We must stop treating the war as a ‘Ukrainian issue’ and describe it for what it is: a threat to Europe. It is right to call for peace, but we must remain aware that it can only be achieved if there is a genuine interest on the other side.

United Russia sweeps the board and opens the Duma to all war veterans standing as candidates. The pacifist opposition party Yabloko holds its ground in the constituencies, whilst on the borders with Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan, there is a renewed exodus of those fearing a new mobilisation  

The ISW describes the Kremlin’s new influence machine: not just propaganda, but the training of foreign journalists and influencers, with AI acting as a multiplier. There is also an address in Rome, a stone’s throw from Campo de Fiori, with a curious coincidence.

The first wartime parliamentary elections in Moscow aim to achieve three objectives: to integrate veterans into Putin’s regime without allowing them to reshape ‘Putinism’; to present the annexation of Ukrainian territories as a routine administrative procedure; and to give a public weary of war the illusion of normality — a normality which, however, it can no longer afford

The Russian president voted as if the result were not already a foregone conclusion – the green light for a massive recruitment drive that has already been planned: the elections serve to kick-start it on a massive scale. The new drones, which bear less and less resemblance to the Shaheds and more and more to cruise missiles

Taking action also means identifying Russian threats for what they are, says Mason Clark of the Institute for the Study of War; ‘hybrid’ is now a misnomer. Aircraft in Lithuanian airspace and Polish contingency plans to prepare for a conventional Russian attack before the 2028–2030 window

Both take the same stance on Ukraine, from opposing arms for Kyiv to supporting gas from Moscow. But whilst Meloni keeps the general out of the fold, the PD has thrown open the doors of its broad coalition to the lawyer.