Putin’s comeuppance
VLADIMIR Putin was already licking his wounds when he turned up in Samarkand last week for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. Just days earlier, Russian occupying forces in the Kharkiv…
Dagestan shootings spotlight rising Islamist threat for Putin
President Vladimir Putin says Russia’s war in Ukraine is part of an existential struggle with the West that demands total focus - but deadly shootings in Dagestan show that militant…
Putin’s Russia
President Vladimir Putin has won the 2024 Russian presidential elections without much trouble; he received nearly 88 per cent of the total votes and won another six-year term without facing…
Putin’s economic challenges are numerous but surmountable as election looms
Russia’s success in evading a Western oil price cap is helping drive a recovery in economic growth as President Vladimir Putin prepares to run for re-election, despite the problems caused…
Putin’s delusions
IN the run-up to Moscow’s military assault on Ukraine, US intelligence agencies seemed to be keeping up with the Russian leader’s intentions. If they had an inside source, though, it…
Putin senses reviving fortunes as front holds, West frays
As Vladimir Putin touches down in the Middle East later on Wednesday for visits to the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the Russian leader is brimming with confidence that would have…
Putin sees political, economic upside to Israel’s war with Hamas
Russian President Vladimir Putin waited three days before commenting on Hamas’ massacre of Israelis, which happened to take place on his 71st birthday. When he did, he blamed the United…
Presumed death of Prigozhin removes one problem, may create new ones for Putin
The presumed death of mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin in a fiery plane crash leaves Russian President Vladimir Putin stronger in the short term, removing a powerful figure who had defied…
Russia ‘crosses’ new lines in crackdown on Putin’s enemies?
With virtually all the Kremlin’s opponents already jailed or in exile, and liberal press outlets and human rights groups forced to shut down, it might have appeared that years of…
From Russia with cash: Georgia booms as Russians flee Putin’s war
As war chokes Europe, a small nation wedged beneath Russia is enjoying an unexpected economic boom. Georgia is on course to become one of the world’s fastest-growing economies this year…
