Ukraine closure of Gazprom pipeline to Europe hurts Russia’s war effort but leaves Transnistrians in the cold: Kyiv has finally turned off Russia’s gas supply to Europe, ending a source of income that helped pay for Moscow’s war against Ukraine. The decades-old deal, which allowed the transit of natural gas produced by Russian energy giant …
Russia’s reasons for invading Ukraine – however debatable – shouldn’t be ignored in a peace deal: Recent developments in the US presidential campaign have pushed the question of how to resolve the war in Ukraine war up the agenda. With a Republican presidential victory looking increasingly likely, reports suggest Donald Trump would quickly demand that …
Ukraine war: Russia’s hard line at European security meeting ratchets up tensions another notch: After many months of diplomatic wrangling, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) was granted another lease of life at the annual ministerial council meeting last week in a messy compromise between Russia and the west. But rather than …
Russia’s decision to ditch cold war arms limitation treaty raises tensions with Nato: Russia has pulled out of an important cold war-era treaty which limited categories of conventional military equipment that Nato and the then-Warsaw Pact could deploy. The 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) was intended to use the warming of …
Russia’s plan to relocate its Black Sea naval base from Crimea is priceless for Ukraine’s morale: With Russia on the offensive around Avdiivka in the east of Ukraine, most commentators’ attention is once again focused on the battlefield on land. But it’s also crucial to keep a close watch on what is happening in the …
Putin and Xi: Beijing Belt and Road meeting highlighted Russia’s role as China’s junior partner: The third Belt and Road Forum held in Beijing recently attracted fewer heads of state or senior officials than the previous forums in 2017 and 2019. There were 11 European presidents and prime ministers at the 2019 forum. But last …
Ukraine: Russia’s losses mount — but self-sacrifice in war is part of the country’s mythology: A recent intelligence report published by the UK’s Ministry of Defence about Russia’s attempt to capture the town of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region is the latest illustration of just how much the conflict in Ukraine is becoming a war …
How Russia’s theatre scene has been obliterated by Putin’s culture war: View from stage of Moscow's Vakhtangov Theatre. Pavel L Photo and Video/Shutterstock Over the past decade, Russian president Vladimir Putin’s regime has introduced ideologically driven cultural policies intended to shape a new, virtuous Russian citizen for the future. For those – like Putin himself …
Russia’s disastrous decision to invade Poland in 1920 has parallels with Putin’s rhetoric over Ukraine: Polish defences near Milosna, west of Warsaw, August 1920. Wikimedia Commons From the beginning, Russia has framed its invasion of Ukraine as necessary for the defence of the country. According to Vladimir Putin, Nato’s deliberate and aggressive encroachment into a …
Ukraine war: two good reasons the world should worry about Russia’s arms purchases from North Korea: US national security council official John Kirby noted on August 30 that arms transfer negotiations between North Korea and Russia are “actively advancing” as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, seeks to feed his war machine. Under an array of …
Ukraine war: Russia’s threat to station nuclear warheads in Belarus – what you need to know: The threat of Russia using nuclear weapons in Ukraine is “real” and “absolutely irresponsible”, according to the US president, Joe Biden. He was reacting to questioning from journalists as to whether he believed Belarus had been taking delivery of …
Russia’s appeal to ‘warrior masculinity’ is unlikely to encourage men to enlist in the army: In his May 9 Victory Parade speech, Russian president Vladimir Putin likened the war in Ukraine to the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, saying “real war” had been unleashed against Russia. He is reported to be planning …
Ukraine war: why WWI comparisons can lead to underestimates of Russia’s strengths: The current conflict in Ukraine frequently elicits parallels with the first world war. It’s a comparison being made by politicians, journalists, analysts and military personnel. Coverage over the past winter months, for example, has focused on how Ukrainians are fighting in WWI-like muddy …
Gleb Pavlovsky obituary: the man who turned Vladimir Putin into Russia’s action man: Vladimir Putin’s former adviser and spin doctor Gleb Pavlovsky, who has died aged 71, was once described as “Putin’s Karl Rove”. He was the man who got things done in the Kremlin, like Rove did for his political master, George W. Bush. …
Ukraine: Russia’s inability to dominate the sea has changed the course of the war: Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a year ago, most of the fighting has been on land. However, there has also been a less visible – but nonetheless crucial – maritime dimension to the war across the full spectrum of tactical, strategic, …
Wagner Group in Africa: Russia’s presence on the continent increasingly relies on mercenaries: Getty Images Mercenaries have been a fixture in Africa since the second half of the 20th century. They have been used to protect incumbent leaders or install new ones in conflict zones. Their offering – guns for hire – has remained essentially …
Ukraine war: life on Russia’s home front after ten months of conflict: It’s been a year since I last visited Russia. Back then, most people I met thought the prospects of a war with Ukraine were very remote, despite the massive troops build-up on the border. So I was curious to see how attitudes had …
China and Russia’s uneven relationship can be explained with one word: Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, China’s reaction in response to the Russian aggression has been fiercely debated in the western media. The majority of the discussions have focused on one particular term: “no-limits friendship” – a phrase believed to have been taken from …