Russia
Russia’s New Weapon
Using the popular communication channel Telegram, Russia is duping Ukrainian children and vulnerable adults into carrying out horrific attacks across the country, many of them also killing the unsuspecting perpetrators. Similar tactics are being wielded by Putin across Europe to undercut support for Ukraine and its backers.
Recast on the World Stage
With Donald Trump’s rapprochement with Moscow, the success of the blockbuster film “Anora,” Russian athletes breaking records and even a viral pop hit from remote Bashkortostan, the cultural isolation surrounding Russia has eased. The mood in Moscow is unmistakably triumphant, and Russians seem to be saying, “We’re back.”
The Russian Nationalists Pushing for Ukraine’s Destruction
Nationalist factions have been a key part of Russia’s war effort in Ukraine since 2014, but are often at odds with the state. Now they fear the Kremlin could be duped by the West into a negotiated settlement that falls short of their goal: dismantling Ukraine as a sovereign state.
The Story Behind a Russian Hacker’s Arrest in the US
Cybercrime has long been a useful foreign policy tool for the Russian state. But observers now wonder if shifting geopolitics, including Donald Trump’s rapprochement with the Kremlin, will impact such activities, for better or worse.
Can Europe Back Ukraine’s Fight Alone?
For Europeans watching, one thing is clear: Washington now regards Kyiv as an adversary from which concessions must be wrung and terms of conditional surrender imposed, while it sees Moscow as an ally-in-the-making and the more justifiably aggrieved party in the war of conquest Moscow started three years ago.
The University That Shaped Russia’s Intervention in Syria
For decades, an elite university in St. Petersburg sustained Russia’s expertise on the Middle East and its influence abroad. Yet cracks in Russia’s supposed mastery of the region started to show around the turn of the millennium.
Two and a Half Years Later, a Disabled Ukrainian Boy Returns Home
Just over a month after New Lines and The Reckoning Project published an investigation into Moscow’s targeting and deporting of disabled children from Ukraine, a teenage boy was found and returned to his family.