This article was updated on October 2, 2023, to reflect new developments in Congress. The Biden administration continues to change its mind for the better in supplying more capable weapons to Ukraine, reportedly agreeing at last to send more precise, longer-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) ground rockets and to support other countries sending F-16
One of the most striking aspects of the Russia-Ukraine War over the past six months has been the intensification of Ukrainian drone strikes against targets throughout the Russian Federation. While the Ukrainian authorities remain reluctant to officially acknowledge responsibility for these attacks, there is little doubt that they reflect the steadily expanding capabilities of Ukraine’s
In Season 1, Episode 7 of the Guns for Hire podcast, host Alia Brahimi is joined by the Bellingcat founder Eliot Higgins. They discuss the importance of Libya to the genesis of Bellingcat, the events which led to Eliot being personally sued by the mercenary leader Yevgeny Prighozin, and how anyone with a bit of
Vladimir Putin’s September 13 meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was accompanied by plenty of pomp and platitudes, but even the Kremlin’s top spin doctors could not disguise the sense of quiet desperation that hung over the event. Indeed, while the summit itself concluded without any formal announcements, the mere fact that the
Ukraine’s outgoing Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, who resigned on September 4, was known for his deep relationships with the country’s Western partners. Outspoken and often wearing an olive green hoodie since the full-scale invasion began, the bald, bespectacled former Kyiv city councilman developed a reputation for being detail-oriented but personable, straightforward but sardonic, and above
In Season 1, Episode 6 of the Guns for Hire podcast, host Alia Brahimi is joined by her Atlantic Council colleague Emadeddin Badi. They discuss the surge of African, Syrian and Russian mercenaries in Libya since 2019, the major value-add of Wagner Group contractors in terms of mortar and sniping capabilities, and how mercenary recruitment
In a reprise of the accession drama at last year’s NATO Summit, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan flashed Turkey’s long-awaited green light for Sweden’s NATO membership on the eve of this year’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. But that green light signals much more than “go” for Stockholm: It also signals that Turkey has taken the
The NATO Summit in Vilnius starting on July 11 will mark milestones in several strategic processes of vital importance to the Alliance. These include assessing progress on the Strategic Concept adopted in Madrid last year, recognizing Finland’s successful accession, debating the path forward on Ukraine’s application, and consideration of the end game towards Swedish membership.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has recently initiated a national debate over the creation of a Ukrainian Doctrine that will shape the future development of the country. I am confident that defense policy will be at the heart of this national dialogue and see a number of key points that are worth underlining. The first point
