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Apr 9, 2024 | 
wilsoncenter.org | Steven Harris
Putin’s regime is feeling confident these days. Advances on the battlefield in Ukraine, expansions in armaments production, and the dithering of Republicans in the U.S. Congress show the war has turned in Russia’s favor. A well-orchestrated presidential election and some real public support buoy the regime. Political opponents are either dead, in prison, or in exile.
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Nov 30, 2023 | 
russiamatters.org | Anatol Lieven |Jessica Trisko Darden |Steven Harris |Simon Saradzhyan
With the failure of the Ukrainian offensive, the Biden administration now seems to realize that Ukrainian victory is highly unlikely, and that at some point there will need to be negotiations. However, it hopes to defer this problem until after the next elections, when it can no longer harm Biden at the polls—or it becomes a Republican administration’s worry, which, at present, most likely means a Trump administration.
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Nov 22, 2023 | 
russiamatters.org | Jessica Trisko Darden |Steven Harris |Simon Saradzhyan |Conor Cunningham
Women are playing essential, though not decisive, roles in the Russia-Ukraine war on both sides. Their involvement as combatants largely echoes a global pattern where women are increasingly accepted into national militaries, but relegated to roles that distance them from frontline combat. While some of Ukraine’s 50,000-60,000 female military personnel are being deployed to combat zones, the exact degree to which they are engaged in direct combat with Russian forces is not easy to determine.
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Nov 21, 2023 | 
russiamatters.org | Steven Harris |Simon Saradzhyan |Conor Cunningham |Olga Kiyan
Report Card*Since Feb. 24, 2022:Russia: +25,000 square miles. 11% of Ukraine. Area equivalent to Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut combined. Ukraine: 0. Ukraine has not taken any territory controlled by Russia before the 2022 invasion. Since Aug. 29, 2022 Ukrainian counteroffensive: Ukraine +6,540 square miles. 3% of Ukraine. Area equivalent to Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Russia: +520. Ukraine: +7,060. In past month: Russia +9 square miles. Russia: +16. Ukraine: +7.
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Nov 16, 2023 | 
russiamatters.org | Simon Saradzhyan |Angelina Flood |Steven Harris |Conor Cunningham
However, that more of RF’s and Levada’s respondents choose peace talks over continued hostilities against Ukraine doesn’t mean more Russians view the SVO as a failure than as a success. RF’s Oct. 21-29 poll found that when asked whether the SVO was going successfully, 56% answered in the affirmative (compared to 58% in June 2023 and 50% in November-December 2022), while 25% answered in the negative (compared to 21% in June 2023 and 33% in November-December 2022).
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Nov 14, 2023 | 
russiamatters.org | Steven Harris |Simon Saradzhyan |Conor Cunningham |Olga Kiyan
Report Card*Since Feb. 24, 2022:Russia: +25,000 square miles. 11% of Ukraine. Area equivalent to Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut combined. Ukraine: 0. Ukraine has not taken any territory controlled by Russia before the 2022 invasion. Since Aug. 29, 2022 Ukrainian counteroffensive: Ukraine +6,540 square miles. 3% of Ukraine. Area equivalent to Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Russia: +520. Ukraine: +7,060. In past month: Ukraine +9 square miles. Russia: +14. Ukraine: +23.
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Nov 2, 2023 | 
russiamatters.org | Conor Cunningham |Steven Harris |Simon Saradzhyan |Olga Kiyan
During a discussion on the future of AI hosted by former director of the Belfer Center Graham Allison at the Harvard Institute of Politics, former Google chairman Eric Schmidt extrapolated the future of geopolitics, stating that “future national security issues will be determined by how quickly you can innovate against the solution.” Schmidt articulated his belief in the ultimate substitution of soft power with “innovative power” in geopolitics and candidly described the benefits of AI while...
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Oct 26, 2023 | 
russiamatters.org | Steven Harris |Simon Saradzhyan |Conor Cunningham |Olga Kiyan
When the U.S. and its allies slapped sanctions on Russia for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, severing aviation links was at the top of the list. Direct flights vanished and Russian airlines lost access to spare parts for their foreign airplanes. In retaliation, Vladimir Putin’s regime impounded foreign aircraft and shut off the world’s largest air space to countries imposing sanctions.
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Oct 26, 2023 | 
russiamatters.org | Olga Kiyan |Steven Harris |Simon Saradzhyan |Conor Cunningham
After weeks of stalemate, Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson was elected as the new Speaker of the House on Oct. 25, 2023. Johnson, who was elected to Congress in 2016, initially expressed support for Ukraine in the context of Russia's war in Ukraine, stating that the United States “should impose debilitating sanctions on Russia’s economic interests.” However, Johnson has since shown resistance to the provision of aid for Ukraine.
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Oct 19, 2023 | 
russiamatters.org | Thomas Graham |Simon Saradzhyan |Steven Harris |Conor Cunningham
BOOK REVIEW“Getting Russia Right”By Thomas GrahamPolity, October 2023Multiple books have been published since Vladimir Putin’s re-invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 that explore the sources of Russia’s aggressive conduct. In fact, some of these books were rushed to hit the shelves of digital and brick-and-mortar stores less than half a year after Russian tanks started rolling toward Kyiv on Feb. 22, 2022.
