Freitag Reporter Nik Afanasjew Publishes Book on East-West Divide

Nik Afanasjew, a reporter for the German weekly Der Freitag, has published a new book titled Mein Eiserner Vorhang (My Iron Curtain). The book is a personal exploration of the dividing line between East and West, based on his travels. Afanasjew, born in 1982 in Chelyabinsk, Russia, and raised in the Ruhr region, now lives in Berlin. He visited Russia in June 2022, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine, and his reporting from that trip remains relevant. However, he can no longer travel to Russia safely. The book includes a chapter on his first visit to Barentsburg, a Russian settlement on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. Fellow Freitag reporter Martin Leidenfrost also visited Barentsburg in 2024.