Russia
Portrait of the week: Reform’s rising membership, peerages and an 11lb puffball
Home Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said that the party now had more members than the Conservatives. On…
Ed Miliband doesn’t understand how energy pricing works
Are we about to find out the full foolishness of Ed Miliband’s policy of blocking licences for new oil and…
Where have Russia’s Zs gone?
A social media post on 30 December: photographs of admittedly-splendid new year decorations in Moscow, archly captioned ‘back to 2021.’…
Vodka and the Beatles on a New Year’s Eve in Narva
Narva, the northern Estonian city right on the border with Russia, has been much in the news of late. Not…
Why Ukraine killed Igor Kirillov
Another one down. This morning, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of RKhBZ, Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops, was heading…
‘Carried away by those Russians’ – the dreadful fate of Queen Victoria’s granddaughters
The queen’s repeated warnings to Alix and Ella of the danger of marrying Russians were ignored, and both Princesses of Hesse would die appalling deaths at the hands of revolutionaries
Is Ukraine heading towards a Korean-style demilitarised zone?
It is the strangest place, the demilitarised zone (DMZ) that separates South Korea from North Korea. It is simultaneously a…
The deepening unpopularity of Zelensky
Perhaps all political careers must end, inevitably, in failure. But few politicians have had careers as meteoric, as surprising, as…
How to negotiate with Russians
Russians are notorious for an aggressiveness at the negotiating table. In 2017 I met a group of diplomats from eastern…
Russia’s sabotage campaign against the West
When a DHL cargo plane crashed while approaching Vilnius airport on Monday, killing one of the crew, it looked like…
Portrait of the week: Storm Bert, Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire and Putin gives cockatoos to North Korea
Home A white paper outlined measures to counter economic inactivity (which had risen by September to 41.2 per cent among…
Here’s what Putin wants from Ukraine
Donald Trump is still two months away from becoming the 47th president of the United States, and yet his return to…
Could Ukraine go nuclear?
Should Ukraine have nuclear weapons? This is a question that was raised, a little insincerely, by President Zelensky recently as he…
Could Trump save Ukraine?
One thousand days into Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, three facts seem to be evident. First, Russia is losing.…
Ukraine will make the most of its new firepower
Overnight, the news of Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles on Russian soil has been sinking in.…
What will Putin do about Biden’s parting gift to Ukraine?
At the very moment most people seem to have forgotten of his existence, President Biden has slowly but purposefully shuffled…
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…
