Ukraine
What’s the real aim of Ukraine’s Russian offensive?
On Monday morning, Vladimir Putin was briefed about Ukraine’s audacious invasion of Russian territory. With his military chiefs in front…
Zelensky’s new offensive could push Putin to the brink
A Russian friend speaking from Kursk tells me the latest war joke. Vladimir Putin summons Stalin’s ghost. ‘Comrade Stalin!’ asks…
Portrait of the week: riot justice, Olympic success and Ukraine’s Russian advance
Home Riots subsided after 7 August, a night when many were expected but only empty streets or demonstrations against riots…
Does bitcoin fit the definition of good money?
Three philosophers readily acknowledge the cryptocurrency’s shortcomings, but emphasise its one important function – as a means of challenging autocratic regimes
Sarah Rainsford joins the long list of foreign correspondents banned from Russia
After decades of writing about Russian affairs, Rainsford now finds herself persona non grata – but admits she no longer feels nostalgia for the country
The tragic fate of Ukraine’s avant-garde
In a recent interview Oleksandr Syrskyi, the new commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, said that he spends his time off…
Letters: You can grow to hate Wagner
Disappearing England Sir: Rod Liddle’s reference to Labour’s intention to build 1.5 million new houses (‘The great bee-smuggling scandal’, 13…
A visit to the world’s worst capital city
Nouakchott in Mauritania is often referred to as the ‘worst capital city in the world’. That may be a little…
Portrait of the week: IT meltdown, riots in Leeds and the wrong kind of pandemic
Home Britain enjoyed its share of the worldwide failure of 8.5 million computers reliant on Microsoft, through a faulty update…
Could Ukrainians ever trust a Putin peace deal?
Last week at the Buxton International Festival I joined a big audience for an onstage interview with Anna Reid. She’s…
Vapid and pretentious: Visit From An Unknown Woman, at Hampstead Theatre, reviewed
Visit From An Unknown Woman, adapted by Christopher Hampton from a short story by Stefan Zweig, opens like an episode…
From the front line of the battle to save Kharkiv
Kharkiv region Moonlight shines on the wings of the reconnaissance drone as it glides over the field. Within minutes, the…
Murray shouldn’t have relied on injury-prone Raducanu
Talk about raging against the dying of the light: Andy Murray and President Biden both. Murray because he is no…
What I saw at the Okhmatdyt bomb site
Kyiv For weeks, Kyiv had felt relatively safe compared with just about everywhere else in Ukraine. People had adjusted to…
What the Tories got wrong on housing
Sir Keir Starmer may be our first atheist prime minister, but his manner in parliament resembles that of what, in…
Brexit has helped the EU
There was hardly an election poster to be seen on the roadside during a two-hour drive from London to the…
Putin is trying to annexe people, not just land
On 1 September 2021, six months before his full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin was speaking at the All-Russian Children’s…
My return to Ukraine
I arrive at Lviv station just before 9 a.m. As the clock strikes, the conductor announces a minute’s silence: a daily…
Sending US contractors to Ukraine could provoke Moscow
Call it ‘slippery slope’ or ‘mission creep’, America’s strategy for helping Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion has adapted…
Ukraine’s greatest, yet least publicised success
Odessa Our conference here is about Black Sea security, where I am the guest of UK Friends of Ukraine. Its…
Why should Putin be allowed to keep seized Russian assets?
The seizure of enemy treasure, formerly known as plunder and pillage, is an ancient tool of war. Though still practised…
Zelensky’s peace summit flop
Ukraine’s allies are running out of patience
Portrait of the Week: Farage returns, Abbott reselected and Trump guilty
Home Nigel Farage took over leadership of the Reform party from Richard Tice and is standing for parliament in Clacton.…
My summer of love with God’s gift
Studying in Russia in 1994, Viv Groskop falls in love with a Ukrainian rock guitarist named Bogdan Bogdanovich and accompanies him on a visit home
Biden partially lifts ban on strikes within Russia
David Cameron publicly said it was up to Ukraine to decide whether to use British weapons to strike targets on…
