Smolny Beyond Borders faculty members – historian of Stalinist terror and RIMA archive co-founder Ilya Venyavkin, and social journalist Vera Shengeliya – spoke with Ekaterina Gordeeva about life after leaving Russia, the war, historical memory, and human rights work.

Much of the conversation focused on Ilya’s new book Temple of War: The People and Ideas That Made Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine Possible. They also discuss rebuilding one’s profession, language, and everyday life in emigration; why support for people with disabilities within the Russian system eventually becomes impossible; and how major political values,  freedom, equality, and justice, ultimately rest on simple human foundations: trust, care, family, and hope.