Russia

The man who oversaw the breakup of the Soviet Union was an apparatchik who wanted to keep the Communist Party in power, says former head of MI6

It’s hard to put in words how much my country owes him. Danke, Gorbi

Putin blames Zelensky for the fatal car bomb that killed an ally’s daughter. Whatever the truth, the Kremlin’s dictator should be worried

What happened when pianists from Ukraine and Russia met at a competition set up by a Texan who wowed Moscow at the height of the cold war?

Humiliated over its Ukraine response, the country is again debating its position in Europe and the wider world

Both Tory leadership contenders clearly want to be tough on immigration to appease the many ultras in their party, writes one reader

The torture and destruction of Ukraine is just a practice run for the same routine to be used against Europe

An emphasis on Russian culture has left the languages of many small, semi-nomadic peoples vulnerable to extinction

Could understanding contemporary Russian literature have given the west an insight into Putin’s intentions?

Kaliningrad encapsulates Russia’s psychosis – from glory days to aggrieved isolation. It is also perilously close to Nato’s weakest link

The government has the chance to show the world the days of London being Russian oligarchs' playground are over, but that would involve action by Boris Johnson

When Teffi grew sceptical of the revolution, she headed for Paris, writing a masterpiece on the way

We dropped the ball spectacularly on Russia. On China, and other human rights and international law abusers, we must not do the same

Years of pacifist policy are over in Germany as military spending rises. But what happens if conflict comes home?

The UK and Russia – albeit in vastly different ways – seem unable to move on from the events of eight decades ago

Ukraine's fight is about more than international law and national self-determination, it's about what sort of world we want to live in

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