As Vladimir Putin’s war effort in Ukraine falters badly, the Russian president is turning decisively away from any hope of peace. A sudden mass mobilisation of Russian men has led to rare instances of protest across the country and long queues of would-be conscripts at the borders. Simultaneously, Russia has sought to legitimise its territorial gains in Ukraine with hastily arranged “referendums” and nuclear threats against the west.
Putin appears to be staking everything on triumph or disaster, as depicted by Pete Reynolds’s cover artwork 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.”
Our correspondents 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, with the only real question being who else he will drag down with him.
As expected, the Italian elections saw victory for Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy, and she is now set to become the country’s most rightwing prime minister since the end of the second world war. Diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour asks what it means for Europe, while Angela Giuffrida reports on the mood in Italy over the prospect of a far-right coalition including the likes of Matteo Salvini and Silvio Berlusconi. Then, in the Opinion section, Italian writer Roberto Saviano outlines why he thinks the result spells danger for his homeland and for the continent.
With the net seemingly closing around Donald Trump on several fronts, we go behind the scenes at his Mar-a-Lago Florida residence, where Julian Borger reveals how cash meets influence after dark. And Hugo Lowell explains why a civil fraud suit against the former president and several members of his family could result in the end of the Trump Organization in its current form.
The career path from standup comedian to the priesthood is not exactly a road well travelled. Lamorna Ash finds out what motivated two close university friends to abandon a world of absurdist jokes on stage for a life in service of God.
Finally, the literary world is in mourning for the two-time Booker prize-winning writer Hilary Mantel, who died suddenly last week. On our opinion pages we pay tribute to a glorious original, the likes of which we may never see again.
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