Russia

When the Soviet cosmonaut made her pioneering flight 60 years ago, she was supposed to usher in an era of Soviet “Gagarins in skirts”. What happened?

The question is no longer whether Putin can win, but how many more people will die before he loses

Russia’s supersonic airliner was a child of the cold war – but a fatal crash 50 years ago ripped through the veneer of Soviet tech superiority

How the KGB took their Cold War tactics from a Chinese military strategist who died 500 years before the birth of Christ - and why they still work

It's time for Putin to cut his losses. Except he doesn't see it this way

In Kyiv, defiance is tempered with the depressing reality that the west might not be prepared to let Ukraine win

Failing in Ukraine and undermined by his allies: make no mistake, this is the beginning of the end for Vladimir Putin

The window of opportunity for victory against Russia is open. If Zelensky does not succeed, pressure for a deal will grow

Vladimir Putin’s next offensive in Ukraine will have a lethal digital component as cyberwar escalates across the world

The city has unveiled the world’s largest underground rail loop, but its celebrated Metro system is not without its sinister side

Moscow likes to pretend that HIV is not a problem. Now it has an epidemic on its hands

When the Muppets went on a mission to Moscow in the 1990s, things didn’t go according to plan

She was that rarest of dancers, one who could apparently transcend physics and the limitations of the human body

After decades of success in the US and Europe, the Russian composer suffered an ignominious demise in 1950s Moscow

Xi and Putin thought they could shatter the post-1945 world. They were wrong

Svetlana Alexievich’s books chart the horrors of history through witness testimony rather than fiction

The Master and Margarita author loved the Ukrainian capital, yet today attracts fierce opprobrium

War and a devastating earthquake have put Putin and Erdogan under pressure but can they ride out these crises in an increasingly authoritarian world?

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has brought shame on Russia, yet there is still no big internal push for his removal. Will the anniversary change that?

Russia’s biggest airline is marking its centenary. But is there much to celebrate?

The former Belgian prime minister was wrong to claim Russia might not have invaded Ukraine if Britain had remained in the EU

The biggest enemy of “Global Britain” is its economy

The Kremlin is using history to justify its war in Ukraine. But Putin’s version could disappear with the flick of a switch

The Russian always insisted she could never envision a life without dancing

Jailed for being too political, Mikhail Khodorkovsky says it will take a generation for Russia to recover from his former friend’s vicious and disastrous rule

He used to organise Vladimir Putin’s meals. How did he become such a threat to Russia's dictator?

In death as well as in life, the Rasputin story is shrouded in an awed mythology

The deflated dictator is playing mind games with the west as his war in Ukraine lurches into a stalemate

The thought of appeasing Putin is terrible - but the men who could replace him might be even worse

The strange allure of the old communist states remains strong today

The lives of the early 20th-century gentry who fled to safety – but also to poverty – in Paris

Named after its creator, the theremin became one of the sounds of the 20th century, from The Day the Earth Stood Still to Scooby Doo