Category: Russia

Russian War Report: Satellite imagery analysis captures flood threat after dam’s destruction

As Russia continues its assault on Ukraine, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) is keeping a close eye on Russia’s movements across the military, cyber, and information domains. With more than seven years of experience monitoring the situation in Ukraine—as well as Russia’s use of propaganda and disinformation to undermine the United States, NATO,

Ukraine’s summer counteroffensive will aim to keep the Russians guessing

Is Ukraine’s hotly anticipated counteroffensive finally underway? That is the question dominating much of the international media this week following reports from both the Ukrainian and Russian sides of a significant upswing in activity along the front lines in southern and eastern Ukraine. This speculation is understandable; after all, expectations have been mounting since early

Has Ukraine’s counteroffensive really begun?

JUST IN Will we know it when we see it? Ukrainian forces are probing front lines and attacking multiple Russian positions, even as leaders in Kyiv remain cagey on whether Ukraine’s much-anticipated summer counteroffensive has begun. Russia is sending its own signals. After digging in along the front line, Russian forces have ramped up air

Is China preparing for a post-Putin Russia?

One of the greatest mysteries of the Russo-Ukrainian War is China’s actual policy. While China moves cautiously, it appears to be gradually distancing itself from Vladimir Putin. A little-noticed fact is that Chinese President Xi Jinping is cultivating Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in quite a blatant fashion. Just two weeks before Putin launched the

Dispatch from Kyiv: Ukraine deserves NATO membership and even more robust weapons

The air raid siren sounded at 3:00 a.m. on Thursday morning, several hours after the Atlantic Council’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his well-fortified offices, sounding the arrival of ten Russian Iskander ballistic missiles in Kyiv airspace. Each of them—more than twenty feet long and weighing in at more than four tons—served as a further reminder that

The fight against courtroom corruption continues in wartime Ukraine

The head of Ukraine’s Supreme Court, Vsevolod Kniaziev, was detained in mid-May on corruption charges based on an alleged $2.7 million bribe. The charges were brought by Ukraine’s leading anti-corruption bodies, the Special Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) and National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU). This landmark case reflects the considerable progress made in Ukraine’s struggle

Russian War Report: Moscow is on edge after the latest drone attack

As Russia continues its assault on Ukraine, the Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) is keeping a close eye on Russia’s movements across the military, cyber, and information domains. With more than seven years of experience monitoring the situation in Ukraine—as well as Russia’s use of propaganda and disinformation to undermine the United States, NATO,

Ukraine’s Diia platform sets the global gold standard for e-government

Several thousand people gathered at the Warner Theater in Washington DC on May 23 for a special event dedicated to Ukraine’s award-winning e-governance platform Diia. “Ukrainians are not only fighting. For four years behind the scenes, they have been creating the future of democracy,” USAID Administrator Samantha Power commented at the event. According to Power,

Russia’s new reality: Less Peter the Great, more Putin the Pariah

Will Vladimir Putin dare to visit the BRICS summit in South Africa this August? In previous years, his attendance would have been taken for granted, but war crimes charges brought by the International Criminal Court in March 2023 are fueling speculation that he could face arrest if he decides to risk the trip. As a