Lara Marlowe

4 days ago | irishtimes.com | Lara Marlowe

When the history of the 21st century is finally written, 2025 may stand out as the year the West split between liberal democrats and far-right nationalist populists who have come to power in the US and continue to gain momentum in Europe. The rise of the “reactionary international” constitutes a realignment as fundamental to the future of the world as the cold war. This time, the fault lines do not follow national boundaries, but divide societies from within.

2 weeks ago | irishtimes.com | Yulia Mykytenko |Lara Marlowe

For a month, I thought I might never see them again. I’ll use their call signs, because the names of enlisted men are not supposed to appear in newspapers. Frosty, Hrynia and Yakut are my brothers-in-arms from another platoon. Their harrowing escape under fire from beneath a collapsed building on the front line was the most important thing that happened to my company in March. Frosty’s cold demeanour earned him his nom de guerre.

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Lara Marlowe

Soldiers from the German Bundeswehr knock on the door of a typical German house and tell its inhabitants: “You are aware of the terrible war in Ukraine and how horrible life has become for people there? We must take all your belongings and send them to Ukraine.” In the video, which went viral in Germany, the soldiers pack up the family’s belongings. When they have emptied the house, they salute a photograph of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, saying “Heil Zelenskiy”.

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Lara Marlowe

As reality television, the live broadcast of the humiliation of Volodymyr Zelenskiy at the hands of a thuggish Donald Trump and his vice-presidential attack dog, JD Vance, was compelling viewing. “Just say thank you and shut up” was the message Trump and Vance pummelled into Zelenskiy, demanding expressions of gratitude for weapons that Joe Biden sent, whose value Trump grossly inflated, and whose transfer Trump delayed through the crucial winter of 2023/24.

1 month ago | irishtimes.com | Yulia Mykytenko |Lara Marlowe

February was a cruel, cold month for me, for my comrades in the 54th mechanised brigade and for Ukraine. Painful losses on the battlefield were compounded by the apparent defection of our most important ally, the United States. I last saw Denys on December 23rd, 2024. He accompanied a pastor from his church and volunteers to my reconnaissance platoon on the front line in Donetsk.