Save, not sacrifice!

The news that the defenders of Mariupol had left the underground of the Azovstal steelworks for Russian captivity brought no relief to their families or to Ukrainian society. If this …

Russianness is murder

A changing view of the recent past. České Budějovice decided to remove Valentina Těreškovová’s name from the list of honorary citizens of the city, where it had been since the …

No limits? China, Russia and Ukraine

China’s failure to condemn Russia’s war on Ukraine seems to have confirmed the two autocracies’ friendship with no limits. But China has its own stakes in the war-torn country. Ultimately, …

War and indignation

At the end of April, the world-famous German philosopher Jürgen Habermas commented in the Süddeutsche Zeitung on the attitudes of the West and Germany towards the war in Ukraine and …

Flags of survival

The Ukrainians trapped underground in besieged Mariupol steel works were instructed to wave white flags. They face a warring nation whose people once suffered a crippling war of extermination themselves. …

Of fish and people

Belarusian and Ukrainian intellectuals have been applying postcolonial theory to Russia since the 1990s. But they have largely been ignored in the West. Now it is time to listen to …

Conflict, commitment and fear

War polarizes debate. And the sympathies of post-Soviet migrants living in Central Europe have come under extra scrutiny since war broke out in Ukraine. A closer look at the immigrant …

Real refugees, fake refugees

After pushing back Middle Eastern refugees into the forests on its northern border with Belarus, Poland is now welcoming an unprecedented number of displaced Ukrainians. Deep racial and gender stereotypes …

Cancel culture vs. execute culture

Why Russian manuscripts don’t burn, but Ukrainian manuscripts burn all too well Rather than debating what to do with Russian culture, western intellectuals need to talk about how to prevent …

How Putin found God

It was a sodden spring day in May 2009. A small group of men trooped solemnly across a leafy cemetery in central Moscow. The priest in flowing black robes was …

Altruism in times of war

Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, we have witnessed unprecedented solidarity with the war refugees fleeing the invaded country. This solidarity is also being shown by Czech society, …

Preparing for the good times to be over

A month into Russia’s invasion, is the EU ready for the challenge? Russia’s war on Ukraine is clearly an attack on the whole of Europe, but domestic responses are still …