Russia
The devil comes calling
The sinister Sergeant Bertrand arrives in a ‘provincial, mediocre’ Russian town to wreak havoc in the lives of a couple mourning the loss of their son
Brute forces
The Wagner Group isn’t Russia’s only private army
The Wagner uprising has left Putin isolated
Both Vladimir Putin and the mercenary Wagner Group have been dramatically weakened by yesterday’s attempted coup. Wagner’s nominal leader, Yevgeny…
This failed coup will be just the beginning
Yevgeny Prigozhin has just exposed the full extent of Vladimir Putin’s weakness. In less than 24 hours, the leader of…
Prigozhin leaves Rostov
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, has left Rostov-on-Don and ended the armed insurrection against Vladimir Putin.…
Portrait of the Week
Home Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, was ritually buried by the House of Commons voting by 354 to seven…
Putin’s nuclear reshuffle is designed to antagonise Nato
Days before Nato leaders descend on Vilnius for the alliance’s annual summit next month, things will be afoot just across…
All quiet on the western front
Zoe Strimpel talks to the anti-Putin Russian artists who have been cancelled since the invasion of Ukraine
Baltic view
Lithuania’s Prime Minister on what a Ukrainian victory would look like
Putin’s last laugh
There was much mirth in the West this week when Vladimir Putin’s Victory Day parade through Red Square included just…
Should Ukrainians stop speaking Russian?
A young woman called Lyudmila walks into a cafe in Odessa, the southern Ukrainian city. Her phone is switched on…
Can we brainwash our enemies?
Disinformation is on the rise, and Britain’s spies are on the back foot. Our intelligence leaders warn about election meddling,…
China is playing the long game over peace in Ukraine
At the Munich Security Conference over the weekend, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi announced that his country was currently in…
Why Putin needs Prigozhin
It’s been a tense couple of weeks for Yevgeny Prigozhin, the businessman and founder the of Wagner Group of mercenaries.…
Ukraine needs more than tanks
What weapons will Ukraine get next? It’s a crucial question that matters perhaps more than anything else for understanding how…
Why Putin won’t take Hitler’s way out
The last time Europe fought a major war, there was no shortage of planning. We knew what peace meant. Winston…
How many Russians have fled?
Ever since the war in Ukraine started there have been reports about Russians emigrating, either fleeing conscription or simply dismayed…
Dog days of the USSR
Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone – even the title makes you want to scream – is Adam Curtis’s Metal Machine Music: the…
Portrait of the week
Home Rishi Sunak, aged 42, became Prime Minister. At the weekend Boris Johnson had flown back from a holiday in…
