Ukraine is marking its 31st year of independence on Aug. 24, 2022. A scholar of protest movements explains why Ukrainians have never taken its independence for granted.
A woman walks by large signs that read ‘Bravery is Ukrainian brand’ in Kyiv.
Oleksii Chumachenko/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Ukraine is partnering with an advertising company to produce an innovative nation branding campaign during a war. The campaign could have influence beyond how Ukraine and Russia conduct this war.
A Ukrainian war crimes investigator photographs the aftermath of a Russian missile attack in Zatoka, Ukraine, on July 26, 2022.
Nina Liashonok/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Other recent conflicts that resulted in war crimes allegations help explain how complex it will be to gather evidence of war crimes in Ukraine – and provide answers for families of victims of the war.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (L).
Photo by Sean Gallup - Pool /Getty Images
The G7 summit offered the most recent insights for Africa into how western nations are considering their stakes in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the impact that could have on developing nations.
Defiant: everyday life in Kyiv, July 2022.
EPA-EFE/Oleg Petrasyuk
A digest of the week’s coverage of the war against Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin speaks at a rally in Moscow in March 2022, according to this Kremlin image, with a banner that says “For the world without Nazism! For Russia!”
Kremlin Press Office/Handout/Andalou Agency via Getty Images
Countries have used starvation as a war strategy for centuries, historically without being prosecuted. Three experts on hunger and humanitarian relief call for holding perpetrators accountable.
A sign reading ‘Putin, murderer’ is shown during a protest in Krakow, Poland, on May 8, 2022.
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Prosecuting a leader like Vladimir Putin accused of war crimes is difficult. But the trial of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in the early 2000s offers a potential playbook.
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev watches the Victory Day military parade at Red Square in central Moscow on May 9, 2022.
Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty Images
As Russia’s assault slogs on in Ukraine, one of Vladimir Putin’s long-standing friends has considerable influence over the Russian president. His name is Nicolai Patrushev.
Ukrainians fleeing the war walk toward a train in Krakow to bring them to Berlin on March 15, 2022.
Omar Marques/Getty Images
Putin has a history of forcing civilians to migrate during a conflict, part of a broader strategy to overwhelm other countries with new refugees and destabilize their economies.
Vladimir Putin has written and spoken about how Ukrainians and Russians are ‘one people.’
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Ukraine is one of the world’s breadbaskets, but exports have been blockaded by Russia. Despite grave potential consequences in famine-prone countries, international law is largely silent.
There have been calls to charge and prosecute Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes in Ukraine.
Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Countries would likely need to set up new courts to prosecute Vladimir Putin for illegally invading Ukraine – but this isn’t a sure bet he would ever be held accountable for his crimes.
In 1970, a 16-year-old Laotian boy drew a picture of his school being bombed. ‘Many people’ died, he wrote, ‘But I didn’t know who because I wasn’t courageous enough to look.’
Legacies of War
Liam Collins, United States Military Academy West Point
On paper, Russia’s military outmatches its Ukrainian rival. But better training, strategy and battlefield decisions have helped Ukrainian forces keep Russian troops at bay.
Russian military cadets rehearse for the Victory Day military parade in St. Petersburg on May 5, 2022.
Olga Maltseva/AFP via Getty Images
Western officials say that Russia may officially declare war on Ukraine on May 9. An international relations expert explains why this day is significant, and why a war declaration would matter.
The crisis in Ukraine, and the real risk of it spilling across borders, is precisely the kind of great power conflict the United Nations was formed to prevent.
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