Sam Breazeale

Riga, Latvia

Senior News Editor at Meduza.io

Senior News Editor at @meduza_en

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Articles

Surveilling Putin’s ‘shadow fleet’ Meduza’s dispatch from the Baltic Sea, where a new NATO mission aims to protect undersea infrastructure as tensions rise with Russia - Meduza

2 months ago | meduza.io | Sam Breazeale

The Baltic Sea handles around 15 percent of global shipping traffic — approximately 2,500 vessels daily, according to researcher Julian Pawlak. A rising number of these ships belong to Russia’s “shadow fleet,” a group of hundreds of aging, poorly regulated oil tankers that Moscow uses to bypass Western sanctions.
Not just the war Three key issues to watch in Russia-U.S. relations as Trump takes the reins — Meduza

Jan 20, 2025 | meduza.io | Sam Breazeale

As Donald Trump takes the oath of office for the second time, the world is waiting to see how he’ll seek to end Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine — something he’s previously said he would do within 24 hours (and, later, before his inauguration). But the nearly three-year-old conflict is just one of numerous interlaced geopolitical challenges involving an increasingly bold Russia that will affect the United States. Meduza explores three other critical issues Trump will have to navigate.
Medical cannabis will soon become legal in Ukraine. What will this look like and why now? — Meduza

Jun 23, 2024 | meduza.io | Sam Breazeale

On February 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed into law a bill legalizing the use of cannabis for medical purposes. The new law is set to take effect in August 2024. But not everyone is happy: a large contingent of politicians and activists insist the legislation will be useless for Ukrainian patients without some serious fine tuning. Meduza explains how the initiative made it through parliament and what problems it aims to solve.
‘He had no chance’ Ilya Bakharev thought joining the Russian army would be a ticket to exoneration. His unit mates tortured him to death. — Meduza

Apr 9, 2024 | meduza.io | Sam Breazeale

Like countless other Russian men, Ilya Bakharev thought joining the war against Ukraine was a path to redemption. Though he wasn’t recruited directly from prison, Ilya had a criminal record, and he spoke openly to his wife about his hope that going to war would keep their son from seeing him as just an ex-con.
‘We’re here and we’ll keep fighting’ How an underground women’s movement fights back against Russian forces in occupied Ukraine — Meduza

Mar 27, 2024 | meduza.io | Sam Breazeale

Multiple methods of statistical analysis have confirmed: Russia’s most recent presidential election was the most fabricated in the country’s modern history. The Russian authorities claim that Vladimir Putin received an eye-popping 87.3 percent of the vote, with more than 90 percent of voters “supporting” him in most of Ukraine’s occupied territories.
‘People don’t want to vote’ How the Kremlin plans to compensate for Russians’ record-low interest in the country’s upcoming election — Meduza

Mar 3, 2024 | meduza.io | Sam Breazeale

The Russian authorities have a dilemma, according to Meduza’s sources: with less suspense than ever about who will win the country’s presidential election later this month, voter interest is historically low. And because Russia is currently facing a labor shortage, “corporate mobilization” strategies (in which government-dependent employees are pressured into enlisting their friends and relatives to go to the polls) are set to be less effective than usual this year.
Silence and success Ukrainian-born singer Anna Asti became a superstar in Russia by ignoring the war. Then she attended the ‘almost naked’ party. — Meduza

Jan 3, 2024 | meduza.io | Sam Breazeale

Two weeks ago, Anna Asti seemed poised to finish 2023 on a high note. The Ukrainian-born singer had drawn huge crowds during her latest tour of Russia, her new album had dominated the Russian charts for months, and her childhood pop idol, Philipp Kirkorov had dubbed her the country’s “number one” singer. Then she made the mistake of attending blogger and TV presenter Nastya Ivleeva’s “almost naked” party in Moscow.
Lena and the Wolfs One family’s story of separation and survival in the Soviet Union — Meduza

Dec 21, 2023 | meduza.io | Sam Breazeale

Story by Sam Breazeale for The Beet. Edited by Eilish Hart. This story first appeared in The Beet, a weekly email dispatch from Meduza covering Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia. Sign up here to get the next issue delivered directly to your inbox. In 2018, Lena Wolf was invited to a friend’s wedding in St. Petersburg. As a German citizen living in the U.K., Lena had to apply for a visa for what would be her first-ever trip to Russia.
The fate of the Daugava How the fight to save a river gave rise to Latvia’s independence movement — Meduza

Aug 29, 2023 | meduza.io | Sam Breazeale |Katya Balaban

Story by Katya Balaban for The Beet. Translation by Sam Breazeale. In the aftermath of World War II, Moscow set out to build a cascade of hydroelectric power stations in Soviet-occupied Latvia. But popular opposition to the looming loss of natural monuments along the Daugava River proved to be a stumbling block — one that grew increasingly insurmountable as the decades-long project marched on.

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Sam Breazeale @SamBreazeale2

13 Jun 25

A 35-year-old woman in Siberia on Russia Day vs. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Russia Day https://t.co/eSW18LwMeI

Sam Breazeale @SamBreazeale2

6 Jun 25

My report from NATO defense ministers’ last meeting in Brussels before the Alliance’s annual summit in The Hague later this month.

Meduza in English @meduza_en

NATO defense ministers met to discuss new, bolder defense plans and spending targets ahead of the bloc’s upcoming summit. Here’s what officials had to say about the new plans, the threat of future Russian aggression, and Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb. https://t.co/Xcv2BQhKrS

Sam Breazeale @SamBreazeale2

29 May 25

"And then I’d sit in on yet another [online] safety training for journalists, listening to exiles telling me how important it is to 'follow safety protocols' — and it would drive me up the wall." More invaluable reporting from @lilia_yapparova. https://t.co/EhG3wK6bac

Sam Breazeale

Articles

Surveilling Putin’s ‘shadow fleet’ Meduza’s dispatch from the Baltic Sea, where a new NATO mission aims to protect undersea infrastructure as tensions rise with Russia - Meduza

Not just the war Three key issues to watch in Russia-U.S. relations as Trump takes the reins — Meduza

Medical cannabis will soon become legal in Ukraine. What will this look like and why now? — Meduza

‘He had no chance’ Ilya Bakharev thought joining the Russian army would be a ticket to exoneration. His unit mates tortured him to death. — Meduza

‘We’re here and we’ll keep fighting’ How an underground women’s movement fights back against Russian forces in occupied Ukraine — Meduza

‘People don’t want to vote’ How the Kremlin plans to compensate for Russians’ record-low interest in the country’s upcoming election — Meduza

Silence and success Ukrainian-born singer Anna Asti became a superstar in Russia by ignoring the war. Then she attended the ‘almost naked’ party. — Meduza

Lena and the Wolfs One family’s story of separation and survival in the Soviet Union — Meduza

The fate of the Daugava How the fight to save a river gave rise to Latvia’s independence movement — Meduza

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