The existential experience of war includes not only what a person observes – bombardments, the collapse of vital infrastructure, destruction, and the loss of life – but also what they experience inwardly.

“Without documents, you’re just a piece of meat,” says Vitaly. “The gangster-ridden 1990s are like a fairy tale compared to this.” Kherson – 256 Days of occupation. An eyewitness account of terror, repression, protests, and the struggle for survival under Russian rule.

Can a citizen of an aggressor state be a political agency if their entire country is working toward war? For now, we can speak only of the possibility of manifesting political agency – and only if that agency is directed toward achieving a military victory over the aggressor. Are the candidates currently being nominated to the Russian platform at PACE prepared for this?

The Russian imperial mindset reproduces aggressive myths about the residents of Donbas, which Kremlin propaganda has shaped into a holistic system of narratives used to justify the war against Ukraine. These narratives continue to circulate in the public consciousness even without the direct involvement of propaganda and are already influencing the decisions of people not only in Russia but also beyond its borders.

The series titled “From the Combat Diary of a UAF Medic” consists of true stories from the trenches near Bakhmut, published on PostPravda.Info by Volodymyr Huliuk, a soldier of the 30th Brigade. This is the first episode—not the last.

How should we relate to Russian culture today, from the perspective of the war that Russia is waging against Ukraine?

Atlanticism and its new challenges involve reconciling the global economy, mutual influences and limitations with a globalized and often excessively interconnected system, all while taking into account the national interests of many states. What hopes and risks come with this?

One of the mistakes made by the Russian authorities, who expected to gain the support of the local population after invading Ukraine, stems from their failure to understand Ukrainian identity and the fact that identity cannot be imposed as an ideological construct.

The aggressive political myth used to justify war – not only against Ukraine but against the entire Western civilization – penetrates much deeper into the public consciousness than Kremlin propaganda, disinformation, or fake news.

If Soviet ideology was monolithic, the current ideology of the Russian authorities appears loose, combining seemingly incompatible elements – for example, the cultivation of the Soviet past alongside the idealization of Tsarist Russia. Nevertheless, Russian propaganda has shown significant success, attracting a wide range of political forces, sometimes even those hostiles to each other. This demonstrates that modern Russian ideology functions differently from the Soviet one

War constantly changes its nature, and so does the life of people living under shelling. Only one thing remains unchanged – the constant threat of losing one’s home, being maimed, or killed. As an eyewitness, Nikolai Karpitsky gives an account of life in the Donbas frontline zone over the course of ten years.

The Cuban government claims they are victims of human trafficking. But are they really?