__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…
Remembering the Red Army soldier.
Jonathan Noden-Wilkinson/Shutterstock
The documentary Night will Fall tells the story of German Concentration Camps Factual Survey, a film made by the Allied forces who filmed the scenes of the Nazi concentration camps as they liberated them…
Vladimir Putin with Mongolia president Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj in Ulaanbaataar in 2014.
EPA
This latest part of our series on Russia’s relations with its neighbours focuses on the huge empty land of Mongolia, Moscow’s original Soviet satellite state in the 1920s. These days it sits on the verge…
Football fixtures. Handover time for Blatter and Putin.
Alexey Nikolsky/EPA/Ria Novosti/Kremllin Pool
The news that three major sponsors have ceased their partnership with FIFA could potentially damage its reputation, and more importantly, its finances. Reports on Friday revealed that Castrol, Continental…
Putin is taking control of the Russian economy.
Sergei Ilnitsky
The Russian rouble started 2015 in much the same way it finished 2014: badly. After losing nearly 50% of its dollar value between July and the end of the year, the rouble lost a further 7% in January…
Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) leader, Alexander Zakharchenko.
EPA/Alexander Ermochenko
Over the past few days, Ukraine has taken a significant turn for the worse. Fighting between rebels and government forces has intensified, the civilian death toll has increased, and the war of words between…