Latest from Neil Hauer
In Syria’s Fractured Landscape, Salamiyah Stands Apart
In the wake of Bashar al-Assad’s ouster, sectarian violence has flared across Syria. But Salamiyah, a city of 100,000 on the edge of the Syrian desert, has stood apart. Home to Ismailis, Sunnis and Alawites, it may be a model for reconciliation and pluralism in post-Assad Syria.
The Gruesome Battle of Donetsk
“Tonight, we had five raids. If we had air defense, it wouldn’t be happening. We have it, but not enough. It’s from the ‘70s and ‘80s. It’s too weak. We need modern air defense. We haven’t received any yet. And you also have to learn to use it first. It’s not like driving a car.”
The Story Behind the Viral ‘Viking’ Soldier
“[They were] surprisingly pathetic,” he says of the Russian troops he encountered. “I have never seen a military force perform this badly. The Taliban had better logistics and planning than the Russian military. I don’t know if it’s basically the incompetence of their intelligence that they just expected flowers to greet them, but they are so poorly trained, so badly motivated, so underequipped that it’s outright ridiculous.”
Dnipro: Ukraine’s Staging Ground
Amid Russia’s ongoing campaign to conquer Ukraine, Dnipro has become a key logistics node for dispatching supplies to battlefields in the country’s north, east and south.
Odesa Tears Away From the ‘Russkiy Mir’
With Ukrainians from all the country’s disparate corners finding a common cause and identity, there is little appetite left for any positive disposition toward the neighbor that has unleashed hell upon them.
Chechens Fighting Chechens in Ukraine
“I want to assure Ukrainians that real Chechens are defending Ukraine today,” says Adam Osmaev, leader of the Dzhokhar Dudayev Battalion in Ukraine. “These puppets [Kadyrovtsy] fighting for Russia are a shame to our whole nation — we consider them only traitors.”