Andrew Roth
Andrew Roth reports on how political power is built, defended and tested in Russia and its neighbours, with a focus on what Kremlin decisions mean for people living under them. He combines close tracking of leaders and security elites with on-the-ground reporting from regional cities, border areas and courtrooms. His coverage for the Guardian concentrates on Russian politics, the war in Ukraine and the wider post-Soviet landscape, often through stories that show the gap between official narratives and lived reality.
Kremlin politics and the architecture of power
Roth follows the inner workings of the Russian state, from the presidency and security services down through governors, oligarchs and political technologists.
He reports on constitutional changes, managed elections and elite reshuffles that entrench long-term rule, explaining why seemingly technical legal moves matter for the balance of power. His stories often unpack key moments in Vladimir Putin’s rule, including stages in the Ukraine war, the aftermath of mercenary rebellions and efforts to reassert central control over the regions.
He frequently profiles power brokers around the presidency, tracing how figures in the military, intelligence and business worlds rise, fall or disappear from view. He pays attention to the language of official propaganda and televised messaging, showing how it is used to justify war, repression and economic hardship.
Across these pieces he tends to foreground context and continuity, linking today’s decisions to earlier conflicts, financial crises and political shocks.
War in Ukraine and its regional spillover
A large share of Roth’s recent work tracks Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact across the region. He covers developments on the battlefield, but with an emphasis on what they reveal about Russian military capacity, internal rivalries and public tolerance for casualties.
His reporting follows missile and drone campaigns, cross-border attacks and the shifting front lines, often through accounts from affected towns and cities on both sides of the border.
He returns to the human and political costs of mobilization inside Russia: men being drafted, families separating, and those who leave the country to avoid the draft. He reports on how the war reshapes everyday life, from the economy and consumer prices to school curricula and public displays of patriotism. Beyond Ukraine, he examines how Russian policy plays out in the wider neighbourhood, including tensions in the South Caucasus, pressure on smaller allied states and the use of energy, migration and disinformation as tools of influence.
Repression, opposition and everyday dissent
Roth consistently documents the treatment of opposition politicians, activists and journalists. He reports on arrests, trials and long prison sentences for figures accused of extremism, treason or spreading “fake news” about the army, showing how legal tools are used to neutralise dissent.
His coverage of cases involving prominent opposition leaders and local councillors alike highlights the breadth of the crackdown, not just its most famous targets.
Alongside high-profile prosecutions, he writes about the quieter erosion of civil society: the labelling of organisations and individuals as “foreign agents”, pressure on independent media, and constraints on cultural and academic life.
Many of these pieces are grounded in personal stories, such as families of political prisoners, lawyers and small-town activists, which he uses to illustrate broader patterns of fear, adaptation and low-level resistance. He also notes how public opinion shifts over time, including fatigue with war, economic anxiety and the limits of propaganda.
Sanctions, foreign policy hawks and international pressure
Roth’s political reporting also reaches beyond Russia’s borders to examine how foreign policy hawks use sanctions and diplomatic pressure to reshape other governments’ behaviour. In his coverage of Marco Rubio’s long campaign against the Cuban government, he follows how a US senator pushes sanctions and hardline measures as a personal project, framing the weakening of Havana’s leadership as central to his legacy.
He uses that story to show how individual lawmakers can drive long-running policy shifts with concrete consequences for people on the ground.
More broadly, he tracks how sanctions regimes, asset freezes and legal cases against businessmen, officials and state companies affect the politics he covers. His pieces link external pressure to internal debates within the Russian elite, and to the choices facing smaller states that rely on Russian security or trade. Across this work, he treats foreign policy not as an abstract chessboard but as a field where economic rules, legal instruments and personal ambitions intersect.
Reporting style and formats
Roth’s Guardian archive combines news dispatches, analytical pieces and occasional longer features. He often works from scenes in provincial cities, border regions or court corridors rather than limiting himself to official briefings, and he uses those settings to test the claims made by those in power. His writing is direct and heavily sourced, with a preference for clear explanation over insider jargon or opinionated commentary.
Across beats and formats, his reporting is marked by a steady focus on accountability: who makes decisions, whose interests they serve and how they are enforced. Whether he is covering Kremlin manoeuvres, the course of the war in Ukraine, the jailing of an opposition figure or the efforts of a foreign politician to topple a distant government, he returns to the same core questions about power, pressure and the cost for ordinary people.
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Adam Daly
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Adam Pack
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Adam Sullivan
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