Peter Dickinson

Premature peace with Putin would be disastrous for international security

Invasion anniversary /

Does Putin still have a pathway to victory in Ukraine?

When Vladimir Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he was expecting a brief and triumphant campaign that would extinguish Ukrainian independence and secure his place in Russian history among the country’s greatest rulers. One year on, it is now clear that his decision to invade was one of the biggest geopolitical blunders of the modern era.

Kherson euphoria highlights the folly of a premature peace with Putin

Last week’s liberation of Kherson produced some of the most iconic scenes since the beginning of the Russian invasion. The arrival of Ukrainian troops in the city sparked wild celebrations from a civilian population brutalized by eight months of Russian occupation.

Will next week’s midterm elections impact US support for Ukraine?

With Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine currently in its ninth month, the ongoing war is high on the agenda as Americans prepare to vote in next week’s midterm elections. The US has led international efforts to bolster the Ukrainian fight back against Kremlin aggression and has provided Ukraine with crucial military, economic, and diplomatic support, but recent statements from both sides of the political divide indicate that this support cannot be taken for granted.

Poll: 86% of Ukrainians want to fight on despite Russian terror bombing - opinion

In Kyiv and other cities across Ukraine, rolling power blackouts are now the new normal. With Russia’s terror-bombing campaign of civilian targets and critical infrastructure currently in its third week, the Ukrainian government has been forced to limit electricity and impose regular cutoffs in order to preserve energy amid damage to around 40% of the country’s power grid.

Russia’s terror tactics /

Putin escalates attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets

Vladimir Putin dramatically escalated his invasion of Ukraine on October 10 with the biggest wave of airstrikes since his army first crossed the border almost eight months ago. Russian forces fired more than 80 missiles and dozens of Iranian-made kamikaze drones at non-military targets across Ukraine, killing at least 19 Ukrainian civilians and leaving dozens wounded while temporarily plunging much of the country into darkness.

Putin denounces imperialism while annexing large swathes of Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivered one of his most unhinged performances on September 30 in a speech announcing the annexation of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. Addressing hundreds of Russian officials during a ceremony in the Kremlin, Putin had relatively little to say about the war in Ukraine. Instead, his address was dominated by some of the fiercest anti-Western rhetoric of his 22-year reign.

Putin’s nuclear ultimatum is a desperate bid to freeze a losing war

Russian President Vladimir Putin presented the international community with a nuclear ultimatum on September 21 as he dramatically raised the stakes in his faltering Ukraine invasion. In a rare address to the nation, Putin made clear that he plans to annex large swathes of Ukraine in the coming week and is prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend his gains. “If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people. This is not a bluff,” he warned.

Putin is running out of excuses as Ukraine expands the war to Crimea

Ukraine appears to have struck deep inside Russian-occupied Crimea for the first time on August 9 with an audacious attack on a heavily defended military base.

Russian army faces morale problems as Putin’s Ukraine invasion drags on

New polling data from Moscow indicates that Russian public support for the country’s invasion of Ukraine is growing.

Vogue diplomacy: First Lady Olena Zelenska is Ukraine’s secret weapon

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska spent the early months of the Russian invasion far away from the limelight.

Putin weaponizes Russian passports in his genocidal war against Ukraine

Vladimir Putin escalated his war against Ukrainian statehood on July 11 by expanding the fast-track distribution of Russian passports to include the whole of Ukraine.

Why Ukraine loves Boris

The Mayor of Ukrainian Black Sea port city Odesa announced last week that he was making British Prime Minister Boris Johnson an honorary citizen. 

Goodwill gestures and de-Nazification: Decoding Putin’s Ukraine War lexicon

Ever since Russian troops first crossed the Ukrainian border on February 24, the Kremlin has employed characteristically euphemistic language in order to downplay the criminal nature of the unfolding invasion.

Putin admits Ukraine invasion is an imperial war to 'return' Russian land

Throughout the past few months, Vladimir Putin has offered up all manner of outlandish excuses for his invasion of Ukraine. 

More than three-quarters of Russians still support Putin’s Ukraine War

The latest polling data from Russia indicates that public support for the invasion of Ukraine remains strong despite higher than expected casualties and widespread accusations of war crimes.

Russia unveils plans to annex southern Ukraine

Kremlin-appointed officials in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine have confirmed plans to annex the region and incorporate it into the Russian Federation. 

Belarus dictator: Putin’s Ukraine invasion is not going according to plan

In a fresh blow to Vladimir Putin, the Russian dictator’s closest ally Alyaksandr Lukashenka has declared that the invasion of Ukraine is not going according to plan and should be brought to an end as soon as possible.

Lavrov’s anti-Semitic outburst exposes absurdity of Russia’s “Nazi Ukraine” claims

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has sparked a diplomatic scandal with an anti-Semitic outburst that underlines the absurdity of Russia’s relentless “Nazi Ukraine” propaganda claims.

Genocide in Ukraine: Putin just gave his tacit approval for more war crimes

Vladimir Putin has signaled his tacit approval for further Russian war crimes in Ukraine by publicly honoring one of the military units most closely linked to atrocities against Ukrainian civilians.