Kristen Thompson

Mar 7, 2024 | foreignaffairs.com | Andrei Kolesnikov |Kristen Thompson |James M. Lindsay |itarian Reflexes

From March 15 to 17, Russia will hold a presidential election to refresh Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power. There have never been any real doubts about the outcome, which will herald his fifth term in office. But the Kremlin has taken extraordinary steps to make sure: On February 8, the Central Election Commission announced that the antiwar candidate Boris Nadezhdin was disqualified from running.

Mar 5, 2024 | cfr.org | Kristen Thompson

Ukraine is set to receive U.S.-made F-16 fighter aircraft within months, an upgrade that Kyiv and its Western allies hope will help level the playing field with Russia’s formidable air force. But the F-16s will only have a meaningful impact on the war in Ukraine if Kyiv and its partners can build and maintain the extensive support and logistics infrastructure necessary to keep these world-class warplanes in the air. What is the F-16 and what are its unique capabilities?

Jan 18, 2024 | homelandsecuritynewswire.com | Kristen Thompson

DRONE WARHow the Drone War in Ukraine Is Transforming ConflictPublished 18 January 2024From drones that fit in the palm of the hand to drones weighing more than 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms), Ukraine has built and acquired a diverse fleet of remotely piloted aircraft to complicate and frustrate Russia’s advances.

Jan 17, 2024 | foreignaffairs.com | Andriy Zagorodnyuk |Will Freeman |Joshua Kurlantzick |Kristen Thompson

For Ukraine, the full-scale war against Russia has been extremely difficult. During the first year, Russia incurred huge losses to Ukraine, and Kyiv was able to liberate roughly half of all the territory Moscow took in its initial offensive. But Russia continued to bombard Ukrainian cities, including the capital, with missile attacks, and millions of Ukrainians had to endure Russian occupation.

Jan 16, 2024 | cfr.org | Kristen Thompson

From drones that fit in the palm of the hand to drones weighing more than 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms), Ukraine has built and acquired a diverse fleet of remotely piloted aircraft to complicate and frustrate Russia’s advances. The constantly evolving scope of this technology and its ever-growing use signal not only the potential for drones to level the playing field in the Russia-Ukraine war, but also their ability to influence how future conflicts are waged.