---
title: Background
url: 'https://redpill.akuadora.net/background'
markdown: 'https://redpill.akuadora.net/background.md'
date: '2026-10-21'
description: 'Background stories on Russia’s war against Ukraine: Russia’s excuses, MH17, war crimes, and why Europe cannot look away.'
---

# Background

Headlines tell you what happened today. These stories explain the war itself. Stories marked **Opinion** argue a point of view; everything else sticks to what has been established by courts, investigators and reporters on the ground.

 [ Background **NATO, “Nazis”, Russian speakers: Russia’s excuses, and why they don’t hold** The Kremlin has offered a different reason for the invasion every few months. Hold each one against the facts and they fall apart. What remains is a war of conquest. ](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/excuses) [ Background **MH17: what the investigation proved** 298 people, 196 of them Dutch, were killed by a Russian army missile on 17 July 2014. Investigators, a Dutch court and international bodies all reached the same conclusion. Russia still lies about it. ](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/mh17) [ Background **War crimes: the evidence** Murdered civilians in Bucha, a bombed theatre in Mariupol, tortured prisoners, deported children, a power grid targeted to freeze people. None of it is rumour. It is documented by the UN, international courts and journalists. ](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/war-crimes) [ Opinion **Why this is Europe’s war too** Ukraine is not a faraway quarrel. Russia already wages a hidden war against the rest of Europe, and what happens in Ukraine decides whether the open war comes closer. ](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/why-europe) [ Background **Putin: from KGB officer to war president** Twenty-five years of power, built on a war in Chechnya and kept with poison, prison and rigged votes. Ukraine is not an exception in Putin’s record. It is the pattern. ](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/putin) [ Background **Trump and the war: what he said, what he did** Ending the war “in 24 hours”, calling Zelensky a dictator, red carpet for Putin, then sanctions on Russian oil. The record of Donald Trump and Ukraine, in his own words and actions. ](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/trump) [ Background **NATO: myths and facts** “NATO promised not to expand.” “NATO surrounded Russia.” Moscow’s favourite claims about the alliance, checked against the record. ](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/nato)

---

## Navigation

- Previous: [About](https://redpill.akuadora.net/about.md)
- Children:
  - [Russia’s excuses for the war](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/excuses.md)
  - [MH17](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/mh17.md)
  - [War crimes](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/war-crimes.md)
  - [Why this is Europe’s war too](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/why-europe.md)
  - [Putin](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/putin.md)
  - [Trump and the war](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/trump.md)
  - [NATO: myths and facts](https://redpill.akuadora.net/background/nato.md)