The illustrator Masha Foya’s horror at witnessing a full-scale war unfold in her own country over a matter of weeks is captured uncompromisingly in her artwork for the cover of this week’s Guardian Weekly magazine.
“Every time I hear about new crimes against my people, a part of me disappears,” Foya writes from western Ukraine, where she has been living since evacuating from Kyiv. “Every time I think it is impossible for the Russian occupiers to do more shameful acts – but then the morning comes and I learn about even more disgusting things.
“What they did with Mariupol … I just have no words, it’s just the extermination of civilians, this is unforgivable. And this nightmare is happening in the 21st century. But I still do not give up and all of us believe in our victory, believe in the strength of our country!”
In many ways the plight of Mariupol encapsulates the subconscious horror of Russia’s assault on Ukraine. With the besieged port city having long been deemed unsafe by news crews, few clear details now emanate – but what has done so hints at the nightmarish plight of many thousands of people trapped in a ruined city without food, clean water or power. Using diary material from residents, Daniel Boffey pieces together the story of how a city descended from normality to nightmare in a matter of days.
The Weekly’s war coverage this week contains more strong reporting from correspondents Isobel Koshiw, Emma Graham-Harrison, Andrew Roth and Pjotr Sauer, plus expert analysis from Jack Watling and Patrick Wintour.
The British royal family was in the news again after a tour of the Caribbean that seemed to cause discomfort on all sides. While the Duke of Cambridge rightly expressed regret about the dark legacy of slavery, his words fell short for many and again raised the question of why the British queen remains head of many of its once-colonised states. We reflect on the tour’s aftermath while, in Opinion, Moya Lothian-McLean outlines why she believes the Commonwealth’s days are drawing to a close.
There aren’t too many global gay icons to have emerged from 19th century Britain but Anne Lister, a Yorkshire businesswoman and prolific diarist, is one. As Gentleman Jack – the dramatised tales of Lister’s life – returns to TV, its creator Sally Wainwright talks to Zoe Williams about her struggles in getting the show to screen.
