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1 week ago | 
cepa.org | Nico Lange |Elena Davlikanova |Edward Lucas |Aura Sabadus
For weeks now, Russia’s main axis of attack in southern Donbas has been faltering. Ukraine is conducting local counterattacks near Pokrovsk, Toretsk, and Chasiv Yar and is unexpectedly pushing back against Russia. That progress has been aided by technical evolution; Ukraine has extended the range of its fiber optic drones by several kilometers, and these cannot be disrupted by Russian electronic warfare. This allows Ukraine to disable Russian artillery pieces and logistical facilities.
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2 weeks ago | 
cepa.org | Maciej Bukowski |Ronan Murphy |Suriya Evans-Pritchard Jayanti |Elena Davlikanova
Nuclear power is making a geopolitical comeback, fueled not least by the ever-growing demand from booming AI. Once sidelined by cost, safety, and proliferation concerns, nuclear is now being revived not just for decarbonization — but also as a strategic lever in a new era of great power rivalry. One telling indicator is Washington’s push to overturn the World Bank’s 1959 ban on nuclear lending — a move meant to allow US firms to compete with China as well as Russia.
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Jan 22, 2025 | 
themoscowtimes.com | Elena Davlikanova
By urging Ukraine to conscript 18-year-olds, the West risks a tragic gamble: sacrificing a generation to buy time for Europe's awakening and NATO's hesitation. Mike Waltz, Donald Trump’s pick for National Security Advisor, recently suggested that Ukraine should lower the draft age from 26 to 18.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
cepa.org | Elena Davlikanova |Mykyta Vorobiov |Edward Lucas
There was a time, only weeks ago, when the mantra of “nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine” appeared to have some meaning. No longer. Putin and soon-to-be President Trump are preparing to meet and there is no invitation for third parties. It’s clear that a meeting of this sort, during an all-out war, is as consequential for Ukraine’s existence as (for example) the Munich meeting was for Czechoslovakia’s in 1938. So, what is needed to avoid a bad outcome?
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Nov 1, 2024 | 
wilsoncenter.org | Dan White |Elena Davlikanova
Equating political dissent with heresy has become a central tactic of the Russian state, allowing it to silence opposition and enforce ideological conformity based on an orthodoxy of the Russian church and the “Russkiy Mir.” These efforts are not limited to the geographic borders of Russia. Attacks on religions alternative to the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) have become a key part of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
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Oct 23, 2024 | 
cepa.org | Kseniya Kirillova |Elena Davlikanova |Doug Klain |Mykyta Vorobiov
Russia is not just stealing Ukrainian land and property, it is also stealing people. Its need is urgent. The hunt for able-bodied men and women is a central aim of the Kremlin’s colonial quest because it’s fighting and losing a demographic battle on the home front. The 3 million or so Ukrainians living in the occupied lands are the target of sustained campaigns to make them “new Russians.” But a captive does not a Russian make.
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Oct 22, 2024 | 
aninjusticemag.com | Elena Davlikanova
Foregrounding hidden narratives following Russia’s invasion of UkraineThis article would not have been possible without the support of Dr. Elena Davlikanova, coordinator of the project 100+ Stories of Women and Girls from Russia’s War Against Ukraine. Quotations and selected images are used with prior permission from this story collection and accompanying presentation. CW: Discussion of physical and sexual violence against women and young girls.
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Oct 22, 2024 | 
themoscowtimes.com | Elena Davlikanova
Amid the growing chorus of voices calling for peace, Ukraine introduced its Peace Formula and the Peace Summit format in an attempt to control the narrative and counter initiatives that advocate peace at any cost. Any peace settlement that lacks justice and a strategic vision of Ukraine’s fast integration into Western alliances risks becoming another milestone in achieving Russia's goal to eliminate Ukraine as an independent, democratic state.
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Sep 26, 2024 | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Giorgi Revishvili |Peter Malcolm Dickinson |Kateryna Odarchenko |Elena Davlikanova
History is at the very heart of Russia’s war on Ukraine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin frequently using historical narratives to justify the invasion. Western academia can help combat the Kremlin’s weaponization of the past by paying significantly more attention to the field of Ukrainian history. Ever since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began ten years ago with the seizure of Crimea, history has been a key battleground.
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Sep 21, 2024 | 
atlanticcouncil.org | Kateryna Odarchenko |Elena Davlikanova |Peter Malcolm Dickinson |Olesya Khromeychuk
Ukraine conducted one of the largest and most effective drone attacks of the entire war in the early hours of September 18, causing a blast at a weapons depot deep inside Russia that was large enough to be picked up by earthquake monitoring stations. According to Ukrainian sources, the attack involved more than one hundred domestically produced long-range Ukrainian drones and targeted a major Russian arms storage facility in Toropets, a town in Russia’s Tver region northwest of Moscow.
