Daniel Ofman

2 weeks ago | theworld.org | Daniel Ofman

The European Union, along with the United Kingdom, imposed a new sanctions package on Tuesday that targets Russia. The sanctions come after Russia refused to enter a 30-day ceasefire with Ukraine, while also not making enough progress in negotiations following Monday’s phone call between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin. The sanctions mostly target Russia’s covert oil exports and are meant to pressure Putin toward peace talks.

1 month ago | theworld.org | Daniel Ofman

By the time the Kosmos 482 spacecraft launched in 1972, the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States had been in full swing for about 15 years.  It began in 1957 when the Soviet Union sent Sputnik 1, the first satellite into Earth’s orbit. About four years later, astronaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to orbit Earth. In the early ’60s, the Soviet Union seemed to be winning the space race — until NASA’s Apollo 11 became the first crewed mission to land on the moon in 1969.

1 month ago | theworld.org | Daniel Ofman

In the early days following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy decided to stay put in Kyiv, despite all the risks. His decision not to flee remains a strong symbol of Ukrainian resistance. For many civilians, this was a sign of confidence that Kyiv would stay under Ukrainian control and would not fall to the Russian military. Zelenskyy wasn’t the only leader who chose to stay in Ukraine.

1 month ago | theworld.org | Daniel Ofman

A few weeks ago, 19-year-old Daria Kozyreva appeared in a St. Petersburg court for her sentencing. Kozyreva was charged with discrediting the Russian army after she glued a verse from a poem written in 1845 by Ukraine’s national poet, Taras Shevchenko, onto his monument in St. Petersburg. During Kozyreva’s court appearance, she delivered an impassioned speech.

1 month ago | theworld.org | Daniel Ofman

There’s a famous quote about Russia attributed to Winston Churchill:“I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.”For more than 80 years, that quote has been used — and overused — to indicate that it’s hard to understand Russia, its people and its government. Ekaterina Schulmann, a Berlin-based political scientist with the Carnegie Center, dispels this notion. “We Russians tend to see ourselves as very unique,” Schulmann said.