Russian pranksters and anti-free speech advocates Vladimir “Vovan” Kuznetsov, left, and Alexei “Lexus” Stolyarov in Moscow in 2016.
Yuri Kadobnovav/AFP via Getty Images
Political phone pranksters played a big part in the passage of draconian laws that strangle free expression in Russia.
A Ukrainian service member takes a photograph of a damaged church after shelling in a residential district in Mariupol, Ukraine, March 10, 2022.
AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
Religion plays an important role in expansive views of Russian nationhood. But faith has played a role in Ukrainian nationalism, too.
The historic centre of Lviv has been listed as a Unesco world heritage site since 1998.
AlexelA | Alamy Stock Photo
The west Ukrainian city has long been both a symbol of Ukrainian identity and an effevescent, multicultural hub.
AAP/AP/Vadim Ghirda
The war in Ukraine has an important faith dimension, because Christians on both sides share thousands of years of religious history.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, right, signed decrees recognizing the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics on February 21, 2022.
Alexei Nikolsky/Russian Presidential Press and Information Office/TASS via Getty Images
Russia sent troops to two Moscow-allied breakaway regions in Ukraine, after President Vladimir Putin recognized the regions’ independence. Five stories provide background to the growing conflict.
An Orthodox priest takes part in a rally in protest against an official visit of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople to Kyiv in August 2021.
Anna Marchenko\TASS via Getty Images
The current split in Ukrainian Orthodoxy reflects a fundamental question: Are Ukrainians and Russians one people or two separate nations?