MEDUZA/EN/VHF

It's now been more than two weeks since Vladimir Putin launched an all-out war against Ukraine. Russian troops began rolling across the border on the morning of February 24, immediately after Putin announced the start of a "special military operation" (a Kremlin euphemism for invasion). In an address broadcast on state television, Putin claimed, among other things, that he wanted to bring to trial "those who committed numerous, bloody crimes against civilians, including citizens of the Russian Federation." During the first week of the war, Meduza spoke to five Russian nationals who moved to Ukraine in recent years and made the country their home. Here's how the war has upended their lives -- and why they intend to stay in Ukraine in spite of it.

Russia's latest criminal trial of jailed Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny got underway on Tuesday, February 15. Already serving a nearly three-year prison sentence, Navalny now stands accused of fraud and contempt of court -- charges that could prolong his incarceration by up to 15 years. In a strange twist, Moscow's Lefortovsky District Court held Tuesday's hearing offsite, at the penal colony in the Vladimir region where Navalny has been in custody since February 2021. In the following explainer, Meduza asks and answers key questions about the proceedings.

On February 15, the Russian State Duma sent a motion to President Vladimir Putin calling for diplomatic recognition of the pro-Russian "republics" in eastern Ukraine. In turn, Putin gave an evasive, informal response: the lawmakers, he said, were "guided by public opinion" and Russians' widespread sympathy for the inhabitants of the Donbas -- however, this issue should be resolved on the basis of the Minsk agreements. At the same time, Putin made sure to recall that Ukraine hasn't fulfilled its obligations under the accords. To help make sense of this new gambit, Meduza turned to a number of foreign policy experts -- they believe that (for now) the threat of "recognition" is nothing more than another means of upping the pressure on Ukraine and the West.

On Wednesday, February 16, law enforcement officers raided the Moscow home of political analyst Valery Solovey. Solovey and his son Pavel were then taken to the Russian Investigative Committee for questioning. As it turns out, Solovey is considered a witness in a criminal investigation into felony hate speech. Solovey and his son were released late Wednesday evening after being questioned. According to unofficial reports, the felony investigation is connected to an anonymous Telegram account called "SVR General" -- allegedly, Solovey may have been involved in creating content for this channel, which regularly criticizes the Russian authorities. Meduza recounts how Valery Solovey, a former professor at Moscow's prestigious MGIMO University, became an extravagant political commentator known for his colorful (and increasingly wild) conspiracy theories.

On Thursday, February 17, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a written response to Washington's counter-proposals on security guarantees in Europe. Unlike the response Moscow received from the U.S. and NATO earlier this month, which wasn't officially made public (though the full text was leaked to Spanish newspaper El Pais), the Russian Foreign Ministry published its 10-page commentary in full. Here's what it says, in a nutshell.

The tensions surrounding the Russia-Ukraine crisis have continued to escalate with no end in sight. On Thursday, February 17, U.S. President Joe Biden said that there's still a "very high" threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, warning that this could happen "in the next several days." The Kremlin, meanwhile, underscored that it has no plans of backtracking on its demands for comprehensive security guarantees from Washington and NATO. Moscow raised the stakes again earlier this week when the State Duma adopted an official resolution urging President Vladimir Putin to recognize the self-proclaimed "republics" in eastern Ukraine. Meduza special correspondent Andrey Pertsev uncovers why this step was taken and how it was orchestrated.

On Friday, February 18, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk "people's republics" announced that increased tensions in eastern Ukraine necessitated mass evacuations. Over the next three days, more than 60,000 people were relocated to Russia, according to official reports. In total, 43 Russian regions have agreed to take in evacuees. President Vladimir Putin has also ordered the Russian government to pay 10,000 rubles ($130) to each "refugee." Be that as it may, confusion reigned at Russia's reception centers over the weekend, as local authorities scrambled to accommodate the sudden influx of people. Several Russian regions have even declared a state of emergency. So far, evacuees are being put up in schools, hotels, summer camp facilities, and even makeshift tent camps. Meduza shares snapshots from the evacuation.

Vladimir Putin has officially recognized the independence of the self-proclaimed "republics" in eastern Ukraine. The Russian president signed the corresponding decree on Monday, February 21, following a lengthy address to the nation. The issue of recognizing the "Donetsk People's Republic" (DNR) and "Luhansk People's Republic" (LNR) was also discussed at length during an extraordinary meeting of the Russian Security Council earlier in the day. Speaking at the meeting, Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev suggested that Moscow recognize the "historical" boundaries of Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions as the breakaway territories' frontiers. However, this elides the fact that a significant portion of the territories the DNR and LNR claim remain under the control of the Ukrainian government.

The Kremlin's handling of recognition for the self-proclaimed separatist "republics" in eastern Ukraine has raised many questions, including purely logistical uncertainties surrounding the National Security Council session, where President Putin ordered senior officials to state their support or opposition to the recognition of the so-called DNR and LNR. The gathering was made available to the public in an unusual national broadcast on Monday evening. At first glance, the event seemed to be aired live, but some noticed signs (such as the time displayed on different wristwatches) that the footage was prerecorded and even edited. These viewers were right.

Russia recognized the self-proclaimed "people's republics" in eastern Ukraine on February 21. President Vladimir Putin formally announced the decision following a National Security Council meeting that looked more like staged production than an actual debate. Senior Russian officials expressed unanimous support for recognition, even though it appeared to be a sure path towards an all-out war with Ukraine. At the same time, Putin claimed there was broad public support for the move. Will we see a repeat of the "Crimean consensus" that emerged after Moscow annexed the peninsula in 2014? And how do ordinary Russians really feel about the Kremlin's further intervention into Ukraine? Meduza turns to sociologist and Levada Center director Denis Volkov for insight.