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1 month ago | 
cepa.org | Julius Strauss |Ruth Deyermond |Mila Tanghe |Marija Golubeva
It makes for haunting viewing. A Russian soldier, almost certainly a 32-year-old father-of-two-daughters called Oleg Yakovlev from the city of Saratov, shouts “Film me! Film me!” as a Ukrainian captive, one of six who have surrendered, walks slowly away from him. As a member of his squad films, Yakovlev raises his Kalashnikov assault rifle and riddles the unarmed Ukrainian with bullets.
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1 month ago | 
thespectator.com | Gavin Mortimer |Adrian Pascu-Tulbure |Julius Strauss |Roger Kimball
Violence broke out in Bucharest on Sunday evening after Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau disqualified Cǎlin Georgescu from running in May’s re-run presidential election.
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1 month ago | 
grizzlybeardiaries.substack.com | Julius Strauss
Apologies for my long silence. I'd like to say that after my four-part magnum opus on bears in Romania in December I had said all there was to say about bears, at least for a while. But the truth is more prosaic. There has simply been so much going on in the world that I have been struggling to keep up with my Back to the Front newsletter covering Ukraine, Russia, Europe and, increasingly and by necessity, Donald Trump.
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1 month ago | 
cepa.org | Elisabeth Braw |Edward Lucas |Julius Strauss |Dan Rice
Haltbakk Bunkers didn’t mince words. The Norwegian company, which supplies fuel to ships, including US Navy vessels, was so upset by the treatment Volodymyr Zelenskyy received in the Oval Office on February 28 that it announced a boycott of the US military. Of course, the US military has no role in Donald Trump’s and JD Vance’s on-camera attack on Zelenskyy, and likewise, the vast majority of US businesses similarly play no role in enabling Trump’s and Vance’s treatment of Ukraine.
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2 months ago | 
thespectator.com | Grace Curley |Gwythian Prins |Julius Strauss |Mark Galeotti
When your fiercest loyalists are accusing your government of being taken over by Elon Musk, who they brand a “parasitic illegal immigrant,” what’s the best way to respond? Donald Trump opted for a side-by-side interview with the X CEO on Fox News, speaking to Sean Hannity, the anchor with whom he remains friendliest. And for all the attempts — both from inside and outside the conservative tent — to drive a wedge between Trump and tech billionaire Musk, the two seemed chummier than ever before.
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2 months ago | 
thespectator.com | Julius Strauss |Mark Galeotti |Kara Kennedy |Ross Clark
If I had a penny for every time I have been told that Russian president Vladimir Putin only wants respect. Or that he is only interested in eastern Ukraine. Or that if Kyiv is only denied NATO membership, then he will call off the tanks. Well, in the last seven days President Donald Trump has given Putin all this and more. And, though it is still early days, so far the war is showing no sign of slowing.
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2 months ago | 
thespectator.com | Julius Strauss |Cosmo Landesman |Mark Galeotti |Nicholas Farrell
If I had a penny for every time I have been told that Russian President Vladimir Putin only wants respect. Or that he is only interested in eastern Ukraine. Or that if Kyiv is only denied NATO membership then he will call off the tanks. Well, in the last seven days US President Donald Trump has given Putin all this and more. And, though it is still early days, so far the war is showing no sign of slowing.
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2 months ago | 
spectator.co.uk | Julius Strauss
If I had a penny for every time I have been told that Russian President Vladimir Putin only wants respect. Or that he is only interested in eastern Ukraine. Or that if Kyiv is only denied NATO membership then he will call off the tanks. Well, in the last seven days US President Donald Trump has given Putin all this and more. And, though it is still early days, so far the war is showing no sign of slowing.
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2 months ago | 
spectator.com.au | Julius Strauss
If I had a penny for every time I have been told that Russian President Vladimir Putin only wants respect. Or that he is only interested in eastern Ukraine. Or that if Kyiv is only denied NATO membership then he will call off the tanks. Well, in the last seven days US President Donald Trump has given Putin all this and more.
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2 months ago | 
spectator.co.uk | Julius Strauss
In the morning darkness at the reception of our central Kharkiv hotel, 25 miles from the Russian frontlines, the night porter’s face was creased with sleep. As we made our way towards the door to catch the early express to Kyiv, he handed us a small keyring with a yellow and blue plastic ornament. They had been made by local children. The man was large, muscled rather than hammy, and had a trim beard. In the several days we had stayed at the hotel, he had not shown a trace of emotion.
