How seriously will Putin take Ukraine negotiations?
We have no idea whether Vladimir Putin is serious about peace negotiations with Ukraine. He may simply be going through…
Will flattery buy Zelensky help from Trump?
For all the efforts on every side to manage expectations, there is a sense that some kind of Ukraine deal…
Has Putin picked up the phone to Donald Trump?
So, did they speak? How often? What about? The very coyness around the question of whether Donald Trump and Vladimir…
Russia’s quest to woo Africa is paying off
The West may like to convince itself that it is, in the words of one American diplomat, ‘strangling the Russian…
Can a second Kursk offensive give Ukraine bargaining power?
In theory, the Kursk salient is one of the most militarily insignificant fronts of Putin’s war on Ukraine. However, war…
Has Ukraine just carried out another assassination in Moscow?
The Alye Parusa (Scarlet Sails) apartment complex in Moscow’s north-western Shchukino suburb bills itself as an exclusive place to live,…
Britain is taking a punt on Ukraine’s future
There is a perverse congruence of interests between the British and Russian governments, as both sides seek to talk up…
Where have Russia’s Zs gone?
A social media post on 30 December: photographs of admittedly-splendid new year decorations in Moscow, archly captioned ‘back to 2021.’…
Russians are feeling the pinch as Putin’s war rumbles on
The Russian Orthodox Church or state calendar doesn’t recognise 25 December as a special day: their Christmas is 7 January…
Vladimir Putin’s four-and-a-half-hour troll
Every year, Vladimir Putin gives a marathon town hall event that lasts for hours. Every year, I feel compelled to…
Why Ukraine killed Igor Kirillov
Another one down. This morning, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, head of RKhBZ, Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defence Troops, was heading…
How Putin will make Assad pay for his exile
‘Brave Assad fled to Putin. Where will Putin flee?’ asked Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky after the Syrian dictator escaped embattled…
Russia’s sabotage campaign against the West
When a DHL cargo plane crashed while approaching Vilnius airport on Monday, killing one of the crew, it looked like…
Putin’s mind games still have power over Ukraine
The air raid sirens sounded yesterday, the American embassy in Kyiv closed, as did the Italian and Greek. The British…
Could Trump save Ukraine?
One thousand days into Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, three facts seem to be evident. First, Russia is losing.…
Can Russia really ban smoking?
The UK isn’t the only place which has been toying with the idea of introducing a ‘generational’ tobacco ban. Rishi…
The Novichok inquiry raises some big questions for MI5
The inquiry into the death of Dawn Sturgess as an innocent victim of the attempt to murder Russian double-agent Sergei…
Why MI5 is so worried about Russia’s GRU
Ken McCallum, head of the Security Service (MI5), has warned of the serious threat to Britain posed by the Russian…
Vladimir Putin’s 72nd may have been his unhappiest birthday yet
Happy birthday, Mr President? With Vladimir Putin turning 72 on Monday, this has become an opportunity for the Kremlin’s spin…
Moscow wants to ruin your weekend
When is slower internet better than none at all? When are travel delays more serious a political challenge than threats…
Why is Putin expelling more British diplomats?
Another six bite the dust. The British Embassy in Moscow, already pared to the bone, is being reduced by another…
Moscow is blaming Britain for the Kursk attack
Is the sinking of the super-yacht Bayesian and likely death of Mike Lynch a bigger story than Ukraine’s Kursk incursion? The Russian…
Will Ukraine’s Kursk offensive pay off?
For the first time since the Second World War, foreign forces have invaded Russia. As Ukrainian troops push over the…
The Soviet Union’s gerontocracy should serve as a warning to the US
One waspish – but not entirely inaccurate – Russian media assessment of the first US presidential debate was that it…
Is the Russian murder machine ramping up?
Are we witnessing a new and more dangerous stage in the indirect war between Russia and the West? The news…
