Ukraine

The Role of Russia In the Political Transition of the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood

The Russian political establishment has always been convinced that Russia’s national interests as a “great power” extend beyond its borders and that the post-Soviet space is a territory of Russia’s exclusive geopolitical domination. Моscow, therefore, immediately characterized the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative as a project aimed to project the EU’s soft power onto its neighbouring countries and reduce their dependence on Russian influence.

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Russia’s War in Ukraine: Drone-Centric Warfare

In December 2024, Major Robert ‘Madyar’ Brovdi, a key figure in Ukraine’s drone warfare development, announced that his strike drone regiment would become a separate uncrewed systems brigade within the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Since 2022, Ukraine’s drone capabilities have expanded rapidly. Over a million drones have now been deployed. But this is not simply a question of numbers—the AFU has embraced a fully drone-centric military strategy.

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New Russian Immigration to the EU: The Case of the Baltic States, Finland, Germany & Poland

The political atmosphere in Russia, as well as the September 2022 mobilisation call for military service, made thousands of Russians leave their home country. Although a vast majority of them have settled in post-Soviet countries, a noticeable portion has also taken up residence in EU countries. A recent couple of years have seen significant expert interest in new Russian immigration, so there is no shortage of publications on the phenomenon. However, many of these analyses suffer from substantial flaws.

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Russia’s War in Ukraine: Artificial Intelligence in Defence of Ukraine

Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine is the first international conflict in which the opposing sides have actively developed and used artificial intelligence (AI) for military purposes. AI solutions for geospatial intelligence, operations with unmanned systems, military training, and cyber warfare have been key to success on the battlefield. This brief explores the state of defence AI in Ukraine and highlights the main lessons that can be learned from the Ukrainian experience.

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Russia’s War in Ukraine: Russia’s Attempts to Undermine Mobilisation

Russia conducts information and psychological operations to undermine and discredit Ukraine’s mobilisation, damage the morale of Ukrainian citizens, and weaken their willingness to defend their state. In support of these efforts, the Russian military and special services distribute both real and fake photographs and video content on social networks. In addition, the Russian special services use current and former male citizens of Ukraine who have voluntarily switched sides to produce malign content. The recent discussions about and promulgation of new laws related to Ukraine’s mobilisation have offered Russia further opportunities to spread disinformation.

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