Sunday 7 June 2026 The image of the soldier has long been associated with men. Throughout most of recorded history, warfare was organised around assumptions of male physical strength, male social roles and male political authority. Yet wars have always involved women, whether as supporters, organisers, intelligence gatherers, medics or, on rarer occasions, combatants. Ukraine’s experience since 2014, and particularly since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, has tr

Sunday 7 June 2026 For most of the post-Soviet period, Armenia occupied a difficult geopolitical position. Landlocked, isolated by closed borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan, and burdened by the unresolved conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, she depended heavily upon Russia for security, energy and trade. Moscow was not merely a strategic partner. It was Armenia’s principal economic lifeline. That relationship has changed dramatically over the past several years. Armenia’s growing

Friday 5 June 2026 Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, discussions of the war have often focused upon military strategy, economic resilience, diplomacy and technology. Yet beneath these visible dimensions of conflict lies another force that has shaped the experiences of millions of Ukrainians: religion. Churches, monasteries, synagogues, mosques and religious communities have played an important role throughout the war, not merely as places of w

Friday 5 June 2026 Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Crimea has occupied a peculiar place in the conflict. It is both a rear area and a front line; both a symbol and a strategic asset. For Moscow, Crimea remains the most politically sensitive territory under Russian control. For Kyiv, it remains occupied Ukrainian land whose liberation is a constitutional objective. Between these competing visions lies a practical military questi

Thursday 5 June 2026 The emergence of A7A5, a rouble-backed cryptocurrency launched in 2025, represents one of the most significant developments in the ongoing contest between Western financial sanctions and Russian efforts to circumvent them. While much public discussion of sanctions focuses upon oil exports, shipping fleets or trade intermediaries in Central Asia and the Caucasus, the growth of A7A5 illustrates how the battlefield of economic warfare is increasingly moving