Ukraine
Ukraine is witnessing the future of drone warfare
Russian forces have reportedly been ordered to watch last year’s state-funded propaganda film Sky. The Kremlin-funded drama follows the lives of Russian airmen…
Who poisoned Roman Abramovich?
Russia is now 33 days into a war it expected would last 72 hours. Given the relative failure of the…
The rouble's astonishing recovery
The tank columns are stalled; one or two towns captured from the Ukrainians have been retaken. Russia’s war effort has…
Could Biden gaffe us into world war three?
‘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
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
Over the past weeks, since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I have witnessed individuals expressing shock and disbelief at the…
In praise of amateurs
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
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
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
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
The lessons of Chechnya
Kirill, the Patriarch in league with Putin
The Patriarch in league with Putin
What TV is telling Russians – and why they believe it
What Russians watch — and believe
The call of a blackbird’s full-throated song
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
‘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?
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?
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
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?
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
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
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
‘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
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
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
Asylum is often seen as a simple morality tale—the generous spirited are in favour of it, the hard-hearted against. And…
