Ukrainian soldiers on a Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicle at their positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on June 25.
(Roman Chop via AP)
Perhaps the gravest concern for Putin: having for years encouraged the Kremlin’s powerful elites to compete for his favour, he’s now given them a powerful reason to unite against him.
A man takes down a poster reading Join us at Wagner in Russian amid an insurrection by the Wagner Group, a private military contractor, in St. Petersburg, Russia, on June 24.
(AP Photo)
If Vladimir Putin can shift blame for a failed war in Ukraine onto Wagner Group forces as they engage in an armed rebellion on Russian territory, it could provide him an escape hatch from Ukraine.
The Soviet Union attempted to stop food and supplies reaching the western zones of Berlin in 1948.
Niday/Alamy
A scholar of politics and religion explains how anti-LGBTQ laws are being used to distract the public from governance failures in many parts of the world.
Vladimir Putin is certainly first among equals when it comes to his relationship with Belarus president, Alexander Lukashenko.
EPA-EFE/Gavril Grigorov/Sputnik/Kremlin pool
If Russia moves nuclear warheads into Belarus the political fallout could be enormous.
Top two: Dmitry Medvedev took over from Putin as Russian president in 2008 before handing power back in 2012. He remains closer to the centre of power.
AP Photo/Mikhail Klimentyev, RIA Novosti Kremlin
The Biden administration is courting Indian leader Narendra Modi in part to deter China’s rise. But India’s decline in democracy could complicate relations.
LGBT activists in Moscow protest against anti-gay legislation in 2020.
Nikolay Vinokurov /Alamy
Liam Collins, United States Military Academy West Point
The ongoing war in Ukraine has forced the Russian military to reassess its ability to defend its territorial gains. The flooding of the Dnieper River gives the Russians a natural defense.
View of Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant from right banks of Dnipro river.
Sipa/Alamy
A selection of the best of our coverage of the conflict from the past fortnight.
Streets are flooded in Kherson, Ukraine, after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed. While the war in Ukraine is largely conventional, the use of paramilitary forces by both sides could escalate hostilities in the months to come.
(AP Photo/Libkos)