After a brief comment on the frozen peace process, I look at the case of Sergei Markov, voluble Kremlin loyalist, who has just been declared a Foreign Agents. What's going on - he seems to have been caught by Russia's escalating feud with Azerbaijan - and what does this say about the decay of late Putinism?

In the second half, I consider three recent books and what they say about how we discuss and think about the war in Ukraine. They are:

Colin Freeman, The Mad and the Brave. The Untold Story of Ukraine’s Foreign Legion (Mudlark)

Tom Mutch, The Dogs Of Mariupol (Biteback)

Medea Benjamin & Nicholas Davies, War In Ukraine. Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict, 2nd Ed (OR Books)

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