Vladimir Putin speaking during a concert in Moscow’s Red Square to mark the 10th anniversary of Crimea’s reunification with Russia.
Sergei Ilnitsky / EPA
Since annexing Crimea ten years ago, Putin has set out to destroy non-Russian identities on the peninsular.
Efrem Lukatsky/AP
Russian propaganda and talking points on Ukraine continue to be repeated, without being challenged, two years after the war began.
‘Are these even on?’: Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s minister of foreign affairs, asks to be heard in Brussels.
EPA/Olivier Hoslet
Lithuania doesn’t often set the agenda, yet it has been warning that Russia would invade Ukraine since 2008.
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech before presenting the Russian Hero of Labour gold medals in June 2023.
(Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russia has tied its currency to gold to evade sanctions. Shifting the ruble away from a pegged value and into the gold standard itself is aimed at making it a credible gold substitute at a fixed rate.
EPA-EFE/Sergey Dolzhenko
While Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield have been mixed, its operations in Crimea and the Black Sea have been rather more successful.
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to fire rockets towards Russian positions on March 5.
(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
The Russia-Ukraine war highlights developments in modern warfare, which uses new weaponry alongside traditional methods of fighting.
Yuri Kochetkov/EPA
A centralised system of government has allowed Putin to project power, but the country’s health care, schools, infrastructure and general quality of life have sharply deteriorated.
Russian President Vladimir Putin looks set to extend his leadership.
Contributor/Getty Images
While Putin is all but guaranteed to win, war fatigue, electoral engineering and extreme risk-aversion suggest that the Kremlin is anxious to get these elections over and done with.
Cathal McNaughton/EPA
Ukrainians are safeguarding their language and cultural identity in the face of Russian attempts to erase it.
A Ukrainian tank fires at Russian positions in Chasiv Yar, the site of fierce battles in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, Feb. 29, 2024.
(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Russia’s armed forces continue to gain territory in Ukraine, at high cost to both sides.
Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Sadyr Japarov of Kyrgyzstan loom over the people of Bishkek.
Contributor/Getty Images
Recent laws and pro-Putin sentiment by Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov have sparked concern that the Central Asian country is backsliding on democracy.
Soldiers climb out of trenches in this First World War photo. The successes of the 100 Days Offensive in 1918 were influenced by the Allies’ reliance on a strategy of maximum effort, flexible campaigns and advances in tactics.
(CP PICTURE ARCHIVE/AP)
Ukraine can borrow lessons from the First World War as the war with Russia enters its third year.
Bumble Dee/Shutterstock
A world where the US has fewer allies would be an even more dangerous place.
Volodymyr Zelensky autographs a Storm Shadow/SCALP missile.
Ukraine President's Office / Alamy Stock Photo
Helping Ukraine defend itself against Russian aggression is not a violation of international law – but Russia might interpret it as escalation.
Not all smooth sailing for the Russian economy, but far from choppy waters.
Alexei Danichev/AFP via Getty Images
The US has imposed another round of sanctions following the death of Russian dissident Alexei Navalny. But will it work?
Sergei Grits/AP
Polish public support for resettling Ukrainian refugees has slipped in recent months, while many new arrivals have had difficulty finding work that aligns with their qualifications.
Will war fatigue be a factor?
Kay Nietfeld/picture alliance via Getty Images
Russia appears to have seized the battleground initiative as the Ukraine war marks its second anniversary – but the conflict is far from over.
Shackled to a vision of a ‘glorious past’: Russian president Vladimir Putin celebrates Defender of the Fatherland Day, February 23 2024.
EPA-EFE/Sergei Savostyanov/Sputnik/Kremlin pool
The Russian president still insists that Ukraine has been taken over by hostile pro-western elites over the past decade.
The ruins of a church in Bohorodychne, Donetsk district, Ukraine, on Jan. 27, 2024.
Ignacio Marin/Anadolu via Getty Images
In addition to destroyed buildings, there’s an entire underground world – filled with untold numbers of artifacts, bones and ruins – that are exposed and damaged by the digging of trenches.
Satellite radar data shows the complete destruction of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
Xu et al. (2024)
Satellite photography of the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut shows block after block of destroyed buildings. Satellite radar provides a different view – a systematic look at the destruction of the whole city.