replicate in the prison service the success of Teach First, the programme that sends high-flyers into inner-city schools. Producer: Arlene Gregorius https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595076789613-WX8B4P6FEF4L9MQDQV56/Unknown.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - DNA, Me And The Family Tree Where do you come from? Tracing your ancestry in the USA is one of the most popular hobbies along with gardening and golf. TV is awash with advertising for the do-it-yourself genetic testing kits which have become much sought after gifts, especially at Christmas time. Producer: Charlotte McDonald https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1596401872458-XU2T39UF2ERSM3N00GM3/p06kc37t.jpg RADIO - Nevada's Brothels Face the Axe As Nevada's legal brothels face a campaign for reform, Lucy Ash asks why their biggest stakeholder - and the women who work for him - are so passionate about their trade. Producer: Mike Gallagher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595077283662-HDYWAKYGSN6LRCTXFB8K/p06gg6kh.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - Seaweed, Sex And Liberation In Zanzibar Seaweed is liberating women in a conservative corner of east Africa. Thousands of women have gained more control over their lives thanks to Zanzibar's seaweed farms. Producer: Chloe Hadjimatheou https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595077707622-KUJ7YVN3S5F7OU6XG6CR/p05qz21m.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - Russia’s Exit Dilemma As the first generation born under Putin approaches voting age, many of Russia's brightest and best are voting with their feet. Lucy Ash meets émigrés, exiles and staunch remainers in London and Berlin, Moscow and Saint Petersburg to weigh up the prospects for the young and ambitious in Putin's Russia. Producer: Dorothy Feaver https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595077823612-5LD68H9Q3B2XOKOSLYRC/p05k8x5g.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - When Britain Invaded Russia Lucy Ash tells the story of a little-known brutal war that took place a century ago along the frozen rivers of the Russian Arctic, transforming Russia's relations with the West for decades to come. After the October Revolution, thousands of foreign troops under British command fought Russians on Russian soil for over 18 months. Producer: Natalia Golysheva https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595078187120-PMWYQ8E83UQKQQLWLE03/p04x5h2p.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - Russia's Extreme Selfie Daredevils Young Russians have gained a reputation on social media for taking the most extreme selfies, often involving death-defying stunts on top of skyscrapers, all for the sake of internet fame. Producer: Richard Fenton Smith https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595078414107-EP3NYOZLNCHEZNP1PK3M/p04fqkjl.jpg RADIO - BBC World Service - Prisons for Rent in the Netherlands Lucy visits a Dutch prison that has been rented out to Norway and now houses offenders convicted there. She talks to everyone from prison guards and governors to the police and the head of the Dutch prisons service to find out what’s happening with Dutch prisons. Producer: Arlene Gregorius https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595439022855-KZYHH460V9U5AFB41TMG/p04dqf8w.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - Trusting Inmates Should we place more trust in prisoners to help them change their lives? And if so, how can we encourage trust in dangerously understaffed prisons, asks Lucy Ash. Producer: Arlene Gregorius https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595439170941-IG2D0FY3Z2R7T99RXC2M/p0452w60.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - Colombia’s Forgotten Exodus In the Colombian capital of Bogota, Lucy Ash meets two people who fear they will never be able to return to their homes. They both come from Choco, which is one of the poorest provinces and most violent parts of the country. Producer: Eugenia Rodriguez Peria https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595439384398-XZ17CMTHIK3NDE4QH5D8/p04m845y.jpg RADIO - BBC World Service - The Woman Who Exposed Russian Doping Yuliya Stepanova and her family fear for their lives, after exposing the systemic Russian state sponsored doping programme, one of the greatest sporting scandals of all time. Producer: Mike Gallagher https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595439568027-2YDJPSR8MH6PHJ6O0A3F/p03ntdfy.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 Romania: The Shepherds Revolt Lucy Ash meets the Romanian sheep farmers who stormed parliament over plans to limit numbers of sheepdogs and restrict grazing rights. Why are hunters now their arch enemies? Producer: Mark Savage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595440349451-9HK2U11SILVK7W0OCVSJ/p03z4tcj.jpg RADIO - BBC World Service -Macedonia’s Colourful Revolution Lucy Ash meets Macedonia’s Special Prosecutors -three women who have become the scourge of the political elite and heroines of the street protests now rocking the tiny Balkan nation. Their job is to investigate claims of wrongdoing and corruption revealed in a huge wiretapping scandal. Producer: John Murphy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595440627174-A97EIZLAZTRKBG5A3ZQ6/p02p52ry.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - Who's Afraid of Teatr Doc? Teatr Doc is widely praised for its hard-hitting plays about contemporary Russia. Lucy Ash finds that for the country's most controversial theatre company, the show must go on. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595440782030-N4F1KBO89737NI3I4A8M/Unknown.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 The Rape of Berlin The mass rapes committed by Soviet troops in Germany at the end of WW2 - in part as revenge for Nazi atrocities in the Soviet Union. Lucy Ash investigates. Producer: Dorothy Feaver https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1596402344885-X32XUV8J1V5WUIVNOKHL/p02hb5mn.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - Maskirovka: Deception Russian-Style Lucy Ash explores the Russian military strategy of deception - maskirovka - from its use against invading Mongols in the 14th century to the current crisis in Ukraine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595440960200-4BSW7D5Y3O5YML2GKPQZ/p0302d38.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - The Harragas of Algeria Lucy Ash meets the Harragas of Algeria, the young people who burn their identity papers and head north across the Mediterranean leaving family, friends and stability behind. Producer: John Murphy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595441587732-EOU9MOFCMCQOKBUWP48B/p01wrkrv.jpg RADIO - BBC Radio 4 - Ukraine: The Paper Trail to Corruption Lucy Ash talks to the Ukrainian volunteers and activists who are painstakingly restoring a stash of documents dumped in a lake on the abandoned estate of ex-president Yanukovich. Producer: Rebecca Kesby https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595441777709-SB4AYO7SWMA7X6GQOHS0/p01tlthd.jpg RADIO - Hungary’s Crusading Conductor Hungarian conductor Ivan Fischer is holding up a mirror to Hungarian society and has written an opera to expose growing racial intolerance. Producer: Mark Savage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1596402717727-9ZUNMA2UN42HDF1PWGRV/624.jpg RADIO - BBC Maiden Voyage: The First Woman In Space In 1963, Valentina Tereshkova, a simple factory worker, was sent on a solo mission to space and became a hero in her country, a legend around the world and an icon of gender equality. Producer: Dorothy Feaver https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595777352951-Q2OPUAUC93LL9JT45RXN/p01pcrv6.jpg RADIO - Russia: Digging up the Dead The story of Russia's volunteer diggers, armed with spades and metal detectors, who search forests and swamps for the remains of Red Army soldiers 70 years after World War Two. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595778143286-9FEQRJI84DPSIIH5CHQ8/p01hy66d.jpg RADIO - Putin, the Patriarch and Pussy Riot The prison sentences given to three members of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot have been widely criticized in the West. But why did the three young women stage their anti-Putin protest in a cathedral? And why did their'punk prayer arouse such fierce reactions? Producer: Nick Sturdee https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595778424377-EFKZSM8UT7M7IG5F5CJI/p01hwwfm.jpg RADIO - Poland's Underground Economy Lucy Ash is in south east Poland, where high unemployment is encouraging young people to go down the area's reopened coal mines, and where young entrepreneurs try to avoid taxes. Producer: Anna Meisel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595778782126-WNEF4WRGE60FKJW8MYHN/p01hwrwp.jpg RADIO - Hungary's Graduates - Trapped by the State As the economic crisis deepens and schisms emerge, Lucy Ash travels across Europe to meet the continent's next generation, who face an uncertain future. She explores the challenges they face and the ways in which they are meeting them. Producer: Anna Meisel https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595779616024-XUNLRJ6Y2JKBZP6XBFD9/p01hwtzh.jpg RADIO - Italy's Five Star Idealist Lucy Ash is in Milan and meets the heavy rock loving 22-year-old who has become the city's youngest councillor and who says this is the last chance to clean up Italian politics. Producer: Mark Savage https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595780077507-VALZ7TRDK9C6USFWIBM6/p01hwmzb.jpg RADIO - Germany's Eldorado Lucy Ash travels to southern Germany, to the town of Schwabisch Hall which has been swamped with young job applicants from the crisis hit countries of southern Europe. Producer: John Murphy https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1595781422417-0R5CK8WEGACEK0KW2ZVA/p01gy8zd.jpg RADIO - The Primorsky Partisans Lucy Ash asks why a group of young men near Vladivostok started killing policemen, and why so many ordinary Russians supported them. Producer: Ibrat Jumaboyev https://www.lucyashjournalism.com/print daily 0.75 2026-04-03 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/56788a32-8418-4ca0-9fa7-9f25c316e752/SEI_290681403.jpg.webp PRINT - The worst war the Soviets ever fought is now haunting Putin The i Paper Afghanistan was the grave of the Soviet Union – the Ukraine conflict bears striking similarities. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/380aae02-d715-48ce-8021-3d024103318a/GettyImages-1242827934-e1774291711670.jpg PRINT - Inside the cultural war to rewrite Poland’s past The New World Feuds over Gdańsk’s museums are the latest skirmish in a battle between progressives and the populist right. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/7886a8ca-f661-47ce-9145-2ab60a64c70d/2026-06-03-twt-spring-russian-orthodox-church-hero-01.jpg PRINT - How the Russian Orthodox Church is recruiting for the Ukraine war – and alienating believers Chatham House The Patriarchate’s support for the military has intensified, and its outreach has expanded to America’s religious right. But for the faithful at home, trust in the church is wavering. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/bb216f99-16e6-4d54-8e82-0ac6749d6362/ASH-german-military.jpg PRINT - The return of the German military The New World There is a strong anti-military strain in German culture and the introduction of national service has not been popular. But times have changed. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/ba2b7ac6-5d62-4257-b7af-cf54f5b30a45/GettyImages-1396893835-e1763465225989.jpg PRINT - What Pussy Riot did next The New World 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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/a8898d9a-ba16-46c0-9ba5-7d3351caf010/Image07-11-2025at1629.jpeg PRINT - Russian Orthodox Priests Don’t Practice What They Preach The Moscow Times It is arguably not a great look for a senior Russian cleric to be seen firing a gun— even for fun — nearly four years into a war in which people are dying every day. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/c1f4e5c9-58d0-46ce-8ade-b15d407a61f4/IPQ_4-2025_Ash_ONLINE.jpg PRINT - Ukraine’s Artists Respond to War Internationale Politik Quarterly Seeking new visual languages and forms of expression, Ukrainian artists are playing their part in the country’s war effort and sending bold messages of defiance. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/23ccfa87-027d-45e7-be46-582a33af70ba/24.-Adrian-Paci-Centro-di-Permanenzo-Temporanea-2007-Collection-Fenix.jpg PRINT - Rotterdam’s moving museum of migration The New World The debate around migration has never been more febrile. Time then for Fenix, which celebrates art by and about refugees. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/5f2f5415-6940-4952-ac09-997b2ff609fb/446_ASH_Estemirova.jpg PRINT - She was murdered, but couldn’t be silenced The New World Chechen human rights investigator Natalia Estemirova defied Russia - and was killed. Now her daughter is keeping her fight alive. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/fc036e6f-3b45-4b1c-89b5-316b0d3f6f32/84976680-2671-11f0-8c66-ebf25fc2cfef.jpg.webp PRINT - Young US men are joining Russian churches promising 'absurd levels of manliness' BBC Online Founded by priests and clergy fleeing the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (ROCOR) is seen by many as the most conservative Orthodox jurisdiction in the US. Yet this small religious community is a vocal one, and what's unfolding within it mirrors broader political shifts, especially following President Donald Trump's dramatic pivot toward Moscow. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/c3d53c83-f727-4602-8516-5321983a888f/GettyImages-3318783-e1742298267768.jpg PRINT - The horror that spawned Putin The New World The siege of Leningrad brought desperation, degradation and death – and a host of stories which shaped a future dictator. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/774178d9-e93c-4ead-b996-3317cfc0dc7c/GettyImages-2182214237-e1733234052322.jpg PRINT - Putin’s hotline to God The New World Under Patriarch Kirill, Russia’s Orthodox Church has seen its power restored – but only by debasing the faith. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/0dc1156f-b83f-4c9f-b073-4c00860f373c/Taiwan-1536x864.jpg PRINT - Taiwan’s eyes are on the Ukraine war It aspires to be a beacon for democracy in Asia. But Putin’s invasion has left the nation in fear of attack from the Chinese mainland. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/da8b9e5c-f16e-4c84-9ea9-db1a9b5f2db7/ash-ukranian-families.jpg PRINT - Those who wait: the Ukrainian families left behind Across Ukraine, people have given up their former lives to become soldiers. Back home, their families listen for news from the front. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/b83ee84a-c9aa-466d-80bb-a63509be02ea/russia-hiv-lucy-ash.jpg PRINT - HIV: Russia’s other deadly losing battle Moscow likes to pretend that HIV is not a problem. Now it has an epidemic on its hands. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/992ddd60-4be2-48fc-9e0e-e1b395de19a3/GettyImages-1239102006-e1680176303698-1536x864.jpg PRINT - The country that sees danger everywhere Will Lithuania be the next Ukraine? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/fe8084d0-fb59-432c-9775-4a7dbce3dca7/IMG_0448+2.jpg PRINT - In the Carpathians - a refuge from the war Wood burning stoves - a lifeline for Ukrainians fleeing missiles and the cold this winter https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/a5ba8b90-87e4-4cf9-afa3-3be4759998f0/Andrey-Golovin-Priest-in-Bucha.jpg PRINT - What Bucha means to Ukraine As Vladimir Putin threatens the world, a suburb of Kyiv tries to rebuild in the aftermath of war crimes by his troops. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1661172271400-BN9CDYRKGVC2LG3E814X/cold-case-image.jpg PRINT - COLD CASE – Justice for Christelle A pair of maverick lawyers helped a mother hunt for her daughter’s killer – it took her 18 years. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1607190554399-W81ROXYX1597L76PMWRR/_115736502_andreiscreengrab1p.jpg PRINT - A police officer with a conscience who left Belarus Andrei Ostapovich is one of hundreds of Belarusian police officers now in exile in Poland and the Baltic states. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1607189580501-YBU9SBWLL5YISVP7ILSJ/_115172894_darrenlooking.jpg PRINT - Grimsby fishermen remember the glory days - how do they see the future? Today fishing contributes just a 10th of 1% to Britain's economy - less than Harrods, London's best-known department store - and yet it's at the centre of negotiations over the UK's post-Brexit deal with the EU. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1607189300227-TTLF4WALBVC3WQJ57993/poland+gay+online.jpg PRINT - Inside Poland’s 'LGBT-free zones' In Poland, dozens of small towns have declared themselves free of "LGBT ideology". https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594582236955-QQ6VR9KNZRGG2C2IT0G6/1b-Dyatlov-Pass-Mystery-%E2%80%93-60-years-of-conspiracy-theories-Long-Read-BBC-Online.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - Dyatltov Pass The Dyatlov Pass mystery spawned dozens of conspiracy theories, which have endured for 60 years. Lucy Ash traces the group's journey and tells their story through their diaries, photographs and letters. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594582440413-EH20OOE65R3R7ZCU67DI/2-Russia%E2%80%99s-epidemic-of-domestic-violence-and-the-women-fighting-back-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - Russian domestic violence: Women fight back Two years ago, many Russians were shocked when the parliament significantly reduced penalties for domestic violence. Since then, women have been fighting back - demanding new legislation to restrain abusers, demonstrating in support of three sisters who took the law into their own hands, and finding new ways of tackling outdated attitudes on gender. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594582676462-ZAS46C6DJ0MVYCT7LRUW/3-WHY-ARE-UK-GRADUATES-COMPETING-TO-BE-PRISON-OFFICERS.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - Why are graduates competing to be prison officers? The government-backed Unlocked Graduates scheme trains university leavers to work as prison officers. But how much difference can they make in prisons where staffing levels are low, and it's a rush even to do the bare minimum? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594644791692-4TY5G6UISGZPOFQ9N0G4/4-MARSEILLE-HOUSING-I-RENTED-A-MOULDY-FLAT-FROM-THE-DEPUTY-MAYOR-1-1.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - Marseille Housing The collapse of two apartment buildings in Marseille last November left the city in mourning for eight people who died, but also furious. In the past, the story of a young woman whose rented flat grew a layer of black mould might have received little attention - now it's seen as cutting to the heart of the city's problems. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594644979600-4LI63G50978VQLXA3UQV/5-THE-CHRISTMAS-PRESENT-THAT-COULD-TEAR-YOUR-FAMILY-APART-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - The Christmas Present That Could Tear Your Family Apart This Christmas it's likely that more people than ever before will spit into a tube, or swab some cheek cells and send the result off for DNA analysis. Millions in the US have already done it, and the craze is spreading. But what happens when you find out a lot more than you were expecting? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594645241566-O40R0MYL0DS7MD0A83BM/6-ONE-CENTURY-ONE-BRITAIN%E2%80%99S-FORGOTTEN-WAR-WITH-RUSSIA-.jpg PRINT - Sunday Telegraph - One century on, Britain’s ‘forgotten’ war with Russia Lord Ironside opens the leather-bound album resting on his lap to show me his favourite photograph. “Look at that!” he says, pointing to a picture of a broad-shouldered man in a coat made from reindeer skins. The moustachioed wall of fur towers over a small Russian boy standing next to him in the snow. “My father was a huge fellow, 6ft 5in,” says Ironside, “so his nickname was ‘Tiny’.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594645488415-7MUI8O5D4THB5RJ5AKBP/7-Last-call-for-Nevada%E2%80%99s-brothels.jpg PRINT - BBC Online: Last call for Nevada’s brothels? There have been brothels in Nevada since the days of the Gold Rush, but in one of the state's 16 counties that could be about to change. Voters in Lyon County have a chance to put an end to legal prostitution in November, in a ballot coinciding with the country's mid-term elections. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594645578455-BDGW5T9BI6SOE08UZRN0/8-ZANZIBAR%E2%80%99S-SEAWEED-FARMERS-%E2%80%93-THE-CROP-THAT-PUT-WOMEN-ON-TOP-.jpg PRINT - BBC World Service - The crop that put women on top in Zanzibar Seaweed has been hailed as a new superfood, and it's also found in toothpaste, medicine and shampoo. In Zanzibar, it's become big business - and as it has been farmed principally by women, it has altered the sexual balance of power. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594645777253-KPJCX7TEGGYVBGL24UPZ/9-GOODBYE-RUSSIA-%E2%80%93-A-GENERATION-PACKS-ITS-BAGS-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - Goodbye Russia: A generation packs its bags Russia's leading environmental activist is one of more than a million people - many of them young and well-educated - who have packed their bags and left the country in recent years, writes the BBC's Lucy Ash. Russian even has a word for the phenomenon, "poravalism". https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594645856922-95XTGPG7QVYM1SD6XHDR/10-DEATH-ISLAND-BRITAINS-CONCENTRATION-CAMP-IN-RUSSIA-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online -'Death Island': Britain's 'concentration camp' in Russia When British soldiers were sent to Russia after the Russian Revolution their main enemies were the Germans - their opponents in World War One - but they also found themselves fighting and imprisoning Bolsheviks. In the process they opened what Russians regard as the first concentration camp in their country. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594649032910-2501PPWHTJDDQLCWNUH2/11-ALGERIAS-SAID-CHITOUR-SPY-OR-JOURNALIST-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - Algeria's Said Chitour - spy or journalist? The family of Algerian journalist Said Chitour has been desperately trying to secure his release since he was arrested on espionage charges after visiting Spain, writes the BBC's Lucy Ash https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594649152883-2LO1M4QHV3JHDAT3KC9J/12-YULIYA-STEPANOVA-WHAT-DO-RUSSIANS-THINK-OF-DOPING-WHISTLEBLOWER-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - Yuliya Stepanova: What do Russians think of doping whistleblower? Fearing for her safety, Russian 800m runner Yuliya Stepanova fled her country after she revealed the dirty secrets of doping in Russian athletics. She has been called the greatest whistleblower in the history of sport but what do people think of the athlete in her homeland? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594649384859-TUPHQP3M2F7I3UX6QIUQ/13-THE-DUTCH-PRISON-CRISIS-A-SHORTAGE-OF-PRISONERS-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - The Dutch prison crisis: A shortage of prisoners While the UK and much of the world struggles with overcrowded prisons, the Netherlands has the opposite problem. It is actually short of people to lock up. In the past few years 19 prisons have closed down and more are slated for closure next year. How has this happened - and why do some people think it's a problem? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594649426228-TFTEARHSU4EZR2EZ6Q6C/14-BOOK-REVIEW-AN-INTOXICATING-HISTORY-OF-THE-BOLSHOI-BALLET-.jpg PRINT - Guardian- Bolshoi Confidential review, where scandal waits in the wings Simon Morrison’s intoxicating history of the Bolshoi Ballet suggests that the recent acid attack on its artistic director was far from an aberration https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594649551473-DH772Y7M0KJLETVKOP6D/15-INSIDE-FRANCE%E2%80%99S-BOOT-CAMP-FOR-WAVERING-RADICALS-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - Inside France's 'boot camp' for wavering radicals Under pressure to tackle home-grown jihadism, the French government is opening a string of rehabilitation centres to combat extremism - and the first one is already proving controversial. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594649846082-3FATHAGCFEWDPO7L50KS/16-COLOMBIA-RAPED-FOR-SPEAKING-OUT-AGAINST-RAPE-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online Colombia - Raped for speaking out against rape A Colombian woman who denounced armed groups for sexually abusing women and girls was abducted by the militants and subjected to a terrible punishment. Her story illustrates just how much power lies in the hands of armed men in Colombia - despite a ceasefire by the left-wing Farc rebels - and how lawless some parts of the country remain. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594650051501-VCVG357M4JU16KN79LM8/Postcard_26.jpg PRINT - Chatham House The World Today - Romania’s Sheep Bites Back On the surface the Romanian countryside is in rude health. Since 2010, thanks to European Union and government subsidies, the number of sheep has almost doubled. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594724160980-JN203Q8PR3QOR0L0LDFC/18-MACEDONIA%E2%80%99S-CRIME-FIGHTING-%E2%80%98CHARLIE%E2%80%99S-ANGELS%E2%80%99-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - The real crime-fighting 'Charlie's Angels' Three women have become the scourge of Macedonia's political elite and heroines of the street protests now rocking the tiny Balkan nation - some call them the country's Charlie's Angels. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1596447763598-QOXDPCHMI36AA0GR92OD/_86244306_menard_afp976.jpg PRINT - BBC News- Robert Menard: France's strongest far-right mayor A mayor in the south of France has been accused of turning his city into a laboratory of the far right. But what is driving Robert Menard and why is he becoming the most controversial mayor in the country? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594724545501-52NN9XNZBD82ZB17P1KT/21-ALGERIA%E2%80%99S-HARRAGAS-RISKING-DEATH-AT-SEA-TO-ESCAPE-BOREDOM-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - Risking death at sea to escape boredom Many people trying to start a new life in Europe want to escape war or extreme poverty, but large numbers of young Algerians are willing to risk death crossing the Mediterranean because they are bored and fed up with the lack of opportunities at home. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594724616480-GJMCBJWRXOTKKQY49ZWR/22-THE-TRUTH-BEHIND-THE-RAPE-OF-BERLIN-.jpg PRINT - Telegraph - The Truth Behind The Rape of Berlin German prisoners of war in Berlin in early 1945 (Timofey Melnik/German-Russian Museum) Two remarkably candid diaries from spring 1945 help to shed some light on what really happened. The first is by Vladimir Gelfand who was a Jewish lieutenant from central Ukraine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1594728551975-08K7B092GF6TRGKHQM87/23-RUSSIA%E2%80%99S-MOST-DARING-THEATRE-COMPANY-.jpg PRINT - BBC Online - Russia's most daring theatre company A fearless Russian drama company has risen from the dead after being evicted from its premises in Moscow this winter. The eviction seemed at first to be a political death sentence, but does a theatre with barely 100 seats really present a threat to the Kremlin? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1596446369961-V1VVQ20AZ6TJQNUTEWIT/201406girl.jpg PRINT - New Statesman - No chickening out for activists subject to intimidation in Kiev Tetiana Chornovol specialises in exposing the murky world of Ukraine’s top officials. As an investigative reporter for opposition websites, she has a reputation for unorthodox methods and daring stunts. On Christmas Day 2013, she was dragged out of her car, beaten up and almost killed in an attack most Ukrainians believe was linked to her work as a journalist. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1596446170447-1187USRBGOL8OLWN0YLH/7457346822f44761a86a0763361240178debb240.jpg PRINT - Mail on Sunday- 'There is no one to protect us': A human rights campaigner's chilling last interview Award-winning human rights activist Natalia Estemirova was determined to expose some of the shocking abuses taking place in Chechnya - but just weeks after giving this moving interview Natalia's bullet-riddled body was found by the side of a road. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1596446534447-KA9RBMQZENAG93BMDC8P/Unknown.jpg PRINT - Index on Censorship - Chechnya's rebuilding masks a new wave of repression he killing of Natalia Estemirova is a sign of the republic’s drift into lawlessness and violence under President Kadyrov, writes Lucy Ash. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/1596446996897-D0EN85LUVEAX11P2RIHZ/5db319badee019370b0012c3.jpg PRINT - New Statesman - Dictators: Central Asia’s new idol From billboards to TV screens to bottles of vodka, there is no escaping his pudgy features and Elvis-style backcombed hair. President Saparmurat Niyazov, who calls himself Turkmenbashi, or father of the Turkmen, has created the world’s most relentless personality cult after North Korea. https://www.lucyashjournalism.com/books daily 0.75 2025-11-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/8c31b82f-b054-4825-b7be-9d073504d240/Screenshot+2024-12-21+at+19.16.16.png BOOKS - The Tablet Putin's Culture Wars by Lucy Ash https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/e397b63a-7110-43d5-84c6-7c9f20dd01c1/Monkswalkbythegravesoftheirbrotherskilledbyshelling.jpg BOOKS - The Moscow Times How the War in Ukraine Split the Orthodox Church by Lucy Ash https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/67abe277-df4b-4ac8-b582-8154731d30e0/GettyImages-2182214237-e1733234052322-1536x864.jpg BOOKS - The New European Putin’s hotline to God by Lucy Ash https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/f404e1f8-cb5f-45bf-98af-b77d67fb3229/dave-troy.jpg BOOKS - The Geopolitics of the Russian Orthodox Church with Lucy Ash Dave Troy interviews noted British journalist and documentarian Lucy Ash about her new book, The Baton and the Cross: Russia's Church from Pagans to Putin. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/4baa5627-23f8-4f3e-81ff-f8178fc08642/Screenshot+2024-10-09+103309.jpg BOOKS - Ukraine: The Latest How the Russian Orthodox Church became a vital force in Putin’s existential war against Ukraine. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f0b1d43f8ecf44ed891e3a1/da0770da-175f-4a09-9959-5b4481793998/BP2025-Aerial-Shot.2e16d0ba.fill-1024x576.jpg BOOKS - British Academy Book Prize: 2025 shortlist Tuesday 21st October 2025 6pm–8pm Join the shortlisted authors of this year's prize for a dynamic conversation exploring the issues that define our time. These imaginative writers will share insights from their groundbreaking books that deepen our understanding of peoples, cultures and societies, offering fresh perspectives on global challenges, both past and present. This in conversation will be chaired by award-winning journalising Rosie Goldsmith. Afterwards there will be opportunities to purchase copies of the shortlisted books from London Review Bookshop and book signing with the authors. The British Academy