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Maria Tsvetkova
For Maria Tsvetkova's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
A screen grab shows Anton Kuznetsov, a fighter in the BARS 9 volunteer force of the Russian military, in an apartment in Balakliia, Ukraine, in September 2022
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 25, 2024
How Russia's military uses volunteer fighters to plug gaps in Ukraine
Approach provides Moscow with an additional avenue from which to mobilize parts of the population, get them trained and provide additional mass.
A pedestrian walks past a mobile recruitment point located to promote service in the Russian army and invite volunteers to sign a contract with the Defense Ministry, in a street in Moscow on May 3. The slogan reads: "Our profession is to defend fatherland."
WORLD / Politics
Oct 3, 2023
Russia deploys 'punishment battalions' in echo of Stalin
Drunk recruits, insubordinate soldiers and convicts are part of hundreds who've been pressed into Russian penal units known as "Storm-Z" squads.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 4, 2023
How pro-Putin operatives in Germany work to turn Berlin against Ukraine
Several million Russian speakers live in Germany, a legacy of Soviet ties to Communist East Germany and decades of German dependency on Russian gas.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 23, 2022
From patriot to pariah: The man caught in a propaganda war over a Ukrainian nuclear plant
A former deputy spokesman at Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant who helped tell the world that Russian troops had seized the strategic site is now in exile.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 1, 2022
Some wounded Russian soldiers find compensation elusive, despite Putin’s pledge
For some, it's because a little-noticed clarification to the rules has narrowed the criteria for eligibility; others face bureaucratic obstacles or delays in getting applications approved.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 25, 2022
Missiles hit Kyiv as Ukraine capital girds for Russian assault
Air raid sirens wailed over the capital of 3 million people, where some residents sheltered in underground metro stations.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 16, 2022
Ukraine hit by cyberattack as U.S. questions Russian troop pullback
Ukrainian officials did not say who it believed was responsible for the cyberattack, but a statement suggested it was pointing the finger at Russia.
Japan Times
WORLD
May 14, 2015
Russians quit army over Ukraine
Some Russian soldiers are quitting the army because of the conflict in Ukraine, several soldiers and human rights activists have told Reuters. Their accounts call into question the Kremlin's continued assertions that no Russian soldiers have been sent to Ukraine, and that any Russians fighting alongside rebels there are volunteers.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 10, 2015
Rebel fighters enjoy lull on eastern Ukraine front
Uneasy calm and domesticity have settled over rebel positions in the ruins of front-line towns in east Ukraine as steps are taken to observe a fragile cease-fire that each side expects the other to violate with a fresh offensive.
Japan Times
WORLD
Oct 24, 2014
Ukraine war debris points to Russian role
The burned-out remains of dozens of tanks and armored vehicles in fields near the village of Horbatenko bear witness to the ferocity of a battle that turned the tide of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Longform

Historically, kabuki was considered the entertainment of the merchant and peasant classes, a far cry from how it is regarded today.
For Japan's oldest kabuki theater, the show must go on