As tensions run high over Russia’s gas supplies to the Ukraine, and by extension parts of Europe, the reality for the EU is less than perfect: it will need Russian gas for the foreseeable future.
__The turmoil of 2014 was a timely reminder to businesses that they need to be prepared and have contingency plans for global conflict. The crisis in Ukraine brought Russia and the West to the brink of…
On thin ice: Russia’s economy and its satellite states.
Pavel Kazachkov/flickr
Plummeting oil prices, conflict over Ukraine and the West’s imposition of sanctions have contrived to send the Russian economy into a tailspin. But it is not just Russia that is suffering – the economic…
Here we go again? Ukrainian servicemen in training.
EPA/Sergey Dolzhenko
A fragile ceasefire deal is just about holding in Ukraine, but hopes for its long-term success are not high. It is clear that the war for eastern Ukraine is far from over. And most ominously of all, it…
The funeral of a serviceman in Independence Square, Kiev.
EPA/Sergey Dolzhenko
The Ukraine ceasefire agreement struck in Minsk will come as a relief to the increasingly desperate residents who live along the front lines in the Ukrainian Donbas. But even though the document was signed…
After all night talks in the Belarusian capital Minsk, the outcomes of the four party talks in the so-called Normandy format (Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany) have neither brought a major breakthrough…
Red Army tells the story of the Russian hockey dynasty of the 1980s and early 1990s, focusing on the story of defenseman Slava Fetisov (pictured top right).
Variety
Gabe Polsky’s documentary Red Army opens with the film’s main subject – former NHL and Soviet hockey great Viacheslav (Slava) Fetisov – giving the finger to Polsky while checking his phone. At the film’s…
When once Moscow and Beijing had much in common, now they may be diverging again.
Toa55
This week our series on Russia’s relations with its neighbours reaches China, Moscow’s one-time great communist rival with whom it found much in common in the opening years of the 21st century. Neil Munro…
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande are in Kiev to discuss a peace plan.
EPA/Roman Pilipey
Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande’s push for peace in Moscow has helped fuel optimism about the prospects for Russia’s spluttering economy. On the morning of the meeting, the rouble had strengthened…
A protest in front of the Ministry of Defence in Kiev.
EPA/Roman Pilipey
In recent weeks, eastern Ukraine’s Russian-backed rebels have won several military victories on the battlefield in the Ukrainian Donbas. First they captured the virtually destroyed Donetsk airport, then…
The aftermath of shelling in Mariupol.
EPA/Sergey Vaganov
On January 24, pro-Russian rebel forces in eastern Ukraine launched missiles into Mariupol, a southern Ukrainian city south of Donetsk on the Sea of Azov. The attack killed 30 people and wounded 97, and…