The Guardian Weekly

Putin’s downfall in sight, Italy turns right with Meloni, Trump in trouble and farewell to Mantel

As Vladimir Putin’s war effort in Ukraine faltered badly, the Russian president turned decisively away from any hope of peace. A sudden mass mobilisation of Russian men led to rare instances of protest across the country and long queues of would-be conscripts at the borders. Simultaneously, Russia sought to legitimise its territorial gains in Ukraine with hastily arranged “referendums” and nuclear threats against the west.

It feels like Putin has staked everything on triumph or disaster, as depicted by Pete Reynolds’s cover art this week. “With Putin it seems to become all about the eyes,” he says. “His nose, mouth, the arrangement of the features all seem to be the obvious descriptors of his face but his eyes always end up being the focus and challenge. And they insist on looking straight at you.”

Pjotr Sauer, Andrew Roth and Luke Harding report on a week of growing chaos enveloping Russia’s war effort. Then, foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall predicts that Putin’s downfall is within sight – the only real question is who else he will drag down with him.

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https://theguardianweekly.pressreader.com/article/281565179634842

Guardian/Observer