Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, on Feb. 5, 2026.
Opinion

We've overestimated Russia for too long

by Casey Michel

The recent anniversary of Russia's expanded invasion, which is now stretching into its fifth year, is as good a time as any to take stock of the state of the war itself. For Ukraine, the fighting remains existential, and it is Ukrainians themselves who continue to suffer and to sacrifice not just on behalf of their own defense, but on behalf of broader stability in Europe. Somehow, though, many Western partners still fail to see one clear fact: that it is Russia, and not Ukraine, who has suffer

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'I betrayed my country' — the Ukrainian prison where women collaborators wait for Russia

Nelia Checheta served the state for decades — first with the Soviet military in Turkmenistan and later in Ukraine's Emergency Service — earning official honors along the way. At 62, her story continues not with commendations, but with a long prison sentence for collaboration. Checheta was convicted of passing information on Ukrainian troops and aircraft movements to an agent of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB). She insisted the case was fabricated, but the evidence presented in court sug

Olena Chuieva in a women's penal colony in Southeastern Ukraine on Feb. 5, 2026.

Iran agrees to new talks, Trump claims after day of strikes

"They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them," Trump told the Atlantic on March 1. He did not say when the talks would take place, noting that some of the previous negotiation officials had been killed in the recent US-Israel strikes.

Trump’s struggle to deliver peace | Ukraine This Week

In the latest episode of Ukraine This Week, the Kyiv Independent’s Anna Belokur examines why U.S.-led peace negotiations have so far failed to end Russia’s war, one year after the now-infamous Oval Office clash between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

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