Observations on life in Moscow, stoked in the Kotelnaya SUBSTACK: https://kotelnaya.substack.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mruerh2lwk2fA piece about the architecture of Moscow in the 2020s, the regeneration around Elektrozavodkaya, or why I think Moscow property developers are like Turkish hair transplant surgeons https://open.substack.com/pub/kotelnaya/p/detours-on-the-diameters-the-architecture?r=3ae7qx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true30 Jul 2026 11:50 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mruerh2lwk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3msap66fpcs2xНовый хоккейный сезон уже не за горами. СЭ оценивает шансы ЦСКА гораздо оптимистичнее, чем я. Посмотрим, конечно, но мне кажется, нам нужен как минимум ещё один год на перестройку, прежде чем мы сможем тягаться с такими командами, как Локо и Ак Барс https://www.sport-express.ru/hockey/khl/reviews/transfery-cska-letom-2026-goda-kogo-podpisali-i-smozhet-li-klub-borotsya-za-kubok-gagarina-2444254/04 Aug 2026 09:28 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3msap66fpcs2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mruerh2lwk2fA piece about the architecture of Moscow in the 2020s, the regeneration around Elektrozavodkaya, or why I think Moscow property developers are like Turkish hair transplant surgeons https://open.substack.com/pub/kotelnaya/p/detours-on-the-diameters-the-architecture?r=3ae7qx&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true30 Jul 2026 11:50 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mruerh2lwk2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mkmsbw572c2cThere's never much going on here, is there?29 Apr 2026 09:34 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkmsbw572c2chttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mjtouptk7c2iWhat has it been like living in the same Moscow building, with the same cast of characters, for the past seven years, as Moscow, and Russia, has changed course? https://kotelnaya.substack.com/p/the-grilled-door-tales-from-seven19 Apr 2026 09:57 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjtouptk7c2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mjcecsmqxk2vTales from seven years in one Moscow building -- be friends with your neighbours, as my late neighbour Dmitriy Ivanovich, whose grandfather was denounced by a neighbour, told me https://kotelnaya.substack.com/p/the-grilled-door-tales-from-seven12 Apr 2026 12:33 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjcecsmqxk2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mgwl2hdmxk25Weird things happening with Moscow mobile internet. While its down in parts of the centre, a few apps which have needed VPNs for months -- WhatsApp, Instagram, Signal -- are now working for me on mobile data without a VPN.13 Mar 2026 09:11 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgwl2hdmxk25https://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mgucjxbd6s25Sheila Fitzpatrick really is the best in the business https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v48/n05/sheila-fitzpatrick/apocalypse-forgotten12 Mar 2026 11:33 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgucjxbd6s25https://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mgu3pwqm7c25There's so much football writing out there these days, and, unlike the halcyon days of peak football twitter between 2008 and 2012, most of it isn't worth reading. But, every now and then, great storylines bring out the best in the great football writers https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/mar/12/why-relegation-needs-to-happen-for-tottenham12 Mar 2026 09:31 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgu3pwqm7c25https://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mgovrepak224Хотя снег еще лежит и для прогулок все еще нужны ботинки, есть, наконец то, признаки того, что в Москву приходит весна. Воздух пахнет иначе, светит солнце, и на деревьях в моем дворе появились первые почки.10 Mar 2026 08:01 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mgovrepak224https://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mfvtbkpvds27Iran, by the way, are supposed to be playing New Zealand in California in their opening World Cup game in just over 15 weeks time.28 Feb 2026 08:40 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfvtbkpvds27https://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mfvqqxing227There is still an Ural Airlines flight from Yekaterinburg to Dubai flying over Iran. Most flights I've taken to Dubai, whether from Moscow, Istanbul or the UK have flown over Iran. No more, I guess.28 Feb 2026 07:55 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfvqqxing227https://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mfjkqq2xd22hTook me a while to get round to reading this but what a story. The New Yorker at its best https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/02/16/the-babies-kept-in-a-mysterious-los-angeles-mansion23 Feb 2026 11:36 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfjkqq2xd22hhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mfc7unlrzs2vSome interesting reporting absolutely and needlessly destroyed by the Guardian's art department https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2026/feb/20/a-war-foretold-cia-mi6-putin-ukraine-plans-russia20 Feb 2026 13:32 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfc7unlrzs2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mfc5wrnce22vIn all my years here, I can't remember such sustained snowfall in Moscow over a 2-3 week period. It's been snowing for about 4 days straight now and a couple of weeks ago we had 5 continuous days of snowfall. I remember heavy snowfall, especially in 2017, but never so prolonged.20 Feb 2026 12:58 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfc5wrnce22vhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mf7s3gvjtc2vKotelnaya Weekly, with some thoughts about why that New York Times Russia correspondent job speaks to a wider disaster for the future of Russia coverage in the Anglosphere -- the rest of the West's journalists are largely still here, btw https://kotelnaya.substack.com/p/kotelnaya-weekly-18-february-202619 Feb 2026 14:20 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf7s3gvjtc2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mf7qwyvv6c2vFerocious blizzards for the lat 12 hours in Moscow. It's brutal out there. My walk to Krasnoe Beloe just now was like a full polar expedition.19 Feb 2026 14:00 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf7qwyvv6c2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mf4td37c322vThe second instalment of Kotelnaya Weekly, on the film of the Thaw era, what I think is a disaster for Russian journalism, how Viktor Tsoi and Kino taught me Russian and reflections on the Tsoi exhibition in St P. https://kotelnaya.substack.com/p/kotelnaya-weekly-18-february-202618 Feb 2026 10:04 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf4td37c322vhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mf4td37c322vThe second instalment of Kotelnaya Weekly, on the film of the Thaw era, what I think is a disaster for Russian journalism, how Viktor Tsoi and Kino taught me Russian and reflections on the Tsoi exhibition in St P. https://kotelnaya.substack.com/p/kotelnaya-weekly-18-february-202618 Feb 2026 10:04 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf4td37c322vhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mf3dgrufh22vNon Moscow post, sorry, but what a win for my one-time local team Galatasaray. I remember a few special Champions League nights there. What a place. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2k0tB-bJ5w17 Feb 2026 19:48 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf3dgrufh22vhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3megjizzukk25It's quite something to see EU bankers begin to say the same sorts of things about Visa and Mastercard and payment processing that Russian bankers were saying from about 2010 onwards https://www.ft.com/content/fcc215bb-b7b8-4a62-87ed-03f603eb3d1409 Feb 2026 13:10 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3megjizzukk25https://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3megh6y2ha225Last week in Moscow - Indian restaurants, the Turkish and Russian languages and their approach to ethnicity, Cubans clearing snow in Krasnogorsk https://kotelnaya.substack.com/p/kotelnaya-weekly-6-february-202609 Feb 2026 12:29 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3megh6y2ha225https://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3meehxnvbvc2iMy monthly trip to Falanster to pick up Russian journals followed by a walk to Clovelly, a pub in Moscow made up completely of antique furniture from a village in Cornwall08 Feb 2026 17:37 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3meehxnvbvc2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3me6nfaf2us2pThe first Kotelnaya Weekly, a collection of things from around Moscow and the internet that I found interesting in the last 7 days. This week: masala, a beerhall, Adam Tooze's Chinese 1989 and ethnicity in the Turkish and Russian languages https://kotelnaya.substack.com/p/kotelnaya-weekly-6-february-202606 Feb 2026 09:58 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3me6nfaf2us2phttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3me4h6262gc2bI have no idea what the word "Exclusive" means in journalism anymore. In what way are these articles on the FT exclusives? They're summaries of emails the whole world has access to. What is exclusive about reading publicly-available emails and writing a story about them?05 Feb 2026 13:02 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3me4h6262gc2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3me4ci5qvz22bIt might sound strange, at minus 13, but there's a hint of spring in Moscow today. The sun is shining, so much so that I've had to open the windows in my flat because it's too warm, birds are chirping and the ice is melting. We're creeping steadily towards zero from next week.05 Feb 2026 11:38 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3me4ci5qvz22bhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mduodfmsrc2eWow, Industry season 4 is terrible, just designed to shock. It's popularity, and the more money HBO spend on it and its promotion, is inverse to quality. The first season was great, but nobody watched it so HBO made sure the second season was previewed everywhere and it became a hit.02 Feb 2026 10:49 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mduodfmsrc2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mdsg4duies2ySome of my friends sit around every evening and they worry about the times ahead, but everybody else is overwhelmed by indifference and the promise of an early bed — Elvis Costello in 1980 perfectly describing Moscow in 202601 Feb 2026 13:16 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdsg4duies2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/kotelnaya.bsky.social/post/3mdpvhevb722tThe last few years have been extremely instructive about the publishing industry in the UK and US. 1) Make bold overarching claim (about Russia in most cases) 2) Use popular semi-academic buzzwords 3) Ensure a complex explanation of something quite simple 4) Pander to reader bias31 Jan 2026 13:13 +0000at://did:plc:o7qvcl73owb7gngbbgoykvqn/app.bsky.feed.post/3mdpvhevb722t