Among the many intriguing subplots to have arisen from the Ukraine invasion has been the widespread expulsion of Russian “diplomats” from European embassies. Reflecting the trend, the cover design for this week’s Guardian Weekly magazine captures a creeping anxiety across Europe, where Russian “diplomats” have more latterly been seen as agents of division and disinformation.
As Patrick Wintour writes, the expulsions are not just a symbolic act of revulsion at Moscow’s activities but part of a decades-long battle to balance Russian espionage with diplomacy. The west has been accused of neglecting a recent rise in clandestine Russian activities – in the light of the invasion, is it all too little, too late?
In Warsaw, Nick Ames joined thousands of Ukrainians as the football club Dynamo Kyiv began a series of “matches for peace”. And Luke Harding reports from the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv, where a clean-up operation has tentatively begun in the wake of the departing Russian forces.
Before the invasion, a scandal involving Covid lockdown gatherings very nearly cut short the career of Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson. Now, after a lengthy police investigation, Johnson has been issued with a penalty charge for attending an illegal gathering that he previously insisted to parliament did not break the law. With more fines expected, Michael Savage and Shanti Das ask whether is Johnson on the ropes again – or has the Tory rebellion died down, for the time being at least?
Our features pages contain plenty of delights this week. From train stations to hospital waiting rooms, vending machines are so ubiquitous that we barely notice them. But how much do we really know about these everyday sentinels of snack food? Tom Lamont takes a deep dive into the indispensable world of automated dispensers.
To raise the spirits, check out Gerrard Gethings’ delightful portraits of baby animals, and the grownups they become. And, staying with photography, the Culture section features the haunting industrial landscapes of the Canadian Edward Burtynsky.
