Gregory Afinogenov teaches Russian history at Georgetown University and organizes with Stomp Out Slumlords in Metro DC DSA.
Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine one year ago today hoping to capture it in a few days — then spent the last year turning its southeast into a bloodbath. Even if the current military stalemate is broken, the divides created by the war won’t heal soon.
The Soviet experience of Nazi invasion inspired many powerful works of cinema. In contrast with Hollywood’s approach to World War II, Soviet filmmakers avoided triumphalist images of warfare, depicting the conflict as a brutal necessity that should never be repeated.
How the failed politics of “humanitarian intervention” were born in 1980s Afghanistan.