In the space of one week, some of the old certainties about Europe have been thrown out the window.
Donetsk residents celebrate recognition of independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics by Russia on Feb. 21, 2022.
Alexander RyuAlexander Ryumin\TASS via Getty Images
History has many uses, and not all of them are noble. That’s very much the case as the public gets a crash course from politicians about Ukrainian history.
Damaged radar arrays and other equipment is seen at a Ukrainian military facility outside Mariupol, Ukraine, Feb. 24, 2022.
AP Photo/Sergei Grits
As war begins between Ukraine and Russia, a range of stories provides context to help readers understand the conflict.
The Berezinsky Reserve in Belarus is one of the few corners of the European portion of the southern taiga that is in pristine condition.
Denis Ivkovich/Unesco
The Russian government, under President Vladimir Putin, has stepped up repression at home and aggression abroad in an effort to consolidate power within the country and on the world stage.
The European bison is back from the edge of extinction, and Białowieża has the continent’s largest population.
Michał Żmihorski
A barrier built to stop human migrants will instead cut off animals and scientific cooperation.
Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, visiting troops on the frontline with pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region.
EPA-EFE/Presidential press service handout
When the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991, Russia formed a bloc with Ukraine and Belarus. The region is now at the centre of escalating tensions between Russia and the west.
The European Commission is standing with Poland, despite evidence of serious human rights violations.
In this September 2021 photo, Warsaw residents place candles before the national Border Guards Headquarters in Warsaw, Poland, as a sign of mourning for four migrants found dead a few days earlier along the border between Poland and Belarus.
(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
The European Union is attempting to portray eastern European countries as racists infringing upon the human rights of refugees. But it’s the EU itself that’s primarily to blame for the refugee crisis.
Hopes for a better future?
Maxim Guchek/BELTA/AFP via Getty Images
European leaders have accused Belarus of using civilians as weapons along the EU border in a ‘hybrid war’. And Russia, they say, is the mastermind behind it.
Recent actions against critics of the Belarusian government show that Lukashenko’s crackdown on dissent is extending beyond the country’s borders.
Biden is expected to confront Russian leader Vladimir Putin (center) over his stalwart backing of Europe’s last dictator, Alexander Lukashenko (left).
From left to right: Sergei Ilyin/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images and Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Some tension was inevitable at the June 16 US-Russia summit. But Vladimir Putin’s defiant support for Belarus’s rogue regime now pits him harder against the West.
EPA-EFE/ALEXEI DRUZHININ / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN / POOL
Associate Professor of Instruction in the School of Interdisciplinary Global Studies, Affiliate Professor at the Institute for Russian, European, and Eurasian Studies, University of South Florida