How Putin prepared elite troops for Ukraine
A deadly crackdown on an uprising in Kazakhstan in January held lessons for the invasion of Ukraine the following month.
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Discover the latest New Statesman content on Russia, exploring the politics, culture and economy of the nation. Insightful coverage and analysis of the war in Ukraine and Putin’s presidency.
Nato unity faces scrutiny as defences to protect the Baltic states ramp up
The war in Ukraine will dominate this week's summit in Madrid, including the admission of Finland and Sweden as members.
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Paralysis in Moscow: why Putin persists with his strategy
The Russian president realises he must pick his fights carefully. Just as well, because the challenges keep coming.
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First revolution, then war: Ukraine’s long fight for a European future
As Ukraine seeks to join the EU, an activist’s death symbolises his country’s struggle to leave Russia's orbit.
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Europe’s gas dash risks leaving African countries high and dry
Africa should be wary of Europe’s sudden rush to diversify its oil and gas suppliers.
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A new age of global war
Europe believed it had banished war for good. But Russia’s aggression in Ukraine shows we must prepare for armed conflict…
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Lawrence Freedman’s Diary: My ban from entering Russia and memories of Cold War encounters with the KGB
I was last on the Kremlin’s most recent list of people to be sanctioned. This suggested I was something of…
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Whatever Moscow’s military defeats in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin is winning the energy war
Russia’s exports to Eurasia are so great, its resource power won’t be dented by sanctions imposed only by the West.
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What is the Kaliningrad problem?
The Russian exclave is a point of pressure for the West but also has more to lose from Moscow’s manoeuvring.
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Nato must keep faith with Ukraine
Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the alliance’s former secretary general, on what the West got wrong in the 1990s and why democracy…
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EU membership for Ukraine will take years – but Kyiv needs weapons now
Promises of eventual membership provide some of the political disadvantages associated with joining but none of the advantages.
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Why are India and China failing to support Ukraine?
Kyiv is fighting a colonial aggressor – yet countries that evangelise national liberation are helping Russia project its imperial ambitions.
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Bulgaria is the canary in the gas pipeline for Russia’s relationship with the EU
The travails of Bulgaria’s new government show just how difficult it is for European countries to navigate away from Moscow.
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Angela Merkel’s self-justification on Russia does not add up
History will judge harshly her doctrine of passivity towards Vladimir Putin.
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History’s long shadow falls over Russia and Ukraine
Wars have rules, and those who ignore them are apt to achieve surprise, simply by being stupid.
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Vladimir the Great
When Putin says he sees himself as an 18th-century imperialist, believe him.
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“Merkel’s policy of not arming Ukraine failed”: top CDU official on Germany and Russia
Jürgen Hardt, the foreign affairs spokesperson for Germany’s main opposition party, also blames Olaf Scholz for not being hard enough.
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What Antony Beevor gets wrong about Russia
The historian’s new book Russia: Revolution and Civil War 1917-1921 fails to understand that brutality is powered by ideas.
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Molotov cocktails and the Northern Lights: Finland’s Winter War against Russia
Art student Bonar Dunlop was one of thousands of foreign volunteers who fought alongside the Finns in 1939-40.
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Russia must be offered a way out
Many in the West are championing a Ukrainian victory but the stakes are too high to subject Putin to a…
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