


Ukraine’s secret army in France
A new force is being marshalled to thump Russia
THREE UKRAINIAN soldiers, clutching Soviet-made AKM assault rifles, creep stealthily along zig-zagging trenches. In the distance, enemy soldiers are moving in the woods. Gunfire crackles across the plain. Plumes of smoke rise into the cold air. Tiny drones hover overhead. It is an all-too familiar scene from a war that drags on along Europe’s eastern fringe. Except that this simulation is taking place at an undisclosed location in eastern France, where its army is playing the enemy and training over 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers to form the backbone of a combined-arms brigade ready for deployment at the front.
Explore more

How older French women are redefining the aesthetics of ageing
Wrinkles could once wreck a public career in France. Not any more

Italy’s oddest political party is splitting
Six years ago it was Italy’s biggest

Elon Musk threatens to deepen the rift between Europe and America
Musk is from Mars, Europe is from Venus
The war in Ukraine has rattled both sides of Cyprus
Russians and Ukrainians have both used the island as a banking haven: not so easy now
The sun begins to set on Olaf Scholz’s chancellorship
The contours of Germany’s coming election campaign are coming into view
Volodymyr Zelensky faces a power struggle in 2025
As morale ebbs in Ukraine there is talk of a change at the top