Vladimir Putin | Business Post

Left stranded between Russia and a hard place

The seeming prevarication of the far left on the invasion of Ukraine appears to be the aftermath of its erstwhile love affair with the former USSR rather than a pro-Putin stance, but it muddies the waters nevertheless

Lise Hand: With continuous volatility on the global political stage, where are we headed in 2023?

Amid the prospect of a 21st-century cold war, and a climate emergency, things have never felt more uncertain. But what do we know about what’s coming this year?

Elaine Byrne: Putin’s reframing of the war as a moral crusade is finding an audience beyond Russia

The Russian president has repositioned himself as a defender of traditional Christian values to gather sympathy from other conservative nations and groupings

Lucinda Creighton: Ukraine’s allies may have to cross a military red line to end the war

The Ukrainian government has appealed to Nato to supply fighter jets to help it defeat Russia, and that is something that may have to be contemplated

Ukraine: How Russia’s invasion set the EU on a new path to its eastern borders

The war in Ukraine has caused a huge shift in global geopolitics – especially in the EU, where the bloc’s approach to energy, security and migration has been transformed

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Editorial: Reality knocked in 2022, and this year we must open the door to change

From the war in Ukraine to the protests in Iran, we in the West must back those struggling for truth, justice and liberty

Elaine Byrne: Powerful private armies are pushing Putin to an ever more brutal stance

The Russian president has little control over Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin and Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, who criticise inept military leadership without censure and promote extreme measures in Ukraine

Jeff Farrell in Ukraine: ‘This is the bloody Russian world’

Until a few weeks ago, the village of Tetyanivka was on the front line of the Ukraine invasion. Now the few residents left are coming to terms with the trauma and trying to rebuild

Jeff Farrell: ‘My friend doesn’t even have spoons, no fridge, nothing, they took everything’

The people of Izium are beginning the task of rebuilding their city, devastated after Russian shelling and six months of occupation

Russia launches fresh strikes in Ukraine

Infrastructure facilities were damaged in a new missile attack on the city of Zaporizhzhia, while the Dnipropetrovsk region was shelled by Russian forces overnight

Editor’s picks: Sit down with the best of our big reads

Our editors handpick the best writing in this week’s Business Post – including when Charlie Taylor met Altada’s co-founders

Get in, stay in, tune in: state prepares plan in event of a nuclear emergency

Event of this nature ‘highly improbable’, but government currently reviewing 2019 plan as European leaders grow concerned over Putin’s Ukraine escalation

The unknowable mind: Will Putin risk going nuclear?

The bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 killed 70,000 people, but those bombs had just a fraction of the strength of the smallest bombs available to Russia today. The Business Post asked some experts how seriously we should take the Russian leader’s threat to use nuclear weapons in his war with Ukraine

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Editorial: We must continue to stand with Ukraine as Putin’s war continues indefinitely

As tens of thousands are called up to to fill the ranks of Russia’s depleted and demoralised army, there’s a terrible possibility that this will make this war longer-lasting, more dangerous and murderous than it is already

Elaine Byrne: Rise of far right across Europe creates perfect storm for Putin

Italy, which today is likely to elect its first far-right government since the rule of Mussolini, is only one of several EU states where nationalist parties are gaining ground

Lucinda Creighton: As Putin’s desperation grows, so must West’s support for Ukraine

From nuclear threats to ‘independence’ referendums, the Russian leader is becoming increasingly isolated – so the West must hold the line

Putin orders mobilisation of army reserves to support Ukraine invasion

Russian president’s threats come after a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the last few weeks dealt his troops their worst defeats since the early months of the conflict

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Editorial: Could a Chinese chill loosen Putin’s grip on absolute power?

With his war in Ukraine going badly, the last thing the Russian president needs is to incur the displeasure of his powerful opposite number Xi Jinping

Aidan Regan: Following dated economic policies will give Putin what he wants

The usual way to dampen inflation is by rising interest rates but in a time of war, a different approach is needed

Dan O’Brien: We must support Ukraine for as long as it takes and not let Putin away with his tyranny

Russia’s tactics in pursuit of its imperial objectives show Putin’s ruthlessness, yet despite growing support here for joining Nato, no senior politician appears willing to lead the country towards the European mainstream on security