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COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

The Power Vertical

The Power Vertical is a blog and podcast for Russia wonks and Kremlin watchers by Brian Whitmore. It covers emerging and developing trends in Russian politics, shining a spotlight on the high-stakes power struggles, machinations, and clashing interests that shape Kremlin policy today.

Host and Eurasia Center Senior Fellow Brian Whitmore invites guest experts to deliver their insights and analysis in this weekly podcast. The Atlantic Council and the Charles T. McDowell Center for Global Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington co-sponsor this production.

The Russia Tomorrow series

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The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia in the East.

Content

UkraineAlert

May 12, 2022

Putin’s Imperial War: Russia unveils plans to annex southern Ukraine

By Peter Dickinson

Kremlin officials have underlined the expansionist imperial agenda driving Putin's Ukraine war by announcing plans to officially annex Ukraine's Kherson Oblast and incorporate it into the Russian Federation.

Civil Society Conflict

In the News

May 12, 2022

Brzezinski in the Morning Consult: The Ukraine war brought Europe together. Can it cement the bond?

Conflict Europe & Eurasia

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2022

Russia Crisis Military Assessment: How Ukraine is taking the fight to Russian soil

By Atlantic Council military fellows

Ukraine is striking behind enemy lines to interrupt Russian supply lines and destabilize its military establishment, according to our military fellows.

Conflict NATO

New Atlanticist

May 11, 2022

‘A nation where hundreds of thousands fight and millions help.’ Read President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s tribute to the people of Ukraine.

By Atlantic Council

Appearing by video at the Atlantic Council's Distinguished Leadership Awards, the Ukrainian president offered a moving, personal dedication to the heroism of the Ukrainian people under Russian assault.

Conflict Politics & Diplomacy

BelarusAlert

May 11, 2022

The Belarusian dictator’s dilemma

By Brian Whitmore

Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka appears to recognize that Vladimir Putin's Ukraine War is going disastrously wrong and is desperate to distance himself but he remains completely dependent on the Kremlin.

Belarus Conflict

In the News

May 11, 2022

Polymeropoulos in the Week on Russian intelligence operations in Europe

By Atlantic Council

Marc Polymeropoulos asserts that the war in Ukraine has devastated Russia's intelligence operations in Europe.

Conflict Intelligence

UkraineAlert

May 11, 2022

Kazakhstan cancels Victory Day in protest over Putin’s Ukraine War

By Wilder Alejandro Sánchez, Kamila Auyezova

Kazakhstan's recent decision to cancel the country's annual WWII Victory Day parade was a small but significant indication of Nur-Sultan's opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Central Asia Conflict

BelarusAlert

May 11, 2022

Belarusian volunteers see Ukraine war as stepping stone to a free Belarus

By Alesia Rudnik

The hundreds of Belarusians who are currently fighting for Ukraine believe that defeating Vladimir Putin's invasion is their best chance of liberating Belarus itself and bringing the Lukashenka dictatorship to an end.

Belarus Civil Society

In the News

May 11, 2022

McFate joins The Globe and Mail to discuss Russian atrocities in Ukraine

Conflict Russia

New Atlanticist

May 10, 2022

Will Putin use nuclear weapons in Ukraine? Our experts answer three burning questions.

By Atlantic Council experts

Our nuclear experts weighed in on the chances of Putin taking the fateful step, how he might do it, and how the West would likely respond.

Conflict Crisis Management

Experts