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As news from the front makes Vladimir Putin’s demands for peace with Kyiv look more absurd, Ukraine and its allies must push for justice. Why would Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, or any outside mediator, want to talk with Putin? Even if a ceasefire was achieved, as Serhii Plokhy argues in David and Goliath (Harvard Ukrainian Studies, February 2026), it would not bring lasting peace. Illustrative photo. A children's toy in a destroyed house in Sumy / Stas Yurchenko

Ukrainians have taken to the streets in recent weeks to voice their concerns over the sudden removal of the country’s reformist defense minister. Rolling protests in Kyiv and cities across Ukraine have sparked the biggest political crisis since the start of the full-scale war and have highlighted the continued strength of the Ukrainian population’s democratic instincts. Photo: Mykhailo Tyunkin, Graty The remarkable readiness of ordinary Ukrainians to defend their rights and h

The two neighbors are mutually dependent in fighting the Russian menace. They should remember this when historical disputes erupt. Photo: ТСН 2026 is the Year of Jerzy Giedroyć. Americans may be forgiven for not recognizing one of Central Europe’s leading 20th-century democratic intellectuals, but Poles have no excuse. The Polish Senate decided to honor him last year. Most of the country’s elite, including President Karol Nawrocki, a professional historian and former director

Russian Navy Day celebrations. July 26, 2026. Freeze frame from the IZ.RU video Russian President Vladimir Putin has faced widespread ridicule this week following Sunday’s dramatically downgraded Russian Navy Day celebrations, with detractors claiming the sorry spectacle has underlined his failure to secure Russian airspace against Ukrainian drones. Russia’s annual Navy Day festivities have traditionally served as an opportunity to flex the country’s maritime muscles. In the

When Putin’s mouthpieces talk about something, there’s always a reason. Russians have renewed cause to worry. It has been a long time coming, but ordinary Russians are now experiencing a fraction of the horrors inflicted by their regime upon their neighbor. Now too, they’re hearing their state-directed media hint about a darker future of mass mobilization for the despot’s war. Unlike Russia’s military, Ukraine’s armed forces are not targeting civilians, but everyday life is n

Simple geographic binaries cannot address the threats the US faces, especially as its enemies pursue a broad alliance across the globe. Zulfugar Karimov/Unsplash For much of the past decade, American strategic debate has been dominated by a single proposition. The United States is told it must choose between theaters of conflict. China is described as the pacing threat, and Washington should therefore commit its finite resources toward the Indo-Pacific. Europe, while importan

By Alexandr Popadin / Unsplash Life Inside the Fortress: Everyday Reality Challenges Kremlin Narratives in Kaliningrad In official discourse, Kaliningrad is increasingly portrayed as Russia’s western fortress: resilient, patriotic, and under constant external pressure. Yet propaganda must also compete with people’s everyday experience. Rising prices, logistical disruption, security alerts and the militarisation of public life shape how residents perceive the consequences of R

Russia is using electronic warfare as another technique in its shadow war against NATO. Illustrative picture: Gabriel Vasiliu / Unsplash Russian shadow warfare is a many-headed hydra. Its efforts can rise and fall in intensity, can close airports or menace heads of state, target electricity grids in midwinter and sever undersea cables. The latest threat comes from Russia’s highly developed electronic warfare capabilities, which are being used to misdirect explosive-filled dro

Source: 427th Separate Regiment of Unmanned Systems "RAROG" When NATO leaders gathered in Ankara on July 7–8, they made counterdrone defense the summit’s signature industrial commitment, pledging more than forty billion dollars over five years, a new NATO counterdrone marketplace, and a fivefold increase in drone-operator training by the end of 2027. The commitment is driven by a growing sense of urgency in a Europe that has discovered that the simplest and cheapest weapons c

Intelligence agency obsessions can seem eccentric from a distance, but they map the mind and the game theory of the Kremlin’s security elite. Source dzen.ru It is a time of huge strain on the Russian despotism. Drones strike oil refineries with near-clockwork regularity, fuel queues stretch for miles from filling stations, and the leader’s aura of invincibility is under question. So it might seem a curious time for Russia’s guard dogs to be dredging up old conspiracy theories

As international efforts to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine continue, it is also vital to look beyond the battlefield and address the issue of Ukraine’s recovery. This will shape Europe’s future for decades to come, with profound implications for European security and the democratic world’s ability to respond to international aggression. Photo: Petro Poyman/MAIDAN.ORG.UA Since the early stages of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the discussion over Ukraine’s recovery and rec

Photo: Ruslan Mingazhov / Unsplash From bridge to fortress: How the Kremlin is recasting Kaliningrad Kaliningrad Oblast is a Russian semi-exclave on the Baltic Sea, separated from mainland Russia and located between Lithuania and Poland – both members of the EU and NATO. The region itself was created after the Second World War from the northern part of former East Prussia, transferred to the USSR under the Potsdam agreements in 1945. This makes Kaliningrad simultaneously a Ru

For the first time since Moldovan independence, reuniting with Romania is backed by leaders in both countries, and public opinion is warming. The once far-fetched idea is being discussed not only in Chișinău and Bucharest, but also in Brussels, which says the two nations should decide their own fates. For Moscow, it represents a nightmare. Moldova was part of Romania from 1918 until 1940, when it was annexed by the Soviet Union as part of Moscow’s pact with Nazi Germany. It

When Armenian voters renewed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s mandate in the June 2026 parliamentary elections, they did more than choose a government. They chose closer cooperation with the European Union. That choice made them a target. As Armenia deepened its relations with the EU, it became a frequent target of Russian Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI). Attempts to discredit European engagements are a recurring feature relayed across social media pl

Vladimir Putin hoped to double the size of the stock market. He has comprehensively failed, and there’s no obvious fix to be found. Russia’s stock market is stuck in one of its worst stretches in decades. The MOEX index has now fallen for 17 straight weeks — the longest unbroken decline since 1997 — and is back down near the lows it hit on the day Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Four and a half years of war have brought the market full circle: a catastrophic crash, a

Although the US government lifted an export control order on Anthropic’s artificial intelligence model, the damage to transatlantic ties remains. Illustration: Steve A Johnson / Unsplash The episode has sharpened Europe’s dilemma over digital sovereignty. Instead of accepting a false choice between depending on US AI software or building an independent European AI capability, policymakers on the continent should follow the example that is already being set by industry and mix

Source: T.C. Millî Savunma Bakanlığı Digital-age warfare has already started In 2020, Azerbaijani forces completed the recapture of Nagorno-Karabakh in a war that lasted just forty-four days. Opposing positions, however well-fortified, operated with an industrial-age mindset, and thus were spotted, tracked, and obliterated before defenders could understand and react. The weapon responsible was not an F-35 or a cruise missile, but a drone, as analysts at Defense One were among

Russia has proved time and again it doesn’t believe in fair play, preferring to cheat at every turn. Vladimir Putin’s sportswashing cannot be allowed. The soccer World Cup is nearing its climax, but the geopolitics of international sports are only just heating up. The executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on July 7 that it is provisionally lifting Russia’s suspension from the organization. It reasoned that Russia “no longer includes as its mem

The Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, a sacred site that the Kremlin has for decades called its spiritual cradle and a main centre for Orthodoxy in Russia, is now in the crosshairs of Russian weapons. On the night of 15 June 2026, Russia launched a missile and drone strike on Kyiv that caused a massive fire in the Dormition Cathedral of the Lavra. Ukrainian authorities have estimated the damage to the ancient shrine, one of eight UNESCO World Heritage sites, at over 500 million hryvnias (

Putin’s propagandists are battling to bridge the gap between a supposedly victorious war against Ukraine and worsening fuel shortages. Vladimir Putin doesn’t like acknowledging the problems his policies create, especially those resulting from his war of aggression against Ukraine. So it was notable when he grudgingly admitted the success of Ukraine’s aerial barrage on July 8. “It’s completely obvious that the enemy is trying to damage the economy,” he said. “But the main thin