Oula Kadhum, SOAS, University of London You could be forgiven for thinking everyone in Russia either supports the war in Ukraine or is too scared to do anything about it. A dominant narrative is that Russian civil society is passive, complicit or has been quashed to the point of being neutralised. Some elements
Ph. China and Russia view the U.S. grand strategy as increasingly out of focus. AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson Jeffrey Taliaferro, Tufts University “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” Napoleon Bonaparte’s maxim may well have been in the minds of policymakers in Moscow and Beijing these past weeks, as the
Ph. Does the nation stand behind him? Vyacheslav Prokofyev/AFP via Getty Images Peter Rutland, Wesleyan University and Elizaveta Gaufman, University of Groningen Perceived wisdom has it that the longer a war goes on, the less enthusiastic a public becomes for continuing the conflict. After all, it is ordinary citizens who tend to bear
Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham and Tetyana Malyarenko, National University Odesa Law Academy In a surprise announcement on February 10, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said that his administration was preparing to hold presidential elections before the middle of May. Alongside these elections, he is reported to be planning to hold a referendum on
Ph. Russian army special forces inspect vehicles at a checkpoint in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, in February 2024. Sergey Nikonov/Shutterstock Christo Atanasov Kostov, IE University The scenes have become grimly familiar: Russian tanks rolling into Georgia in 2008, the seizure of Crimea in 2014, the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian military jets violating European
Jennifer Mathers, Aberystwyth University Protests have erupted in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities against a new law that threatens the independence of Ukraine’s anti-corruption institutions. The legislation was hastily passed on July 22 by parliament and signed by the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, that same day. It places Ukraine’s national anti-corruption bureau and
Jennifer Mathers, Aberystwyth University In some parts of Russia, schoolgirls who become pregnant are being paid more than 100,000 roubles (nearly £900) for giving birth and raising their babies. This new measure, introduced in the past few months across ten regions, is part of Russia’s new demographic strategy, widening the policy adopted in
Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham Two statements from world leaders this week bear closer examination. On May 27, the US president Donald Trump took to his Truth Social social media channel to proclaim that if it wasn’t for him, “lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia”. The following day
Yerzhan Tokbolat, Queen’s University Belfast and Moldir Mukan, Queen’s University Belfast The UK and the EU have agreed to hit Russia with a raft of new economic sanctions after hopes of a ceasefire with Ukraine came to nothing. One French minister commented that it is time to “suffocate” the Russian economy. Since the
Natasha Lindstaedt, University of Essex Over three years after Russia invaded Ukraine, the countries are finally meeting for direct peace talks in Istanbul. Vladimir Putin will be not be attending. Ironically, given his no-show, it was Putin who suggested the peace talks instead of immediately agreeing to a proposed 30-day ceasefire. But like