Russia
Were the Arctic convoy sacrifices worth it?
Stalin privately admitted that his army could never have triumphed without western aid, and the convoys also indirectly helped the war in the Atlantic – but the loss of life was horrendous
Meet the western conservatives moving to Russia
Tofurious Maximus Crane was sitting in a barber’s chair in Moscow when he received the greatest news of his life.…
Can Zelensky and Putin do a deal?
Warring parties often strike deals. Exchanges of prisoners, ceasefires to deliver aid, covert talks between intelligence services – and eventually,…
Is Stalin-worship back in Russia?
As if the Russian political barometer hasn’t fallen low enough, news comes that it has yet to reach the bottom…
What does ‘victory’ for Ukraine look like?
This week in New York Volodymyr Zelensky will present Joe Biden with a ‘Victory Plan’ for Ukraine. But how to…
It’s time to let Ukraine join Nato
Kyiv The young amputee had a question. We were sitting once again in the rehab centre in Kyiv, and I…
Portrait of the week: Sir Keir’s tax warning, Russian air attacks and another prisons crisis
Home Sir Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, speaking in the garden of 10 Downing Street, warned that the Budget in…
What China wants from Russia
On the face of it, the ‘no limits’ partnership between Russia and China declared weeks before Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine…
Letters: we have let down white, working-class boys
The lost boys Sir: The only statement in your powerful leading article (‘Boy trouble’, 17 August) which can be challenged…
What’s the real aim of Ukraine’s Russian offensive?
On Monday morning, Vladimir Putin was briefed about Ukraine’s audacious invasion of Russian territory. With his military chiefs in front…
Zelensky’s new offensive could push Putin to the brink
A Russian friend speaking from Kursk tells me the latest war joke. Vladimir Putin summons Stalin’s ghost. ‘Comrade Stalin!’ asks…
Hungary is stretching the EU’s patience to its limit
Hungary is no stranger to spats with its European neighbours. Under prime minister Viktor Orbán’s leadership, it has exercised veto…
The new alliances dedicated to destroying democracy
Despite their diverse ideologies, autocracies in China, Iran, Russia and Latin America are increasingly collaborating to sabotage a rules-based international order
Could Ukrainians ever trust a Putin peace deal?
Last week at the Buxton International Festival I joined a big audience for an onstage interview with Anna Reid. She’s…
From the front line of the battle to save Kharkiv
Kharkiv region Moonlight shines on the wings of the reconnaissance drone as it glides over the field. Within minutes, the…
The rape of Ukraine continues while the world’s sympathies move on
Two detailed, on-the-ground accounts from Andrey Kurkov and Oleksandr Mykhed remind us of the atrocities that are changing life in Ukraine forever
Notes from a bomb site
Kyiv For weeks, Kyiv had felt relatively safe compared with just about everywhere else in Ukraine. People had adjusted to…
Brexit has helped the EU
There was hardly an election poster to be seen on the roadside during a two-hour drive from London to the…
What the National Rally means for France’s foreign policy
The electoral turmoil in France threatens its status as a world power. Friendly nations are despairing; rivals and enemies are…
Putin is trying to annexe people, not just land
On 1 September 2021, six months before his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin was speaking at the All-Russian Children’s…
My return to Ukraine
I arrive at Lviv station just before 9 a.m. As the clock strikes, the conductor announces a minute’s silence: a daily…
Sending US contractors to Ukraine could provoke Moscow
Call it ‘slippery slope’ or ‘mission creep’, America’s strategy for helping Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion has adapted…
The myth and memory of Yevgeny Prigozhin
Yesterday was the one-year anniversary of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny, when his Wagner mercenaries seized the city of Rostov-on-Don and sent…
Zelensky’s peace summit flop
Ukraine’s allies are running out of patience
The pleasure of reliving foreign travel through food
Russian hand pies, Polish chlodnik, Turkish fruit compote and a Latvian trifle are among the many dishes recreated in Edinburgh by the globetrotting Caroline Eden
