Russia
Oxxxymirin: Beauty & Ugliness
Grade: A+ I was going to review hyperpop chanteuse Charli XCX’s album this week, but it was such boring, meretricious,…
Inside Putin’s mind
The lessons of Chechnya
Screen off
What Russians watch — and believe
The middleman
Can Turkey’s President broker a peace deal?
Is Putin’s war spreading?
Yerevan, Armenia ‘This is our land,’ Anna says, looking out over her roadside flower shop. ‘Lenin promised it to us.’…
Was Biden’s chemical weapons threat a gaffe?
Did Joe Biden mean to threaten Russia with a chemical weapons attack? That seemed to be what he implied at…
The drone era has arrived
The Ukrainian airforce has so far held out in the battle for the skies. Russia continues to rely on missiles…
Is Germany already backsliding on Russia?
Just three weeks after Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would directly arm Ukraine, Europe’s economic powerhouse is running out…
Boris’s Brexit-Ukraine comparison was a mistake
After years of post-Brexit rancour,the last few weeks have been a striking display of European (not just EU) unity. Britain…
Putin and the Muslim world
Several thousand Muslim Chechen fighters are reportedly massing on the edge of Kiev. Syrian volunteers, filmed this week holding assault…
It doesn’t matter if Putin is mad
Mike Tyson put it simply: ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth’. And Vladimir Putin has…
Why is Putin firing a hypersonic missile in Ukraine?
Putin, like many other belligerent autocrats, does like his Wunderwaffen, or ‘wonder weapons.’ Now it appears he’s even used one…
Is China beginning to distance itself from Russia?
The read-outs from Friday’s two-hour call between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping were so different, that you have to wonder…
The Russian army is running out of momentum
As the Russian invasion enters its fourth week it is clear that its forces are running out of momentum, although…
Russia has never been a part of the West
In 1697 Tsar Peter the Great set out on a great journey across western Europe, seeking the support of European…
The Spectator’s Notes
I remember my father telling me about Imre Nagy’s final broadcast before the Hungarian leader was taken by the Russians…
Biden is right: crypto world needs regulatory control
President Biden’s executive order ‘Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets’ won praise on all sides, an unfamiliar experience for one…
Russia had nothing to do with Brexit
In light of Russia’s abhorrent invasion of Ukraine, certain corners of the internet have become obsessed – yet again – with Russia’s supposed…
The West has to bite its lip for Saudi oil
It would be ridiculous to claim that Boris Johnson’s visit to Saudi Arabia is not morally problematic. He is going…
Ukrainians fear Chechen fighters. Russian soldiers hate them
Residents fleeing the Kiev suburb of Bucha reported Chechens machine-gunning cars, even those with the word ‘children’written in their windscreens.…
Why do Russian tennis stars need to condemn Putin?
Nigel Huddleston is Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society, hardly the biggest job in government. Yet…
Turkish drones are transforming the war in Ukraine
Istanbul, Turkey A cheer rings out in a secret command centre. On the screen, another Russian missile launcher has vanished…
What happens if Russia defaults?
Well down the list of things to worry about as the ghastly Ukrainian tragedy unfolds is the high probability that the…
Putin’s dream of annexing Ukraine is over
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its third week, it is becoming abundantly clear that the Kremlin’s maximalist geopolitical…
What Putin wants
Has the West miscalculated?
