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By Agnia Grigas Agnia Grigas These are tense times for NATO’s European frontline states. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is well into its fifth year. US President Donald Trump is reducing troop presence in Europe and questioning America’s commitment to NATO, while the European powers are yet to take on full responsibility for their continent’s security. And the war in the Middle East is consuming finite resources and diverting attention from other security topics. In this challe

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s legitimacy is once again being queried, but opponents are asking the wrong question. Donald Trump thinks Ukraine needs a new president. Vladimir Putin agrees, as does Elon Musk, and the point was once made by that great friend of Ukraine, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. So, let’s imagine that, somehow, fair and free elections with no Russian interference were to be held tomorrow in Ukraine. Who would win? According to a September 23 public opinion survey c

The Nordic countries should plough ahead with joint preparations for war with Russia. It makes no sense to wait for allies, and there are immediate steps available. Source: ScanSpecialties The Russian threat rises and rises. The risks and costs from its shadow (and sometimes open) attacks are increasing, and at some point soon there will be a serious crisis, perhaps brought on by the casualties from a successful version of the Kremlin’s bungled strike at Leipzig Airport in Au

Source: Alexey Larionov / Unsplash From Leipzig Airport to the Black Sea, Russia’s campaign of gray zone aggression against Europe has been escalating at an alarming rate in recent months. This is straining the definition of “hybrid warfare,” which is usually understood to mean actions by hostile states that blur the line between peace and war. So far, European leaders have responded with strong statements but have stopped short of imposing any additional costs on the Kremlin

Europe’s security debate focuses on defense capabilities, technological resilience, critical infrastructure, and the ability to act independently, but public trust in NATO is just as vital. Photo by Marina Militare The alliance cannot sustain collective defense if its citizens doubt why it exists, distrust what it says, or come to believe it is responsible for the threats it confronts. Public trust in NATO should be seen as a key part of Europe’s security infrastructure. Soci

The Kremlin-directed attacks on Europe are a sign of weakness. Europe must craft a robust new response to raise the pressure on Russia. Photo: Panzerbrigade 45 Litauen Facebook page Europe’s response to Russia’s increasingly ferocious attacks on Ukraine and a widening shadow war campaign against European NATO has been familiar: strategic restraint. That strategy is increasingly outdated. Something new is needed. Hybrid warfare operates in the space between strategic necessity

Russia is promoting a picture of the Baltic region in which NATO is preparing to attack Russia, Baltic governments are heavily militarising, and Russian speakers face imminent persecution. Taken together, these narratives create an atmosphere of permanent crisis in which military escalation appears increasingly plausible. This allows Moscow to exert pressure even without taking overt military action – the possibility of conflict itself becomes an instrument of coercion. In la

Moscow routinely portrays elections in democratic countries as fraudulent and controlled from abroad. Yet Russia’s own parliamentary election offers no genuine political choice: the Kremlin controls the field and has eliminated even the possibility of voting against the war in Ukraine. As the war’s effects reach deeper into everyday life, growing public dissatisfaction is being kept out of the ballot box. When post-Soviet states turn away from Russia, as Armenia or Moldova ha

Source: Lithuianian Armed Forces Lithuania’s security environment has fundamentally changed over the past decade. Public and institutional thinking, however, has not fully adapted. Lithuania is no longer operating in peacetime. Alongside sustained Russian rhetoric about a future conventional invasion, Lithuania is already facing an ongoing hostile campaign below the threshold of open conflict, eroding the distinction between peace and war. Those actions go beyond traditional

Foto: Vladimir Velengurin / KP As Russian President Vladimir Putin grows increasingly isolated domestically and internationally amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, there is renewed speculation over who might one day succeed him and what that this would mean for Russia. “For the first time since the conflict began, Russians are starting to imagine a future without Putin,” Britain’s Economist reported in May. The prospect of new Russian leadership provokes mixed reactions. Wh

Screenshot form Tass WASHINGTON—On July 25, Ukraine struck an Iranian cargo ship in the Caspian Sea, killing a sailor in the attack. At the time, Ukraine stated that the ship was carrying military equipment to Russia, while Iranian officials claimed it was a commercial ship and warned Kyiv of reprisal. In the days that followed, Tehran reportedly considered carrying out a retaliatory strike, until Iranian Foreign Minister Abas Araghchi spoke with his Ukrainian counterpart, An

The Kremlin’s on-again-off-again campaign to intimidate and disorientate European allies is picking up once more. Galati, Romania / Source: Digi24 Russia’s shadow war against NATO allies has moved southwards, with three drone breaches of Romanian airspace in as many days, and a surge of other incursions in recent weeks. Together with another attack on Poland, where a Russian cruise missile struck 100 km (62 miles) from the country’s eastern border on July 30, the incidents su

By Taine Noble / Unsplash Russia launched 126 ballistic missiles at Ukraine in July 2026, the New York Times reports. This figure represents a new monthly record since the start of the full-scale invasion as Moscow steps up the bombardment of Ukrainian cities and civilian infrastructure. The recent surge in missile attacks comes as Ukraine runs short of air defense ammunition, leaving the country virtually defenseless against the Kremlin’s ballistic blitz. Russian President V

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

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

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