The magnificent Atkinsons: rigours of travel in 19th-century Russia
Russia has always attracted a certain breed of foreigner: adventurers, drawn to the country’s vastness and emptiness; chancers, seeking fortunes…
Why the Romanovs were doomed
The true tragedy of the last Romanovs was a failure of imagination. Both during his last disastrous months in office…
Putin says he’s making Russia great again. In reality, it’s crumbling
This is Putin’s time. Next week, the Fifa World Cup kicks off in Moscow, and the Kremlin has spared no…
Vladimir Putin’s toxic power
Vladimir Putin’s spies have a dizzying variety of weapons at their disposal. This week Britain learned of a new one:…
For Putin, the World Cup is not about football but global respect
Authoritarian regimes love grand international sporting events. There’s something about the mass regimentation, the set-piece spectacle, the old-fashioned idea of…
A love letter to Turkey’s lost past
Patricia Daunt’s collection of essays is a fascinating exploration of some of Turkey’s most beautiful and evocative places, from the…
The hunger
In 1933 my aunt Lenina Bibikova was eight years old. She lived in Kharkov, Ukraine. Every morning a polished black…
Putin’s winning in Syria – but making a powerful new enemy
Russia’s bombing of the city of Aleppo this week sent a clear message: Vladimir Putin is now in charge of…
How Putin outwitted the West
Saddam Hussein hanged: is Iraq a better place? A safer place? Gaddafi murdered in front of the viewers: is Libya…
Can Putin ban homosexuality and endorse polygamy? Yes he can
Homosexuality may not be tolerated in today’s Russia, nor political dissent. Polygamy, though, is a different matter. Ever since news…
Panic, profiteering and a mysterious girl in a Mini: notes from Moscow
Moscow Here we go again. The rouble slides, then tumbles, and slides again. For those of us who remember the…
Letter from Donetsk: peace, with missile attacks
For what is technically peacetime, there’s a lot of shelling going on round here. Donetsk airport is still held by…
Meet Vladimir Putin's real challengers (they're even worse than he is)
Strange times throw up strange heroes — and in Russia’s proxy war with Ukraine, none is more enigmatic than the…
Vladimir Putin’s empire of lies
According to Russian state television, flight MH17 was shot down by Ukrainian government forces who believed they were targeting Vladimir…
No, Putin didn’t plot to invade Ukraine. But now he might have to
So what, exactly, does Vladimir Putin want? ‘To start World War Three,’ according to the embattled Ukrainian prime minister Arseny…
How did revolution become Istanbul's new normal?
On a recent weekend I was thinking of taking my sons to downtown Istanbul to do some bazaar browsing. ‘Bad…
Let Putin have Crimea – and it will destroy him
David Cameron says that Russia’s annexation of Crimea ‘will not be recognised’. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk promises that ‘we…
Vladimir Putin's new plan for world domination
It’s been a generation or so since Russians were in the business of shaping the destiny of the world, and…
Putin’s own Cold War
Whose side is Vladimir Putin on? It’s a question worth asking, because of late the Kremlin has come closer and…
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