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Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin has increasingly militarized the Black Sea region, presenting a threat to both NATO and its littoral partners, especially Ukraine and Moldova. Indeed, the region has become a testing ground for Russian hybrid warfare operations. These operations, which engage adversaries below the threshold of war, often seek to undermine civil society with tactics such as assaults on the integrity of elections, attacks on infrastruct

Photo: Sergey Okunev / NV Ukraine is currently at the epicenter of radical changes taking place in the way modern wars are fought. However, much of the world is still busy preparing for the wars of yesterday. European armies are only combat-ready on paper, while the invincibility of the United States military is based largely on past victories. The current state of affairs is far from unprecedented. In early 1940, Polish officers tried to warn their French counterparts about

At the end of 2025, a clear pattern stands out in Russian disinformation: the persistent construction of an image of strength in the face of growing constraints. Throughout the year, Kremlin-aligned outlets amplified exaggerated or false claims of military success in Ukraine, presenting marginal advances as decisive victories. As discussions about future negotiations gained prominence, this narrative of invincibility served a specific purpose – to shape perceptions, set the t

On 19 December 2025, Russian President Vladimir Putin once again appeared on his annual televised call-in programme , ‘Direct Line with Vladimir Putin’, answering questions submitted by members of the public. Putin’s speeches and public appearances are a major pillar of Russia’s Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference (FIMI) campaigns. By framing disinformation narratives at the highest level, Putin’s public proclamations provide legitimacy and talking points that s

Europe needs to share intelligence and exploit legal “gray zones” to tackle Russia’s sanctions-busting shadow fleet. Russian shadow fleet tanker Kiwala detained off the Estonian coast between the island of Aegna and the port of Muuga, east of Tallinn, Friday, April 11, 2025. Source: Priit Mürk/ERR The fleet, hundreds of ships strong, enables Moscow to circumvent curbs on oil sales and engage in sabotage, particularly in the Baltic, posing security, environmental, and economic

Source DJI / CineD When cyberattacks and missile strikes converge on the same targets, infrastructure resilience becomes more than a technical mandate; it becomes a matter of national survival. For Ukraine, this is not a hypothetical future scenario. On the contrary, it has been daily reality for more than a decade. Since 2014, Ukraine’s power grid, banking system, telecommunications networks, and digital infrastructure have faced sustained and increasingly sophisticated atta

Russia will step-up its shadow war on Europe in the New Year, attacking infrastructure and disrupting democracy in a bid to exploit Western disunity. Russian drone on the roof of a barn in Moldova / Source Belcy 24 In 2026, the Kremlin will seek to demonstrate that Russia retains the initiative and remains a great power despite its economic and military decline. This is designed in part to emphasize a country on the brink of historic success and to build on images of Presiden

Russia’s Geran attack drones have morphed from crude versions of Iranian Shahed UAVs into an affordable and flexible strike system, with deadly results. Russia’s Geran 2 attack drone / Source Sergej Flesh Facebook page Moscow’s forces have launched nearly 50,000 Geran/Shahed drones into Ukraine since the full-scale invasion of 2022 and shifted to a near-continuous rhythm of strikes that have overwhelmed defenses, disabled infrastructure, and killed families in their homes.  

Putin’s refusal to accept any peace that does not ultimately lead to the subjugation of Ukraine is nothing new. For decades the Kremlin has paired hollow diplomatic language with foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) campaigns that present Moscow as a reasonable actor while it undermines sovereign neighbours. Recent talks in Geneva between US and Ukrainian negotiators indicate tentative progress in their discussion on a potential peace agreement. Doubts ha

A comparative assessment of the Russian and Ukrainian wartime economies underlines that Russia’s ongoing invasion has imposed far greater costs on Ukraine by depleting its manpower , worsening its demographics , and straining the country’s financial resources . Sustained support for the Ukrainian economy is therefore crucial as Europe and the United States seek to push Putin toward the negotiating table. Ukraine Economy / Source The Jerusalem Strategic Tribune American and Eu

Kremlin success would benefit the Beijing regime in a whole number of ways, including the theft of Ukrainian military technology. What might Europe look like if the fighting finally ends in Ukraine? Would we return to a pre-2022 continent of mutual suspicion but broad economic ties to Russia? Or something very different and even more concerning?  That, of course, depends on the exact terms agreed by the warring parties and their various backers. But any deal favorable to Vlad

On 30 September 2025, Russia celebrated the anniversary of the ‘reunification of new regions’ – how pro-Kremlin disinformation refers to the occupation of parts of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions. To mark the occasion, Russia minted coins depicting Ukrainian lands and organised lavish concerts where top Russian celebrities praised the Moscow’s ‘care’ for the occupied territories. Through these carefully choreographed events, the Kremlin sought to

Source: 47th separate mechanized brigade As Europe races to strengthen its defenses against the mounting threat posed by Russian drones, more and more countries are looking to learn from Ukraine’s experience. Speaking in October, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen acknowledged that Ukraine is currently a world leader in drone warfare and called on her European colleagues to “take all the experiences, all the new technology, all the innovation from Ukraine, and put it in

Ukraine’s setbacks are troubling but only part of the story. By Edward Lucas Consequences of enemy shelling of Ternopil (Photo: Suspilne Media) Corruption scandals in Kyiv, devastating attacks on infrastructure, the looming loss of Pokrovsk, and newly effective Russian innovation in  drone warfare  — the bad news from Ukraine keeps coming. Put the elements together and they make a bleak, even dire, picture. Ukraine is running out of soldiers, money, power supplies, and time,

When many US taxpayers hear about Ukraine, they ask: what’s in it for us? The story of Ukraine's largest oil company shows why helping Kyiv can put America first. Source: FREEDOM In November 2022, nine months after Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine seized Ukrnafta from oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. The once-mighty petrochemical behemoth was near collapse — with just $10m in the bank, billion-dollar tax debts , and a $14m payroll it could barely meet.   Yet under reformist man

The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine is among the most technologically advanced wars the world has ever seen. But while the rapid developments taking place in drone warfare tend to attract most attention, the cyber front of the conflict also offers important lessons for international audiences. The Russian state and affiliated groups have been refining their cyber warfare tactics in Ukraine ever since the initial onset of Russian aggression in 2014. In January 2022, Ukrain

A screenshot from the video with a captured Indian national, Majoti Sahil Mohamed Hussein. (The 63rd Mechanized Brigade / Telegram) As Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches the four-year mark, Moscow is facing increasing difficulties replenishing the ranks of its invading army. With fewer Russians now prepared to volunteer, the Kremlin is seeking to recruit more foreign fighters to serve in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s colonial war. A number of recent media

Anti-drone nets installed on a highway near Kherson. Photo: IPC-South On October 20, pensioner Larisa Vakulyuk was killed by a Russian drone while tending to her goats in the Ukrainian city of Kherson. The murder of the 84 year old Ukrainian grandmother was a deliberate act carried out by a Russian drone operator using a video camera to hunt his victim. There can be no realistic doubt that he knew exactly what he was doing. One week earlier, Russian drones attacked a United

Russia is holding and torturing Ukrainian civilians, though they are not charged, have had no due process and no release date. Ukrainian warriors of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service, and civilians. Most of them had been in captivity since 2022. / Source Volodymyr Zelenskyy Official Facebook Page. Dmytro Khilyuk spent more than three years in brutal conditions in Russian captivity, and marked his 20 years as a journalist while being held at

Getting accurate information and news is harder than ever in the social media age, but close to existential in a country at war. As with much of the world, traditional Ukrainian outlets like television, newspapers, and radio play a diminishing role. Citizens have increasingly turned instead to Telegram, YouTube, and Facebook, even though trust in these digital platforms is strikingly low.   A survey of 2,000 Ukrainians by Rating Group , a Kyiv-based research organization, hig