A patriotic rally in Moscow organised by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) ahead of this weekend’s parliamentary elections. Maxim Shipenkov/EPA

Russia’s parliamentary elections will not be a referendum on the Ukraine war – or anything, really

Russia is convening its first national parliamentary elections since invading Ukraine, which offer a great deal of predictability but also some unexpected surprises.
Thermal imaging of Dzhokhar Tsaeraev hiding from police in a boat in a Boston backyard. But was he motivated in his attacks by the war in his native Chechnya? EPA/Massachusetts State Police

Boston bombings: were the Tsarnaev brothers driven by motives other than the Chechen conflict?

The received wisdom is that the Tsarnaev brothers launched their attack on the Boston Marathon to advance the cause of their fellow Chechens. But is this correct? Two notable Chechens are absent from the…

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