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Blasts Targeting Ukrainian Police Raise Fears of a New Kremlin Destabilisation Campaign
A series of explosions targeting or affecting Ukrainian police facilities in Lviv, Mykolaiv and Dnipro within a matter of days has prompted renewed concern in Kyiv over a possible campaign of destabilisation aimed at law enforcement. On Monday, 23 February,…
Putin doubles down on militarisation while Geneva talks yield no breakthrough
Vladimir Putin used Russia’s Defender of the Fatherland Day on 23 February to call for further military expansion and to urge national unity around the war, in remarks that provided no indication of a shift towards ending hostilities, as US-mediated…
France-Germany rift over FCAS fighter jet raises new doubts over Europe’s flagship air combat project
A public dispute between France and Germany over the next generation of European fighter aircraft has renewed uncertainty around the Future Combat Air System (FCAS), one of the continent’s most expensive and politically significant defence programmes. The disagreement centres on…
Drone strike reported in Russia’s Udmurtia as missile plant in Votkinsk named as possible target
Explosions were reported overnight in Russia’s Udmurt Republic after what regional officials described as a Ukrainian drone attack, with Russian and Ukrainian-linked monitoring channels suggesting the target was the Votkinsk Machine Building Plant, a major missile manufacturing site roughly 1,400–1,500…
Poland’s Strategic Pivot: Mines on the Eastern Frontier and the End of an Era in Arms Control
In a major shift that could reverberate across Europe’s security landscape, Poland is poised to lay anti-personnel mines along its eastern border within 48 hours of formally exiting the Ottawa Convention, the international treaty that for nearly three decades has…
Zaluzhnyi breaks silence on 2023 counteroffensive as rift with Zelenskyy resurfaces
Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief and now ambassador to the United Kingdom, has given an interview to the Associated Press that sets out, in unusual detail, his disagreements with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over both military decision-making and civil–military relations inside…
When numbers clash: why Ukraine war “advance rates” depend on the map
Claims that Russia’s rate of territorial advance has fallen to its lowest level in around ten months, alongside separate assessments that Ukraine has just logged its fastest gains since 2023, underline a recurring problem for audiences and policymakers alike: the…
Kremlin Calls Shadow Fleet Seizures ‘Piracy’ and Threatens Naval Response
The war in Ukraine has long since escaped the trenches of Donbas and the missile-scarred cities of the Black Sea coast. Sanctions, sabotage, cyber operations and energy coercion have transformed it into something broader: a systemic contest between Russia and…
Project Renovator: Britain invests in Ukraine’s ability to keep fighting
War is usually measured in square kilometres and artillery shells. Maps, front lines and casualty counts dominate dispatches. Yet one of the most consequential British contributions to Ukraine’s defence – Project Renovator – has nothing to do with missiles, tanks…
Telegram on the front line: Russia’s troops confront a communications squeeze
Russia’s battlefield communications are facing renewed uncertainty after Moscow moved to restrict Telegram, an app widely used by Russian forces and pro-war commentators to pass orders, share situational reports and coordinate logistics in Ukraine. On 10 February 2026, Russia’s communications…