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Articles on Soviet Union (USSR)

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Armenia-Azerbaijan: an intermittent war as a way of life

The on-again, off-again war between Armenia and Azerbaijan has been raging for 30 years and has been tilting back and forth. Armenia accused Azerbaijan a few days ago of opening fire on its positions on the border when EU experts went to the area to try to find peace.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, stands near a damaged residential building in Irpin, Ukraine, on Sept. 8, 2022. Genya Savilov/Pool/AFP via Getty Images

The US isn’t at war with Russia, technically – but its support for Ukraine offers a classic case of a proxy war

Giving Ukraine large amounts of money while not actually declaring war on Russia has various benefits for the US and other countries. Chiefly, it could protect US soldiers and civilians.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Alla Pugacheva during a 2014 awards ceremony honoring the pop singer with the Order For Merit to the Fatherland. Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images

Why it’s such a big deal that Alla Pugacheva, ‘the tsarina of Russian pop,’ came out against the war in Ukraine

In opinion polls over the past two decades, she’s routinely selected as one of the most popular Russians – often appearing second only to Vladimir Putin.
Team Canada’s Paul Henderson shoots on Team U.S.S.R.’s Vladislav Tretiak while Gannady Tsygankov defends during the 1972 Summit tournament in Toronto on Sept. 4, 1972. The Canadian Press/Peter Bregg

Canada is still haunted by the legacy of the 1972 Summit Series

Fifty years later, the Summit Series still occupies a heightened role in the Canadian cultural consciousness.
Ukrainian advances have retaken some territory from Russia, but much is still under foreign control. AP Photo/Kostiantyn Liberov

Russia’s harsh purge against alleged ‘Nazis’ in occupied Ukraine follows Soviet playbook for rooting out real Nazis from Germany after WWII

Russian actions in occupied Ukraine are following a plan modeled on how the Soviet Union dismantled Nazi influence in Germany after World War II – including arrests and revised school lessons.
Vladimir Putin appears larger than life on screen as he addresses an audience at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea in March 2022. (Vladimir Astapkovich/Sputnik Pool Photo via AP)

Why Vladimir Putin still has widespread support in Russia

There’s no question the Russian population is subject to a Russian media largely loyal to the Kremlin. But that doesn’t mean Vladimir Putin lacks genuine supporters.
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev addresses a group of 150 business executives in San Francisco in June 1990. (AP Photo/David Longstreath)

Gorbachev remembered: Respected in the West, detested in Russia

While Mikhail Gorbachev was feted in the West — he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 — he was widely despised in Russia by those both mourning and celebrating the end of Soviet power.
A view of destroyed Russian military vehicles installed in downtown Kyiv, Ukraine, on Aug. 24, 2022. Kyiv authorities banned mass gatherings in the capital for fear of Russian missile attacks. Independence Day fell on the same day as the six-month mark in the war. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A former journalist recalls Ukraine’s 1991 vote for independence — and how its resilience endures

Aug. 24, 2022 marked both the 31st anniversary of Ukraine’s independence from the Soviet Union and the six-month mark of war. As they have for more than three decades, Ukrainians showed resilience.

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