Presidents Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping during happier times?
Mikhail Tereshchenko/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
China has provided Russia with economic support during the war in Ukraine. But Beijing may be concerned over recent events in Moscow.
Ukrainian soldiers on a Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicle at their positions near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on June 25.
(Roman Chop via AP)
Euphoria in the West about the short-lived revolt by the Wagner Group hasn’t yet resulted in military gains for Ukraine.
10 tons of ammunition previously laid in civilian settlements by Libyan militia and Wagner group mercenaries .
Hazem Turkia/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
The Wagner rebellion in Russia has implications for African countries that depend on mercenaries and non-state armed groups for security.
Members of the Wagner Group sit atop a tank in a street in the city of Rostov-on-Don, on June 24, 2023.
Roman Romokhov/AFP via Getty Images
A historian explains how Russian President Vladimir Putin, weakened by a short-lived mutiny, might find a path to peace with Ukraine.
EPA-EFE/Gavril Grigorov/Sputnik/Kremlin poolAVRIIL GRIGOROVSPUTNIK/KREMLIN
For the past few years Alexander Lukashenko has had to depend on Moscow’s help to keep him in power. Now he appears to have returned the favour.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
The new package includes military vehicles, artillery ammunition and $10 million for a UN humanitarian agency.
Prigozhin Press Service/AP
Putin has ignored his own role in the transformation of Prigozhin from a convicted criminal into a formidable political force.
‘March for justice’: Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin poses for a picture with a supporter in the Russian city of Rostov.
Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo
The Russian president has been severely wounded by this open show of defiance. It remains to be seen whether Ukraine can take advantage of this weakness.
Open defiance in Rostov-on-Don.
Feodor Larin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Signs of discontent among Russian nationalists and Wagner had been growing before a column of paramilitaries began an aborted march on Moscow.
Gavriil Grigorov/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/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.
Wagner has assisted rebel leader Khalifa Hiftar’s Libyan Arab Armed Forces.
GettyImages
The African Union (AU) and responsible African governments are likely to grow to resent the Wagner Group’s presence and regret their failure to oppose it.
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 remains of a rocket that carried cluster munitions found in a Ukrainian field.
Alice Martins/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
The US administration said that it had received ‘written assurances’ from Ukraine that it would use cluster bombs carefully. Nonetheless, the munition will provide an additional risk to civilians.
The Soviet Union attempted to stop food and supplies reaching the western zones of Berlin in 1948.
Niday/Alamy
The Soviets controlled the media, set up camps for dissenters and installed politicians who would do their bidding in east Berlin and east Germany.
Justin Yau/Sipa US/Alamy Live News
A selection of the best of our coverage of the conflict from the past fortnight.
Insurrection: Wagner Group boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claims his troops have occupied Russian military headquarters in Rostov.
Press service of Prigozhin, UPI/Alamy Live News
Russian forces in Ukraine have been deeply divided. The Kremlin is attempting to remedy that, but the signs are not good.
Fruitless talks: the African delegation failed to reach agreement with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/UPI
Despite a procession of peace plans for Ukraine, irreconcilable divisions remain between Kyiv and Moscow.
A window into a new way of doing global economic business.
Rodger Bosch/AFP via Getty Images)
Talk of a joint BRICS currency feeds into ‘decline of the dollar’ rhetoric. But it is the economic bloc’s focus on innovation that will reshape the international system.
Houses are seen underwater and polluted by oil in a flooded neighbourhood in Kherson, Ukraine, in June 2023, following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in southern Ukraine.
(AP Photo)
The Kakhovka Dam was once a symbol of harmony and co-operation among Russia and various Soviet Union republics. Its destruction vividly illustrates the death of those Soviet-era ideals.
Facing harder questions at home.
Contributor/Getty Images
Putin was put on the defensive during an increasingly rare Q&A over the war’s progress. Meanwhile, disquiet among potential rivals is growing.