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Neil MacFarquhar
For Neil MacFarquhar's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the media at his campaign headquarters in Moscow on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 18, 2024
Five takeaways from Putin’s orchestrated win in Russia
Putin always seeks to project an image of political stability and control, which the carefully choreographed presidential votes are designed to burnish.
Russian President Vladimir Putin watches a test launch of the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile at Plesetsk cosmodrome in Arkhangelsk region, via video link in Moscow, Russia, in April last year.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 2, 2023
Russia claims its Sarmat ICBM is on ‘combat duty'
Russian military analysts said the announcement meant that the missile had been deployed in a silo and was ready to be used.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 10, 2022
Ukrainians fear Russian reprisals for Crimea bridge attack
Although Russian officials made a show of reopening the bridge to some automobile and train traffic, the extent of the damage remains unclear.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 7, 2022
Blunt criticism of Russian army signals new challenge for Putin
An official in a Russian-occupied region of Ukraine suggested Russia's defense minister shoot himself over his army's failings, an unusually blunt rebuke of Kremlin leadership.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 31, 2022
Much like his legacy, reaction to Gorbachev’s death is sharply divided
The former Russian leader was revered by some for bringing down the curtain on the brutal, oppressive Soviet system, but reviled by others for the very same thing.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 4, 2022
Thousands swept up as Kremlin clamps down on war criticism
The arrests are a stark gauge of how Russia has intensified repression of critics. At least 50 people now face yearslong prison sentences.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 4, 2022
100 days of war: Death, destruction and loss in Ukraine
Russia's brutal invasion has ripped apart predictions, reawakened old alliances, tested others and spread death and destruction across Ukraine.
Japan Times
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2022
How Russia uses show trials to punish Putin’s enemies
With nearly 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers from the besieged steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine, in Russian custody, the prospect of so-called show trials has emerged again.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 28, 2022
Ukraine war impact widens: Russia cuts gas flow and vows more reprisals
The European Union's top official described as 'blackmail” the announcement that Russia was suspending shipments of natural gas to Poland and Bulgaria.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 22, 2022
With sunken warship, Russian disinformation faces a test
Families whose sons were listed as missing after the Russian flagship in the Black Sea sank a week ago are demanding answers in increasing numbers, testing Moscow's narrative of the war.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Apr 3, 2022
For Putin, invasion is the latest in a long string of failures in Ukraine
Putin has made many attempts to undermine Ukraine — both overtly and covertly — but has been thwarted on at least three significant occasions.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 13, 2022
The Russians might have expected a warm welcome. Instead the mayor labeled them ‘occupiers.’
On Friday evening, invading Russian soldiers threw a bag over the mayor of Melitopol's head and dragged him from his government office.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 8, 2022
The letter ‘Z’ has become a symbol for Russians who support the invasion of Ukraine
The letter's ubiquity has led many to conclude that its adoption is an orchestrated Kremlin effort to drum up support for the war.

Longform

Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores