JRL NEWSWATCH: “For nearly a quarter century, an AP correspondent watched the Putin era unfold in Russia” – AP/ Jim Heintz
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“… Russia initially cultivated lively debate and flamboyantly welcomed the world, then gradually choked off freedoms and closed itself off while its citizens fled and uneasy foreigners felt compelled to leave. In 2022, it launched a war against Ukraine that sharply intensified the growing isolation. I spent 24 years … as a Moscow-based [AP] correspondent … cheered by Russia’s steps forward and disheartened by its retreats into anger and animosity. Now assigned to Estonia, I … try to parse Russia’s lost promise — seemingly both inexplicable and inevitable. …”