Categories
Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War War in Ukraine

“My Soul Felt At Peace” — Why Some Ukrainian Refugees Are Returning Home

Russia’s invasion pushed some 8 million Ukrainians to leave the country. While some are starting to return — for their families, education or other reasons — the total number of Ukrainians who return home depends on the duration of the war. And some demographers warn that only one-third or one half of emigrants may come back.

Categories
In The News

Black Sea Drones — How Ukraine Targets The “Shadow Fleet” Carrying Russian Oil

Ukrainian sea drones have been attacking Russian tankers in the open sea for the first time in recent weeks. The risky tactic is proving effective and has angered Putin. But even allies are issuing warnings.

Categories
In The News

Abu Dhabi Whispers: German Pols And Lobbyists Make Overtures To The Kremlin

Former German government ministers and lobbyists have been meeting Putin associates in the Gulf, preparing reciprocal visits that could undermine Berlin’s official Russia policy.

Categories
In The News

How Europe Can Lead The World Beyond Our Ugly Age Of Anything-Is-Possible

From Ukraine to global power shifts, the certainties that once shaped our world have collapsed, forcing Europe to rethink what is still achievable in a rapidly changing reality.

Categories
In The News Migrant Lives Russia-Ukraine War

Plovdiv – The City That Welcomed A Small Town Of Ukrainian Refugees

Plovdiv and the surrounding region have become a second home to nearly 12,000 Ukrainians who fled the war, around 4,000 of them children. This places the city among the leading Bulgarian communities in terms of the number of refugees received and turns it into a model of social solidarity and successful integration on a European scale.

Categories
Russia-Ukraine War

Ukraine’s Exiled Mothers Brace For Tomorrow

Most are working and paying taxes. Yet hundreds of thousands of women given refuge in Czechia must deal with public distrust and a shrinking pool of state aid.

Categories
Russia-Ukraine War

Years After The War, Ukrainians Reinvent Themselves In Portugal And Build New Lives Far From Their Former Careers

Refugees face challenges integrating into Portugal’s labor market, ranked as the 4th most precarious in Europe for foreign workers.

Categories
In The News

Could Ukraine Survive If Zelensky Is Pushed Out?

Ukraine’s president faces mounting pressure abroad and growing distrust at home, as corruption claims and battlefield fatigue collide with the country’s fight for survival.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News Russia-Ukraine War

Facing U.S. Pressure And Domestic Turmoil, Zelensky Turns to Europe

While Vladimir Putin describes Volodymyr Zelensky’s authority as “illegitimate,” the French foreign minister asserts that he has “every right to lead his country toward peace.” The weakened Ukrainian president is in Paris at a decisive moment in the conflict.

Categories
In The News Russia-Ukraine War

From Bucha To Mordovia And Back: The Long Captivity Of Serhiy Akhmetov

In the language of math or geography: two thousand kilometers and three and a half years — that’s five settlements. Bucha. Hostomel. Narovlya, Belarus. Novozybkov, Russia. Pakino, Russia. Udarnoye, Russia.

Categories
In The News

How The War In Ukraine Is Forcing Europe To Rethink Its Railways

The EU’s new military mobility push is turning delayed infrastructure projects like Germany’s Murr Railway into potential defense assets, reshaping transport priorities across the continent.

Categories
In The News Russia-Ukraine War

Why Peace In Ukraine May Depend On One Last Zelensky-Trump Meeting

Ukraine’s president must confront demands to concede occupied territories while navigating red lines set in Kyiv and mounting pressure from both Washington and the Kremlin.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News Russia-Ukraine War

How The “U.S. Plan” For Ukraine Peace Was Concocted By Moscow

Exclusive reports by Bloomberg show transcripts of two secret phone calls involving the Trump administration’s apparent collusion with the Kremlin on the 28-point Ukraine plan Donald Trump seeks to impose on Volodymyr Zelensky.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News Russia-Ukraine War

Can Europe And Kyiv Resist Washington’s Kremlin-Friendly Peace Plan For Ukraine?

To Kyiv and the Europeans, the American 28-point plan for Ukraine looks like a demand for surrender, but Sunday’s negotiations in Geneva with the Americans attempted to amend it, at the risk of making it unacceptable to the Russians. The Trump method is once again in question.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News Russia-Ukraine War

Whistleblower To Accused, The Paradox Of Ukraine’s Pavlo Barbul

A former defense industry insider, once praised for exposing corruption, stands accused of the same abuses. His accuser was recently murdered.

Categories
In The News Russia-Ukraine War

How The Battle Of Pokrovsk Could Sway The Future Of Ukraine — And Europe

The strategically important city of Pokrovsk, in the Donetsk region, is the scene of intense fighting between Russian attackers and Ukrainian defenders. This is an important test as Vladimir Putin seeks to assert his dominance on the ground, not only over Ukraine but also over Europe.

Categories
In The News

Putin’s Stalled War: Economics, Manpower, Missed Chances

Russia is now faces slipping growth, high inflation, recruiting shortfalls, a static front, and a squandered opening with Trump, while Europe stiffens support for Ukraine and new U.S. sanctions hit its energy giants.

Categories
In The News

Posturing Aside, Both Russia and Ukraine Need A Ceasefire Now

With offensives stalling, Ukraine hitting Russian refineries, Western aid thinning, and winter power grids under fire, the gap persists as Moscow floats Donbas withdrawals and Kyiv rejects concessions while outside mediation muddies the waters.

Categories
Russia-Ukraine War

Nobel Laureate Matviichuk On Ukraine’s Ultimate Weapon Against Oblivion

At a cultural diplomacy forum in Kyiv, Nobel laureate and human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk urged the world to see culture as a force for justice and freedom — and as essential to building a lasting peace.

Categories
Russia-Ukraine War

Report: Cuban Women Have Been Recruited By The Russian Army

Ukrainian intelligence reports reveal that Cuban women are among the foreign and female recruits serving in Russia’s war in Ukraine, raising new questions about recruitment networks and human trafficking.

Categories
In The News Russia-Ukraine War

Along The New Iron Curtain, Finland Can’t Hide From The Reality Of Putin’s Russia

Since the Russian border was closed, people in the far east of Finland have been living with a new Iron Curtain that is reshaping daily life and upending the regional economy.

Categories
Geopolitics Ideas War in Ukraine

Peace To Panic: How Ukraine’s War Has Shifted Europe’s Identity

The return of war in Europe is not just a political or strategic challenge — it is changing how people live, relate to one another and imagine the future.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News War in Ukraine

Russian Bear Or Paper Tiger? Putin Is The Ultimate Stress Test For NATO

From drones over Poland to jets in Estonian airspace, Moscow is testing Europe’s nerves as Ukraine’s deep strikes rattle Russia. But the escalation could backfire, bringing Europeans closer together instead of driving them apart.

Categories
Eyes on the U.S. In The News Russia-Ukraine War

Trump’s New Hard Line On Russia: Change Of Heart Or Message To Putin?

Donald Trump changed his tone toward Russia after his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky, even saying he was ready to shoot down Russian planes that enter NATO airspace. Is this a real shift in favor of Ukraine, or just hurt feelings about his would-be pal Vladimir Putin.

Categories
In The News

Occupied Ukraine: How A Seaside City Has Turned Into An Open Air Prison

From language bans to property seizures, residents of the Ukrainian port city of Berdyansk live under constant surveillance, intimidation, and the threat of losing everything.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News War in Ukraine

Putin And Poland: Reflections On Europe’s Ultimate Border

A historic ally of Kyiv, Poland has found itself on the frontlines of the Ukraine-Russia war. What began as a border crisis back in 2021 has now evolved into a full-scale struggle for security, sovereignty, and survival on NATO’s eastern flank.

Categories
In The News Russia-Ukraine War

How Ukraine’s Arsenal Exploits A Deep Russian Vulnerability

With strikes on Russia’s oil industry, Ukraine is showing just how effectively it can defend itself. A new missile could soon spell further trouble for Moscow.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News Russia-Ukraine War Trump And The World War in Ukraine

By Trying To Fool Trump Over Ukraine, Europe Is Trapping Itself

Europeans are preparing their plan to “reassure” Ukraine after a peace agreement that never materialized. Their goal is above all to convince Donald Trump to sanction Moscow, and to help Ukraine. But that will mean increasing the Continent’s dependence on the United States.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News

Just In Case Someone Still Thinks Putin Is Ready To Negotiate

Even after diplomatic overtures and red-carpet treatment abroad, Moscow answers with one of its deadliest strikes since the invasion, showing the Kremlin has no intention of negotiating an end to the war.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News

How Putin Has Cornered Himself Into A Forever War In Ukraine

With resources poured into the fight, allies watching, and propaganda framing it as a struggle against the West, President Vladimir Putin has locked Russia’s foreign policy into a war Moscow cannot afford to lose.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News Russia-Ukraine War

The Hawks In Russia May Not Survive A Putin-Zelensky Summit

The looming possibility of a Putin-Zelensky summit is forcing Russia’s power brokers to confront which camp they truly belong to — and what will happen if the unthinkable occurs.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News

The Key To Ukraine Peace? A Korean-Style Buffer Zone

Washington is pushing for a security corridor protected by international and EU forces, with a certain degree of U.S. military, logistical and technological backing to deter Russia. It recalls the practical if imperfect decades-long status quo on the Korean Peninsula

Categories
Geopolitics Russia-Ukraine War

Disappearing Data: How Russia Has Buried Key Wartime Statistics

The Kremlin is shutting off access to crucial data on its population and economy. What did those figures reveal — and why is the government afraid of them?

Categories
In The News Russia-Ukraine War War in Ukraine

Dancing Despite The Drones, Ukrainians Seek Breathers From The War

More than three years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, life in Ukraine is still marked by strikes and fear. But Ukrainians are also seeking getaways to catch a break and find relief.

Categories
Eyes on the U.S. Geopolitics In The News Russia-Ukraine War War in Ukraine

Will Washington Send The Patriot Missiles Ukraine Needs In Time?

The United States faces a lack of practical alternatives to sustaining Ukraine’s defense. With missile production lagging and diplomacy stalled, Washington is struggling to deliver the air defenses Kyiv needs to slow Russia’s advance.

Categories
Ideas Society War in Ukraine

“I Thought I Had Died, Too”: A Colombian Author Reckons With Survivor’s Guilt

After a brush with death in Ukraine in 2023, Colombian writer Héctor Abad Faciolince discusses his experience, survivor’s guilt, his new book, Ahora y en la hora (“Now and in the Hour”), and the war in Ukraine.

Categories
Geopolitics In The News War in Ukraine

Poland’s Gen Z Are Opting For The Military — But Can They Handle It?

Interest in professional military service is growing among Gen Z in Poland, a frontline state in the Ukraine war. But is this generation, who spent much of their coming of age indoors during COVID-19, really ready to fight?

Categories
Society

Photos Of The Week: Gaza Famine, Bangkok Blood Donations, Ozzy Tributes

With photographs from Kyiv, Bangkok and Zurich — among other places.

Categories
In The News

After Trump’s Threats And Deadlines, Putin Isn’t Blinking

Despite promises of Patriot missiles and steep tariffs, Trump’s latest overtures give Russia time to press its offensive—and the Moscow stock market is celebrating.

Categories
In The News Russia-Ukraine War The Endless War

Russian Census: When The Kremlin Hides Birth And Death Statistics

As official data vanishes from Russian state reports, independent experts warn that losses from Putin’s war in Ukraine are becoming too large to hide.

Exit mobile version