Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, hands a bunch of flowers to Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill during a ceremony presenting him the Order of St. Andrew in the Kremlin in Moscow in November 2021. Both men have accused the West of trying to impose LGBTQ+ rights on Russia.
(Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
The Russian state, in tandem with the Russian Orthodox Church, is using LGBTQ+ rights as a red-button issue to win support for its criminal war campaign in Ukraine.
President Xi Jinping at the Communist Party Congress on October 16.
Zuma Press Inc/Alamy
Russia now presents a serious threat to the international order.
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Kyiv residential building destroyed by a drone that local authorities consider to be Iranian-made.
Oleksii Chumachenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Iran has a growing role in the Ukraine war, helping Russia augment its dwindling weapons supplies. That may help Russia, but it also serves Iran’s national interests.
How does Putin extract himself from this mess? The only way to do so is to win the war in Ukraine, or at least to win sufficient concessions that would permit him to spin it as a victory.
Ukrainian firefighters battling flames at a power station hit by Russian missiles.
Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
Benjamin Jensen, American University School of International Service
In the face of Russian military setbacks at the hands of a dogged opposition army, Russian President Vladimir Putin is focusing on targets that will put psychological pressure on the Ukrainian nation.
Kerch bridge: a catastrophe for Vladimir Putin.
EPA-EFE/stringer
While Russian public opinion polls show continued support for the war, there are questions about the polls’ reliability and indications that public approval of Putin is declining.
Russian recruits gather inside a military recruitment centre on Sept. 26, 2022.
(AP Photo)
An influx of reluctant Russian troops probably won’t drastically change the outcome of the war in Ukraine. Here’s why.
Military target? A boy looks at a fragment of Russian rocket in a children’s playpark, Kyiv, October 2022.
Oleksii Chumachenko/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire
Some of the key articles from our coverage of the war in Ukraine over the past week.
In 2014, protesters chant “Our name is Strelkov,” in solidarity with the military veteran, Igor Girkin. Also known by the alias Igor Strelkov (“shooter”), he played a key role in the annexation of Crimea and the war in Donbas.
Vasily Maximov/AFP
Jules Sergei Fediunin, Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (Inalco)
Putin’s annexation speech was heavy on ultranationalist references. Understanding Russia’s far right figureheads and what they stand for is now essential for deciphering the Kremlin’s war strategy.