Poland

Critical State, a foreign policy newsletter by Inkstick Media, takes a deep dive this week into the power and politics of collective memory when it comes to partitions. “If states told ghost stories, they would tell them of past partitions,” Kelsey D. Atherton writes.

As Russian dissidents flee to Poland, this moment has created an unexpected opportunity for historians in both countries to work together to uncover the more disturbing aspects of their shared history.

Recent Russian attacks have damaged power grids and water systems in the capital, Kyiv, but families are returning home, and crews of electrical maintenance workers are being charged with bringing power back to the city.

The Polish government has steadily been demolishing dozens of Soviet-era monuments ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But many Polish citizens believe preserving their country’s complicated history is important.

Poland has taken in nearly 1.5 million Ukrainians since the war began. Local mayors say they’re now running out of money to support refugees. And the vast network of volunteers that turned up in the early months of the invasion say that they’re running out of energy, too.