Ukraine

Could Biden gaffe us into world war three?

27 March 2022 9:19 pm

‘I want your point of view, Joe,’ Barack Obama once told his vice-president Joe Biden. ‘I just want it in…

Why Russian tactics won't win the war

26 March 2022 7:31 pm

As the Russian invasion of Ukraine enters its second month, the war has settled into a largely attritional struggle –…

It’s no surprise that traffickers are targeting Ukraine

26 March 2022 7:00 pm

Over the past weeks, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I have witnessed individuals expressing shock and disbelief at the…

In praise of amateurs

26 March 2022 9:00 am

Two weeks ago in St Moritz I ran into both Nicolas Niarchos and Nikolai von Bismarck, two talented young men…

The West needs to spread doubt and fear

26 March 2022 9:00 am

Zakhar Prilepin is a well-known novelist in Russia and an ultra-nationalist warrior in Donbas. Once a member of the National…

Portrait of the week: Spring statement, weapons for Ukraine and no more free-range eggs

26 March 2022 9:00 am

Home Britain had provided Ukraine with more than 4,000 Next Generation Light Anti-tank Weapons, the Ministry of Defence said. Shell…

Why I’ve stayed in Kyiv

26 March 2022 9:00 am

I write this from my Kyiv air raid shelter. It has become my second home, an improvised bedroom, study and…

Inside Putin’s mind: the lessons of Chechnya

26 March 2022 9:00 am

The lessons of Chechnya

Kirill, the Patriarch in league with Putin

26 March 2022 9:00 am

The Patriarch in league with Putin

What TV is telling Russians – and why they believe it

26 March 2022 9:00 am

What Russians watch — and believe

The call of a blackbird’s full-throated song

26 March 2022 9:00 am

Speaking pretty good English, Dr Tayeb came straight to the point. Was I eligible for the ground breaking new cancer…

Why I drove a lorry to Poland

26 March 2022 9:00 am

‘Why the hell did you hire a lorry without a spare tyre?’ asked Rizvana. Fair question. Luckily we had just…

Is Putin's war spreading?

26 March 2022 12:20 am

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?

25 March 2022 11:56 pm

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

23 March 2022 7:05 pm

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?

22 March 2022 10:40 pm

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

22 March 2022 4:00 am

After years of post-Brexit rancour,the last few weeks have been a striking display of European (not just EU) unity. Britain…

Francis Fukuyama on Ukraine, liberalism and identity politics

22 March 2022 3:00 am

This week, Sam Leith spoke to Francis Fukuyama – the author of ‘The End of History and the Last Man’ and…

Bono's 'poem' was an insult to the craft of verse

21 March 2022 6:00 pm

‘Poet’, said Robert Frost, ‘is a praise-word’. So it is. That explains in part the unabashed delight with which Colm…

Putin and the Muslim world

21 March 2022 1:02 am

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

20 March 2022 8:00 pm

Mike Tyson put it simply: ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth’. And Vladimir Putin has…

How to fix Britain’s broken asylum system

20 March 2022 7:00 pm

Asylum is often seen as a simple morality tale—the generous spirited are in favour of it, the hard-hearted against. And…

Why is Putin firing a hypersonic missile in Ukraine?

20 March 2022 5:00 pm

Putin, like many other belligerent autocrats, does like his Wunderwaffen, or ‘wonder weapons.’ Now it appears he’s even used one…

The Russian army is running out of momentum

19 March 2022 8:29 pm

As the Russian invasion enters its fourth week it is clear that its forces are running out of momentum, although…

Is Putin really losing?

19 March 2022 9:00 am

I remember my father telling me about Imre Nagy’s final broadcast before the Hungarian leader was taken by the Russians…