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Russia

The Chalk Mark Still Matters: Russian Espionage Handling in the Modern Era

The Chalk Mark Still Matters: Russian Espionage Handling in the Modern Era

KREMLIN FILES: A brush of a hand against a park bench with chalk; or, a piece of electrical tape left on a mailbox. Sometimes it’s a coded phrase [...] More

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A Quiet Peace in the Caucasus Could Change the Balance of Power

COLUMN/THE BLUF: A momentous event is happening that is receiving little fanfare in the U.S. but could have major long-term implications for regional [...] More

Why Russia’s War Effort Signals Strategic Decline

OPINION — “Despite claims of battlefield momentum in Ukraine, the data shows that Russia is paying an extraordinary price for minimal gains and is in [...] More

Russia’s Promises of Security Lead to Ukraine's Frontlines

Russia’s Promises of Security Lead to Ukraine's Frontlines

DEEP DIVE — Moscow has spent nearly four years burning through human resources in Ukraine, and now they’ve found a new way to fill the gaps of loss: [...] More

The Kremlin Files: Russian Double Agents and Operational Games

The Kremlin Files: Russian Double Agents and Operational Games

THE KREMLIN FILES / COLUMN — There are similarities among intelligence agencies worldwide. All professional services rely on tradecraft to recruit [...] More

Greenland’s Worth a Fight and Russia’s Trying to Start One

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — The “quickest way for Russia to penetrate our naval defenses is steaming from the Arctic to the North Atlantic.” The [...] More

Russia’s War Economy Lifeline: Inside the Sanctions Evasion Network

Russia’s War Economy Lifeline: Inside the Sanctions Evasion Network

DEEP DIVE — Nearly three years into the most comprehensive sanctions regime ever imposed on a significant economy, Russia’s defense industrial base [...] More

Russia is Targeting Civilians in Ukraine

OPINION — The United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported that 14,383 civilians were killed in Ukraine, 673 of them children, [...] More

Two men in a serious conversation, one in a suit, the other in a military uniform.

The Kremlin Files: Russia’s Way to the Gray Zone

THE KREMLIN FILES / COLUMN — Russian hybrid warfare, often referred to in the West as “gray zone” conflict, has transitioned from theoretical concept [...] More

Russia Signals Minimal Desire for Peace

Russia Signals Minimal Desire for Peace

EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — As Russia continues it's brutal bombardment of Ukrainian cities, talks between Moscow and the U.S. to end the war appear on very [...] More

Uber Krysha: How Russia Turns Crime into Power—and Poison

OPINION — Current discussion of Russian "hybrid warfare" tends to revolve around concepts like disinformation, proxy militias, cyber operations, [...] More

The Kremlin Files: Russia, the Modern Surveillance State

The Kremlin Files: Russia, the Modern Surveillance State

THE KREMLIN FILES / COLUMN — Ask any Russian intelligence officer about “naruzhka,” and you’ll see them nod knowingly. It’s the term for physical, [...] More