A selection of the best of our coverage of the conflict from the past fortnight.
President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin at the Piskarevsky Cemetery laying flowers at the World War II memorial in January 2014.
Akimov Igor/Shutterstock
Putin’s ideological propaganda leans heavily on Russian history
Vigil lanterns at the Bitter Memory of Childhood monument commemorating the Ukrainian famine.
Kirill Chubotin / Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images
Putin’s worldview echoes Russian phrase, ‘Who is not with us, is against us.’
Activist Sair Smedlja stands in front of the Crimean Tatar self-governing assembly (the Mejlis) which was closed down when the Russians occupied Crimea.
DPA/Alamy
A spokesman claims that Crimean Tatars who are arrested by their Russian occupiers are beaten and tortured.
Residents of Kherson queue up to meet Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky after the liberation of the city in November 2022.
Ukraine President's Office/Alamy
Venturing out onto the city’s streets carries danger. But there is little reason to go out anyway. Few shops and still fewer places of entertainment are open.
Andrey Vladimirovich Menshikov, mostly known by his stage name ‘Legalize’, but also for his membership in D.O.B and Bad Balance, is used to grating the Kremlin.
KabanDanish/Wikimedia
Vladimir Putin and his KGB men have steadily extinguished the artistic freedom the genre enjoyed in the 1990s, with Ukraine’s invasion adding yet another nail in the coffin.
Moscow has pulled the plug on yet another safety valve preventing conflict with the west.
People holding signs calling for an end to genocide in the Gaza Strip have been a common occurrence at pro-Palestinian protests.
Christoph Reichwein/picture alliance via Getty Images
People talk about genocide in a few different ways, ranging from technical to colloquial – but a war of words does not replace a path to peace, a genocide scholar writes.
Friendly relations: Vladimir Putin with the leader of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas in 2021.
Yevgeny Biyatov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File
Russia has strong ties with Israel as well as many Arab states, so it is well placed as a mediator. But does war in the Middle East suit Moscow’s priorities?
An Indian paramilitary soldier stands guard next to a police barricade outside the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, India, in September 2023.
(AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
India is far from posing a threat to American power the way China is now. But if the West elevates India at China’s expense, it will eventually have to contend with Indian challenges.
Sevastopol: Russia’s naval base in Crimea has suffered several major attacks in recent months.
Sipa US/Alamy Live News
A new study traces how Russia’s empire building, especially in Ukraine, resulted in long-term economic damage and fomented rebellion for over a century.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is briefed on the counteroffensive and military situation during a visit to the frontlines, October 3 2023 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
Ukraine Presidency/Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/Alamy