David Pratt: The perils of Russia's changing war in Ukraine

Missiles continued falling on Ukraine last week, many targetting Kyiv even while the UN was visiting – now experts have warned of Putin’s ‘middle finger’ attitude to deescalation and the potential for nuclear war

‘A SLICE of intensified history.” The words of John Reed, the great American journalist and socialist activist used to describe his eyewitness account of the 1917 Russian October Revolution in his remarkable book Ten Days That Shook the World.

I couldn’t help thinking of Reed’s words again these past days at the end of a week when it’s probably fair to say that the war in Ukraine transitioned from one nation’s fight for survival to a much wider conflict and potentially years-long power struggle. If ever the world was ­witnessing a ­contemporary “slice of intensified ­history”, this is that moment.