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Owen Matthews

Owen Matthews

The Spectator

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Russia is becoming embarrassingly dependent on Beijing

A week after Donald Trump was greeted in Beijing by well-orchestrated crowds of flag-waving schoolchildren, it was Vladimir Putin’s turn to pay a...

21.05.2026 10

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Russia is becoming embarrassingly dependent on Beijing

A week after Donald Trump was greeted in Beijing by well-orchestrated crowds of flag-waving schoolchildren, it was Vladimir Putin’s turn to pay a...

21.05.2026 6

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

I gave up drinking. Don’t call me teetotal

I gave up drinking. Don’t call me teetotal

I hate teetotallers. The pitying looks they give you with their cold, unclouded eyes. Those patronising, bored smiles they smile, as though they...

21.05.2026 10

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Keir Starmer isn’t serious about getting tough on Putin

The British government yesterday quietly issued two sweeping import licences for Russian oil and gas. This may ease European supply problems but makes...

20.05.2026 9

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

I gave up drinking. Don’t call me teetotal.

I hate teetotallers. The pitying looks they give you with their cold, unclouded eyes. Those patronising, bored smiles they smile, as though they...

20.05.2026 10

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

How Putin got the Hollywood treatment

Sometimes life disappoints you in interesting ways. I hated Giuliano da Empoli’s 2022 book The Wizard of the Kremlin, a fictional political thriller...

12.05.2026 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

The Kremlin’s secret plans for post-war Russia

A top-level Kremlin policy document discussing post-war political planning and how to neutralize potential ultranationalist discontent has been leaked...

09.05.2026 30

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Russians no longer believe Putin’s war propaganda

A year ago, Russia marked the 9 May Victory Day celebration with a spectacular display of fireworks that lit up the Moscow sky. This year the...

08.05.2026 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Death trap / Russians no longer believe Putin’s war propaganda

A year ago, Russia marked the 9 May Victory Day celebration with a spectacular display of fireworks that lit up the Moscow sky. This year the...

07.05.2026 10

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Russians no longer believe Putin’s war propaganda

A year ago, Russia marked the 9 May Victory Day celebration with a spectacular display of fireworks that lit up the Moscow sky. This year the...

07.05.2026 10

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

How the Ukraine war could end in revolt

Ukraine and Russia are exhausted. Neither side is close to defeat and yet discontent is growing on both sides. In Russia, open criticism of the regime...

29.04.2026 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Don’t fall for Rome’s tourist traps

Is any tourist attraction on earth really worth enduring a madding crowd to see? My mother, denied international travel for half her life by the...

24.04.2026 10

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

It’s hard to believe that Starmer is getting tough on Russia

Less than a fortnight ago, Sir Keir Starmer sought to signal that the British government was getting tough on Putin by authorising the Royal Navy to...

10.04.2026 10

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

How the illiterate peasant Rasputin changed the course of modern history

There lived a certain man in Russia long ago. He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow. You know the rest. Antony Beevor’s telling of the...

24.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Ukraine’s allies are falling away

As Ukraine emerges battered but unbowed from the third and most terrible winter of the war against Russia, its people have proved that they can...

22.03.2026 30

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Ukraine’s allies are falling away

As Ukraine emerges battered but unbowed from the third and most terrible winter of the war against Russia, its people have proved that they can...

20.03.2026 30

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Books / How an illiterate peasant changed the course of modern history

There lived a certain man in Russia long ago. He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow. You know the rest. Antony Beevor’s telling of the...

17.03.2026 10

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Books / How an illiterate peasant changed the course of modern history

There lived a certain man in Russia long ago. He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow. You know the rest. Antony Beevor’s telling of the...

17.03.2026 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

British airports are a disgrace

When was the last time you were shouted at by a stranger wearing a lanyard? Or spent hours in a crowded public space with low ceilings and no natural...

16.03.2026 30

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Books / How an illiterate peasant changed the course of modern history

There lived a certain man in Russia long ago. He was big and strong, in his eyes a flaming glow. You know the rest. Antony Beevor’s telling of the...

12.03.2026 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Putin is enjoying the Iran war

After Iran unleashed a torrent of missiles against its neighbors – including those with whom it had enjoyed friendly relations such as Turkey and...

11.03.2026 40

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Putin is enjoying the Iran war

After Iran unleashed a torrent of missiles against its neighbours – including those with whom it had enjoyed friendly relations such as Turkey and...

10.03.2026 40

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Ukraine war / ‘More than half our squad were executed’: Inside Russia’s rotten army

The Russians are on the warpath – and Europe is Vladimir Putin’s next target. That was British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s alarming claim at...

04.03.2026 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Will Turkey intervene in Iran?

Even as Iran lashes out with missile and drone strikes against its wealthy Arab rivals in the Gulf, three neighbours remain almost untouched –...

04.03.2026 30

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

‘More than half our squad were executed’: Inside Russia’s rotten army

The Russians are on the warpath – and Europe is Vladimir Putin’s next target. That was British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s alarming claim at...

03.03.2026 30

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

How Silicon Valley is calling the shots on the battlefields of Ukraine

Sometime in the late morning of February 4, somebody at SpaceX headquarters pressed a computer key. A command line was beamed to Starlink’s 9,600...

27.02.2026 30

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Ukraine war / ‘More than half our squad were executed’: Inside Russia’s rotten army

The Russians are on the warpath – and Europe is Vladimir Putin’s next target. That was Sir Keir Starmer’s alarming claim at the Munich Security...

26.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Is the war in Ukraine any closer to ending?

Is the latest round of Russia-Ukraine peace talks, sponsored by the United States and currently under way in Geneva, likely to hasten the war’s end?...

17.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Why is America determined to pick a fight with Poland?

06.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Dark side / The secrets of Putin’s shadow fleet

05.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Will the Abu Dhabi talks bring peace to Ukraine?

23.01.2026 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Cold blood / The Kremlin’s plan to create a new wave of Ukrainian refugees

19.01.2026 80

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

The Kremlin's plan to create a new wave of Ukrainian refugees

15.01.2026 40

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

War with Russia / Europe has left Ukraine living on borrowed time

19.12.2025 30

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Europe has left Ukraine living on borrowed time

19.12.2025 30

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Only the US is taking peace seriously in Ukraine

17.12.2025 40

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Peace negotiations / The war in Ukraine is reaching its endgame

13.12.2025 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

The war in Ukraine is reaching its endgame

12.12.2025 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

Europe's kind words and bear hugs can't save Zelensky

10.12.2025 30

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

War in Ukraine / Why Putin thinks destiny is on his side

03.12.2025 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews

The path to peace in Ukraine will be tortuous

28.11.2025 20

The Spectator

Owen Matthews