Vladmir Putin has a new problem. His invasion of Ukraine is not just bogged down. It’s going backwards.
Vladimir Putin appears larger than life on screen as he addresses an audience at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea in March 2022.
(Vladimir Astapkovich/Sputnik Pool Photo via AP)
There’s no question the Russian population is subject to a Russian media largely loyal to the Kremlin. But that doesn’t mean Vladimir Putin lacks genuine supporters.
For over a decade, Putin has been systematically destroying Gorbachev’s historic achievements.
People attend an exhibition of Russian equipment destroyed by the armed forces of Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine, Aug. 11, 2022.
Olena Znak/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Democratic nation-states were supposed to be the legitimate successors of empires. It hasn’t quite worked out that way in the past century, and Russia’s war on Ukraine is a reflection of that.
While attending the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly announced sanctions against Russia
(Stefani Reynolds/Pool Photo via AP)
New research shows that at least half of Canadians have encountered pro-Kremlin propaganda online and that those who hold left-leaning views are less susceptible to the Kremlin’s disinformation.
Smoke rises on April 15, 2022, above 400 new graves in the town of Severodonetsk, Ukraine.
Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
The West’s new approach to Russia – bar it from international organizations, restrict international trade, prevent further military moves – looks just like how it treated Russia in the 20th century.
Syrians demonstrate in Idlib province on 1 April 2022.
Omar Haj Kadour/AFP
When it comes to war crimes in Ukraine, the Kremlin is intimately following the Syrian playbook. To prevent further atrocities, leaders must now draw the lessons from the conflict in Western Asia.
Ruling clique: Putin with some of his top military and intelligence officers in Crimea in 2014.
EPA/Alexey Druginyn/Ria Novosti/Kremlin pool
Did Russian intelligence mislead Putin about Ukraine’s capabilities or did they just tell him what he wanted to hear?
A woman looks at a computer screen as Russian state news editor Marina Ovsyannikova protests the Ukraine war during a news segment.
AFP via Getty Images
Russia is cracking down on freedom of speech and media. But other factors, like outside online information, could make it difficult to control war propaganda - and block out other information.
The Kremlin is pushing for a quick migration of all Russian websites and services to be hosted within the country. It could be the first stage of a larger disconnection effort.
Isolated: Vladimir Putin in a video conference with his Security Council.
EPA-EFE/Andrey Gorshkov/Kremlin pool/Sputnik
The Russian president has already shown he will come down hard on domestic opposition to the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has exerted tight control over news and social media in an effort to control the information Russians receive about the Ukraine war.
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Lost in the outrage over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the fact that many in the West have long warned that widespread NATO expansion into Eastern Europe could spark just such a conflict.
Russia’s state broadcaster works hand-in-hand with the Kremlin to push the party line.
President Vladimir Putin addresses his United Russia party at its June 2021 convention, where members convened to choose candidates and draft a strategy for the country’s upcoming election.
Grigory Sysoyev\TASS via Getty Images
Despite a 27% approval rating, Putin’s United Russia party can maintain its legislative majority in September through manipulation and fraud, says an expert on Russian elections.
Women form a human chain on Feb. 14 in central Moscow to support jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, his wife Yulia Navalnaya and other political prisoners.
Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has proved himself to be a master at summoning citizens to protest government abuses. The very words he chooses to use are part of his power.