Russia

May 9 holds a special place in the lives of ordinary Russians. But their president has turned it into a show of force

Ukraine should be the final push we need to close the legal loopholes that encourage oligarchs and kleptocrats to hide their assets in the UK

The Russian people need a new national story of democracy - one which they write themselves

Following a former Canary’s flightpath to Krasnodar leads to an ominous sense of history repeating itself

Heidi Hautala, now vice-president of the European parliament, questioned Moscow’s democratic credentials in 2006, causing a storm at home. Now, as Finland prepares to apply for Nato membership, she assesses the security situation in Europe

The so-called Nuremberg defence of “I was just following orders” won't protect them, nor should it

France's presidential election is shaping as the next and biggest test of the popularity of Europe's authoritarian right

The possibility of a cornered president lashing out cannot be discounted. If it happens, how should the West respond?

The shadow of Joseph Stalin hangs heavy over Vladimir Putin’s Russia. But is Putin actually more dangerous – if not statistically more murderous – than the former Soviet leader?

The Russian leader may be a war criminal, but getting him into the dock to face justice may never happen

Putin is rallying both Russians and foreign auxiliaries to a cause under one message - might is right

The establishment, where the Russian leader developed a liking for German beer, has now also taken down its shrine to the president

A superb new film may be disowned by its director – because it is set in Russia

The vicious conflict in Ukraine could lead to even more deaths from hunger far beyond the country’s borders as grain exports from the region grind to a halt and global food prices soar

If Hobbes is right, perhaps the only way to maintain peace is to have a powerful world organisation that can enforce international laws and punish states that break them

And, the West cannot risk letting the Russian dictator playing it

Xi Jinping once called Vladimir Putin his best friend. But is their relationship cooling as he realises how much his country stands to lose over Ukraine?

Too many Russians have fallen for Putin’s propaganda over Ukraine. It won’t stop his regime falling apart – but that could take years

It is now blindingly obvious that the EU must step up and take responsibility for its own collective security, argues one reader

The Godfather was hailed as a masterpiece from when it first aired 1972. And, it still is today

The observation that military force has become less important in how nations wield power was more credible pre-invasion

The Russian oligarch should have got out years ago - now the club I love is in limbo

DR ROBERT KRAMER, professor of psychoanalysis at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, explains the drive for immortality that brought war to Ukraine

Absolute power makes you think you can do what you like, where you like, how you like. It is a power no truly democratic leader will ever enjoy

Even a cursory reading of the Russians would have explained to many in the West why Putin was going to invade Ukraine, says WILL SELF

The Kremlin strongman is now an isolated, out-of-touch world pariah and increasingly unpopular at home. Could he be toppled?

Two 1990s films made by a future Putin ally explain the national obsession with humiliation that led to Ukraine

If we don't stop with sanctions and retool our economy, we will be even more complicit in the next atrocity we enable

While Putin's invasion challenges not only Ukraine's democracy but our own democratic system, we have found ourselves in a war between truth and lies

There is something troubling about many men at the moment, and it's about time someone said it

The meeting revealed a man more confident than autocratic, not the brittle and paranoid aggressor the world sees today