Russia
Nyet to Dr No
Last year I wrote a piece about James Bond for the ‘Freelance’ column of the Times Literary Supplement. All true…
From Russia with love
The enduring appeal of The Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky’s ravishing score is nothing less than the sound of Christmas
Is Vladimir Putin really willing to invade Ukraine?
Is Putin preparing to invade Ukraine? It certainly looks that way, with western intelligence agencies estimating this week that around…
The battle for Ukraine has already been lost
Forget the ‘commitment‘ of the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Ukraine’s sovereignty, the EU’s ‘firm and decisive’ support, and…
Britain’s duty to the Black Sea
With Russian troops massing on Ukraine’s borders, the Black Sea is looking choppy. While that may seem to have little…
Putting on the glitz
From quartz to quince: Daisy Dunn on the art and science of Fabergé
Ukrainian annexation is already happening
Nato and the EU are fearing a Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine. They have reason to be concerned, given that Russia…
Is Russia preparing to invade Ukraine?
I can still hear the battlefields of eastern Ukraine. Just a mile or so from us, thousands of Russian troops…
Putin’s plan for Ukraine
Vladimir Putin’s message was as clear — and familiar — as his method. The Kremlin has begun another major build-up of troops…
Lukashenko and Putin are exploiting Europe’s migration muddle
At the border of Belarus and Poland, camps of migrants wait for a chance to cross the border into the…
How Turkey is fuelling the Belarus-Poland migrant crisis
In the cold, damp forest lining the border between Poland and Belarus, thousands of refugees flown over from the Middle…
Cold War, hot planet
Chelyabinsk is one of the most polluted places in the world. On 29 September 1957, an explosion ripped through the…
The end of the affair
The story of the Cambridge spies has been served up so often that it has become stale — too detailed,…
Is Russia ready for life after Putin?
When Russians headed to the polls last week, the Duma election results were never in doubt: Putin’s United Russiaparty won…
Russian spies and the return of the Cold War
Last week’s arrest of a security guard employed at the British embassy in Berlin, on suspicion of spying for Russia,…
More diplomacy won’t stop the advance of the Taliban
On 11 August, at Russia’s initiative, an ‘extended troika’ will meet in Doha, Qatar to take stock of the Taliban’s…
Why Russia’s Olympic punishment backfired
The Tokyo Olympics are over and fifth place in the medals table went to the ‘ROC’, the Russian Olympic Committee.…
Springtime for Putin
Alexander Litvinenko lies in a London hospital, dying of polonium poisoning. That photograph from 2006 haunts the memory: the medical…
Ella Pamfilova and the dismantling of Russia’s democracy
Vladimir Putin’s Russia is hardly known for its free and fair elections. But a purge of the field ahead of…
The EU is failing to stand up for eastern Europe
Will the EU stand up for eastern Europe? This question is now being asked by Ukraine following the announcement of…
Why Joe Biden’s Russia-bashing is a tactical mistake
You might not think that Geoff Norcott, the self-proclaimed conservative comedian, has something to contribute to western relations with Russia,…
How Macron was outfoxed by a dead Napoleonic general
Skeletons don’t always lurk in cupboards, some of them hide under dance floors waiting for a particularly rousing party to…
Inside a dictator’s playground
Armed soldiers guard the barbed-wire compound. Helicopters buzz around the parameter, drifting above families on tandem bicycles. Groups of giggling…
The Soviet spectre haunting Afghanistan
As US and British forces pull out of Afghanistan, further victims of the ‘grave of empires’, Russia is experiencing a mix…
The Kremlin’s plan to destabilise the West
On Sunday, Russia releasedits new National Security Strategy. In many ways, it picked up from where the 2015 version left…
