Associate Editor, Arts + Culture Editor
Jonathan Este spent 20 years as a reporter, columnist and editor on The Independent as well as The Australian. He joins The Conversation from the Media Alliance in Australia where he specialised in media law and policy and the digital revolution in journalism.
May 26, 2023 14:51 pm UTC| Politics
After the best part of a year, Russia has claimed victory in the meat-grinder that was the Battle of Bakhmut in Ukraines east. But the battle achieved virtually none of Russias original strategic objectives and came at a...
May 11, 2023 16:04 pm UTC| Politics
One tank. According to press reports and news broadcasts from Moscow, a solitary T-34 dating back to the second world war was the only tank that trundled past the Russian president as he marked a scaled-down Victory Day on...
Ukraine recap: diplomatic manoeuvres intensify in advance of a possible spring offensive
Apr 28, 2023 02:28 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
A quick check of the Met office forecasts for Ukraine suggests that over the next week or so the weather is going to get steadily warmer. The rising mercury has fuelled speculation that Ukraines much discussed spring...
Ukraine recap: downbeat US intelligence leak suggests no end in sight for the misery of this war
Apr 14, 2023 14:10 pm UTC| Politics
What we know or think we know about the progress of the war in Ukraine over the past few days has come courtesy of leaked Pentagon documents which appear to cover, in some detail, a wide range of issues around the...
Ukraine recap: spring comes too early for Putin's tanks
Mar 04, 2023 12:01 pm UTC| Politics
Reading the international press on the first day of spring in Ukraine, it appears that Russia has jumped the gun somewhat in its spring offensive. It has poured troops and armour into an area around the town of Vuhledar...
Ukraine recap: Kyiv keeps its friends close, but will they send the latest warplanes?
Feb 05, 2023 04:23 am UTC| Politics
The latest dispatches from the Institute for the Study of War make for sobering reading. After a few months in which the initiative on the battlefield was generally considered to be firmly with Ukraine, the pendulum...
Ukraine recap: world leaders gather at Davos to make the case for more military aid to Kyiv
Jan 24, 2023 07:38 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics
Were tired of fighting Putin with rubbish kit. This recent headline in The Times was an eloquent expression of the feelings of a Ukrainian tank sergeant, part of the 24th Mechanised Brigade fighting in Bakhmut in the...