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Dylan Primakoff

@dylanmp.bsky.social
906 followers 640 following 211 posts

Senior Manager for Eurasia Programs at the National Endowment for Democracy. Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Eurasia Center. Posting mostly about Russia.

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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Powerful interview with Russian Olympic champion Margarita Mamun on the rapid closing of public and private life in the country. meduza.io/feature/2026...
О сыне, которому шесть лет
Он последние два года сам включает VPN, чтобы зайти в ютьюб. Делает то, что ребенок делать не должен. Ограничение Roblox — это было расстройство для него <…> В какой-то момент он пришел ко мне и просто сказал: «Я хочу отсюда уехать». Такой: «Почему мы все еще здесь?» Конечно, я начинаю рассказывать, что здесь твои друзья, здесь часть моих друзей, здесь твоя бабушка, дедушка, мама. Готов ли ты это все бросить? Он молчит.

О решении остаться в России
Почему вы имеете право забрать у меня мою страну, мою родину? Я хочу здесь жить. И я не хочу уезжать. Они и так уже очень много забрали — будущее, возможности, свободу. Еще и это заберете? Пока что я чувствую силы, что можно что-то поменять. Мы даже не рассматривали такой вариант [уехать из страны].
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 06/11/2025
"You won’t find reports on this in the New York Times" I dunno, seems like maybe a skill issue?
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Eleven months ago, Chivvis was calling for the outgoing Biden admin to impose tighter sanctions on Russian oil and gas, to create leverage for the incoming Trump admin to use in negotiations. I'm curious what he thinks has changed. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Chivvis dances around the point a bit, but the actual policy argument seems to be that ceding to Russia parts of Ukrainian territory that the Russian military has failed to take to by force is a better alternative than applying further economic or military pressure to Russia.
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
You know who looked cooler? Paul Newman at the March on Washington
young Paul Newman looking fresh as hell
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 14/07/2025
Great article from @szakonyi.bsky.social on what is being lost with the closure of Russian election monitor Golos: www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/07/11/w...
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
Understandable why Russia didn't want to publish its "peace memorandum" before today's talks. This document yet again makes clear that Russia remains uninterested in a diplomatic solution (short of Ukrainian and Western capitulation), as it has repeatedly demonstrated going back to summer 2021.
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 24/04/2025
A jaw-dropping paragraph. responsiblestatecraft.org/trump-ukrain...
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
This @clingendael.bsky.social report does an excellent job laying out clearly the fundamental issues at stake in a diplomatic resolution of the Russia-Ukraine war. Importantly, it also lays out the risks of a "quick fix" – risks often ignored by those arguing to prioritize peace as soon as possible.
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Person's argument is also strengthened by a realistic assessment of Russia's diplomatic track-record on Ukraine and the challenges created by Russia's long history of breaking agreements and other acts of diplomatic bad faith. I haven't seen a case for negotiations addressing these issues.
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
In @jodemocracy.bsky.social, @rtperson3.bsky.social warns of the obstacles to a negotiated solution to Russia's war on Ukraine. In contrast to most arguments calling for rapid diplomacy, Person's case looks at the underlying political motivations for Russia's behavior. muse.jhu.edu/article/947881
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 14/10/2024
I was very moved reading the excerpts of Navalny's prison diaries published in the New Yorker www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 12/09/2024
Most puzzlingly, The Intercept quotes "former CIA Russia analyst George Beebe" saying that Ukraine "is on a path toward becoming a failed state" without mentioning Beebe's new gig since 2022 – Director of the Grand Strategy Program at the Quincy Institute. 14/ quincyinst.org/author/georg...
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 12/09/2024
The Intercept article also discusses in detail a letter urging diplomacy sent by the CPC to the WH in Oct 2022 (immediately following significant Ukrainian military success), but without any mention of Quincy's role in that episode. 13/ www.semafor.com/article/10/2... www.vox.com/policy-and-p...
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 12/09/2024
Quincy is mentioned once in the Intercept piece, where it claims that Joe Cirincione left the org "over [its] call for diplomatic talks." In fact, Cirincione left over a more nuanced and deeper critique of Quincy's positions, which he made public at the time. 12/ www.politico.com/newsletters/...
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 12/09/2024
The most common approach advanced by those arguing for the US to more actively "pursue diplomacy" has been for the US to make ongoing aid contingent on Ukraine pursuing negotiations. A strong version of this argument by Charap and Priebe can be read here: www.rand.org/pubs/perspec... /8
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 11/09/2024
The terms on offer in the Istanbul talks of spring 2022 would have included one-sided caps on Ukrainian military personnel and weapons, while giving Russia a veto over any future Western defense assistance to Ukraine. Should Ukraine really have taken this deal? 6/ www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 11/09/2024
On the policy analysis – the author makes consistent reference to the loves lost in Ukraine since 2022, with Ukraine liberating only minimal territory over that time. On the other hand, there is zero consideration of the cost of leaving these territories under Russian occupation. 2/
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 01/08/2024
I am thrilled and relieved by today's incredible news. At the same time, I'm very conscious that those released today represent only a small proportion of the political prisoners held by the Putin regime. They must all be freed.
an infographic from the Russian media outlet Mediazona showing the 11 prisoners released today in the context of the 156 prisoners serving sentences in Russia for anti-war statements and the roughly 700 total political prisoners held in Russia
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 09/05/2024
Тук-тук: федеральный розыск, сука
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 08/04/2024
The Quincy Institute has not really come so far from its early days of publishing Scott Ritter.
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 03/03/2024
Why people continue even after Navalny's death to lie about his position on the annexation of Crimea I do not know. Already under house arrest, he took the real personal risk of condemning it as it happened, including in the NYT. foreignpolicy.com/2024/03/01/n... newlinesmag.com/spotlight/na...
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 02/03/2024
www.nytimes.com/2024/03/01/w...
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 23/02/2024
Pretty remarkable to write a "10 years on from the Maidan, how did we get here" piece that *literally does not mention the annexation of Crimea.* We go straight from Febaruary 2014 to April 2014. Laughably dishonest analysis. responsiblestatecraft.org/maidan-ukrai...
The word "Crimea" does not appear in this article purporting to explain the roots of the conflict between Russia in UkraineA screenshot of the article's chronology, which leaves out entirely the pivotal events of March 2014 in an effort to avoid acknowledging any Russian culpability
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 14/12/2023
From Putin's year-end call-in show/press conference today: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/1... A reality check for those calling on Ukraine to negotiate peace terms: Putin still seeks Ukrainian capitulation.
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 16/11/2023
"Oh yes, life!" Read the moving last statement to the court from the Russian peace activist Sasha Skochilenko, sentenced today to seven years in prison for writing anti-war messages on price tags in a grocery store. en.zona.media/article/2023...
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 26/07/2023
I mean, come on
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 05/07/2023
Russia will almost certainly follow this course, maintaining Wagner's operations in Africa under a different command structure. I have a hard time picturing how the challenge described here – Wagner personnel refusing new commanders – could play out.
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 05/07/2023
I think the basic thesis of this piece (that dismantling Wagner will be a challenge for Putin) is wrong. The author describes the Russian state as "dependent" on Wagner but this is backwards – as pointed out in the same paragraph, Wagner has received billions in Russian state funding.
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 04/07/2023
Elena Milashina, a prominent Russian investigative journalist who has broken many of the biggest stories about Chechnya and Kadyrov, was kidnapped and brutally beaten outside Grozny as she traveled to cover the trial of a political prisoner. www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66096…
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 27/06/2023
The claims that Prigozhin was in Minsk yesterday were sourced to Telegram posts offering no evidence. The detail about windows appears to come from a joke tweet. CNN reports that Prigozhin flew to Minsk *today.* www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia…
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 27/06/2023
As many people have pointed out, there was a remarkable amount of bad info on Twitter this weekend about the Prigozhin mutiny. In one extreme example, the Senate Intel Chair Mark Warner appears to have fallen for a completely false story and passed it on to be reported by NBC News' Andrea Mitchell.
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Dylan Primakoff @dylanmp.bsky.social · 21/06/2023
Great article by Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Erica Frantz on the (unlikely) prospects for positive political change in postwar Russia. I fully agree with their recommendations for supporting such an outcome. www.foreignaffairs.com/russian-fede…
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