While Germany’s Scholz has chosen to walk a tightrope, France’s Macron has made a major U-turn on. While differences between Berlin and Paris are not new, the intensifying war in Ukraine has changed the situation.
Category: Russia-Ukraine War
After Friday’s terrorist attack in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to lay blame on Ukraine, even while all signs point to Islamic State terrorists, can’t undo the reality that jihadism remains a major challenge that the Kremlin wishes would just go away.
Pope Francis appears incapable of grasping that for Ukraine to “raise the white flag” would be to concede defeat, and accept the victory of evil over good. Is he a poor theologian or a poor global strategist, or both?
Celebrating his reelection and the 10th anniversary of the annexation of Crimea on Monday, Vladimir Putin showed that he is not backing down. And he signaled that he will redouble his efforts in the invasion of Ukraine as well as his psychological war with the West.
In a quarter of a century under the regime of the former KGB agent, members of the Russian security forces have imposed their growing stronghold on politics and the economy. But the Russian presidential election is also an admission of their weakness with their president failing to build a state strong enough to carry on without them.
While three “challengers” are on the ballot in Russia’s presidential election which ends Sunday, none of the bonafide members of the opposition were approved for the vote. The only organized protest movement was launched from prison by Alexei Navalny, several weeks before he died, with crowds of opponents lining up to demonstrate against President Vladimir Putin
President Vladimir Putin is just a vessel for a longstanding Russian psychology that is simultaneously expansionist and worried about external threats on the Motherland.
The French President has lost all hope in reasoning with Putin, hardening his tone toward Moscow after trying to position himself at the outset as a mediating force.
Latin American governments have barely denounced the Russian attack on Ukraine, partly for lingering distrust of the United States. But there is also a regional misperception of Russia as a new Soviet Union and friend of “lesser nations” struggling for betterment.
Ukrainian drones that struck nine Russian provinces on Tuesday while armed Russian dissident soldiers launched a ground attack against Moscow’s troops in the Bolgorod region, bordering Ukraine. It’s a reminder to the Russian people that the war is on them, and won’t be ending anytime soon.
The “pearl of the Black Sea” was the scene of the single Ukrainian military victory in 2023, when the country broke the maritime blockade imposed by Moscow. But, as a third year under the bombs begins, the first cracks appear among the port city’s residents, who are torn between weariness, anger toward Ukraine’s leaders and an insatiable passion to live a full life.
Despite Western sanctions against doing business in Russia, and Renishaw’s promises that it has closed its business there, Russian defense plants continue to receive both measuring equipment and software from the British engineering company.
Since the war began, an estimated 2,500 children have been transferred from Ukraine to Russia, where local authorities are training potential foster parents on how to raise these “children from the combat zone” and “work with their national identity.”
Ukrainian journalist and soldier Pavlo Kazarin reflects on what he has learned about dealing with time, taking control of circumstances, and living in this historic era since enlisting in the army.
Russians have long waged systematic and effective disinformation campaigns. Roman Vybranovskyi considers “active measures” that have been successful in the past, and what can be done to fight them today, notably in Ukraine.
With private military companies (PMCs) multiplying in Russia, on the model of the Wagner Group, the billionaire Rotenberg brothers, friends of Putin, are creating their own private army of football fans.
Beyond the embarrassment for the German military, and Moscow’s exploitation for propaganda purposes, the deeper significance of the intercepted conversations is in how far European unity remains on the war in Ukraine.
The fact that the Ukrainian army has been forced onto the defensive is mainly due to sluggish support from the West. However, there is another factor at play that is contributing to the dangerous situation: the leadership approach of President Zelensky is being increasingly called into question.
With men leaving for the front, Ukrainian women have stepped in to fill the void, notably in the coal industry. A reportage from the mines of the Dnipropetrovsk region to see how women are faring in this male-dominated field.
Three days after Emmanuel Macron’s statement on deploying troops to Ukraine, Putin warned that such a move could provoke nuclear war. It’s a serious threat that has regularly resurfaced over the past two years. So far, we’re all still here.
With his funeral under way today, many are discovering the Putin critic’s Orthodox faith — which he did not speak much about. His very personal take on Christianity, although separated from his moral vision, paints him as the polar opposite of the president, who only believes in fear and terror.
The authorities of the pro-Russian breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldava have asked for “protection” from Russia, which has been quick to respond. It is a blatantly “engineered-from-scratch” crisis in a region bordering Ukraine. This tiny territory may be the next place on the world map to watch.
Why join in on a presidential debate when you can start a war or eliminate political opponents. That’s how to get your “policy” prescription across. But in a sham of a democracy, you need elections and you need debates — with the comfort of knowing the other candidates will make your talking points for you.
The French president’s suggestion that Western troops could be sent to Ukraine, took Western allies by surprise. Yet Macron wanted to send a double message at a key moment — to ally and adversary alike.
French President Emmanuel Macron crossed a line, at least rhetorically, in saying that the West doesn’t exclude sending troops to help Ukraine defend itself from Russia. Yet it may be time for the Western alliance to acknowledge that they’ve actually entered direct conflict with Moscow long before.
Reports abound of forced mobilization taking place in the Chechen Republic, where the regime of Ramzam Kadyrov, in an effort to gain Vladimir Putin’s favor, is using pressure and blackmail to force its men to join the Russian war effort.
Real estate is booming in Ukraine, even as the war with Russia has fundamentally changed where people want to live, and in what kind of buildings. There is, in any case, a lot of activity as lives are uprooted — and a general preference for lower floors.
As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, results of a survey suggest that only one European out of ten thinks that Ukraine will come out of this war with a victory. While their support has not shifted towards Russia, the poll results give an insight into how fatigue is playing in citizens’ minds — and what European governments have to put up with if they want to continue supporting an expensive war.
In not condemning Russia and openly siding with Israel, India’s foreign policy establishment is merely jettisoning the thin layer of politically-expedient, feel-good idealistic post-colonialism that veils an iron-fisted pragmatism.
Russian authorities have said they will need two weeks before releasing the body of Putin critic Alexei Navalny, who died in prison on Friday. His widow says this is enough time for traces of lethal nerve agents to dissipate. In an interview with Agenstvo, one of the Soviet creators of the Novichok poison weighs in.
There are many analogies between 1916 and 2024, two years into World War I and the War in Ukraine respectively. It offers a clear way to try to understand what may happen next in Ukraine — and the world.
“If heroes were to ask themselves each time about the risks they face, then they would never accomplish their feats…”
Space may be the true battleground of the future, which explains Washington’s growing concerns over Russia’s alleged plans for deploying anti-satellite weapons. Yet what if not even this can push Trump and his Republican allies to support Kyiv?
It’s what we call lighting a counter-fire. At a time when U.S. support for Ukraine is under threat, Europe is coming together. But can it fill the void that may be left by Washington?
Longtime Putin critic Alexei Navalny has died in prison at the age of 47, sparking outrage inside and outside of Russia. While widely esteemed for his courage challenging the Kremlin, the Russian politician’s views on Ukraine were more ambiguous. Here’s a commentary by a Ukrainian writer after a documentary last year about his struggle won an Academy Award.
With Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas suddenly appearing on Moscow’s wanted list, both the past and present offer plenty of evidence that the small Baltic nation — with 40% Russian speakers — could be the next neighbor after Ukraine in the Kremlin’s crosshairs.
While Ukrainians may be hoping for Russia to disintegrate, history shows otherwise. Only when Putin’s authoritarian regime will come down, will it be possible for Chechens, Dagestanis, Buryats, Yakuts, or Bashkortostans to gain any kind of autonomy or democracy vis a vis Moscow.
With Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas put on Russia’s Most Wanted list, Tallinn is drawing up clear plans on how it intends to secure its border with Russia — an idea it shares with Latvia and Lithuania. But the three small countries don’t have the territorial or strategic depth to absorb an attack the way Ukraine did, which is why they ultimately rely on NATO.
Andrei Akimov runs state-controlled Gazprombank and is part of the Russian leader’s inner circle, aligned with the condemnation of the “collective West” conflict. He also oversees a web of luxury holdings across the same West, thanks to schemes to hide behind the names of relatives.
A video is fueling speculation about Ukrainian military activities in Africa that appears to show the capture of Wagner mercenaries in Sudan. Kyiv is cooperating with the army in the African nation in the fight against the RSF militia supported by Wagner — in a sort of proxy war far from home.