Russia

Ukraine must address the legal ambiguity enabling Putin’s not-so-secret war

By Wayne Jordash

Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine is one of the world's worst-kept secrets, but a failure to end the legal ambiguity shrouding Russia's role in the ongoing conflict makes progress towards peace impossible.

Russia uses US data policy shortfalls to justify campaign against internet freedom

By Justin Sherman

A transcript of the meeting between Putin and his internet regulator shows, unsurprisingly, that the Kremlin continues using its rubber-stamped laws to justify internet censorship and control. But it also demonstrated the Kremlin’s growing desire to undermine the Western-led open democratic internet model.

Future of DHS Project: Key findings and recommendations

By Thomas Warrick & Caitlin Durkovich

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) needs to refocus its mission to lead the defense of the United States against major nonmilitary threats.

#DFRLabCoffeeBreak with Bellingcat Lead Investigator Christo Grozev

Christo Grozev is Lead Russia investigator for Bellingcat focusing on security threats, extraterritorial clandestine operations, and the weaponization of information. He and Senior Fellow Jakub Kalensý discuss the incredible conspiracy and propaganda surrounding the downing of flight MH 17 over Ukraine in 2014 and its ongoing trial. The DFRLab Coffee Break is a video series […]

For Ukraine, endless Putin means endless hybrid war

By Mark Temnycky

Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent constitutional amendments will allow him to extend his reign until 2036. This undermines faint hopes for an end to the six-year Russo-Ukrainian War.

China focus might distract the U.S. from the possibility of a Putin surprise in Belarus and beyond

By Frederick Kempe

For all the legitimate focus on rising US-China tensions, this summer’s sleeper surprise for the West is more likely to emerge from Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The question is: will it grow from Russia’s strength, its weakness or some combination of the two?

Iran-Syria air defense pact could cause Russian-Iranian friction

By Mark N. Katz

Neither Damascus nor Tehran has been happy about Moscow’s unwillingness to enable themselves or Syria to halt Israeli attacks. The signing of the Iran-Syria air defense pact, though, may change this.

The curious case of the US Treasury and Gaz Group

By Brian O’Toole

The US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) very quietly issued two extensions of general licenses on July 22 related to Vladimir Putin-tied oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s Gaz Group that, while apparently going unnoticed, constitute a significant change in the sanctions on Gaz, which can now seemingly operate according to something like business as usual.