Europe News & Analysis (including Russia/CIS)
A Super-Short Guide to Why Ukraine is Kicking Russia’s Ass in Putin’s Ukraine War
A quick-and-dirty brief on why Zelensky’s Ukraine is winning so handily and Putin’s Russia losing so badly on the battlefield (Russian/Русский перевод) By Brian E. Frydenborg, April 30, 2022 (Twitter @bfry1981, LinkedIn, Facebook); excerpted from Brian's other recent April 24 ...
How Ukraine Can Take Back Crimea from Putin’s Reeling Russian Military
Russia’s position is deceptively weak; here are the main reasons Ukraine has a good chance to take Crimea (Russian/Русский перевод; Если вы состоите в российской армии и хотите сдаться Украине, звоните по этим номерам: +38 066 580 34 98 или ...
Ukraine Will Easily Destroy or Sideline Russia’s Navy with Game-Changing Anti-Ship Missiles
Just twenty anti-ship missiles and their accompanying systems could wipe out all of Russia’s big warships in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov. Anti-ship missiles that were announced yesterday will soon be deployed in significant numbers in Ukraine will ...
The Real Context News Podcast #9: Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties, on Democracy & War in Ukraine (2022 Nobel Peace Prize-Winner!)
By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter @bfry1981, YouTube) April 2, 2022 (recorded March 31, 2022); see Brian's other coverage of Putin's war against Ukraine here; UPDATE October 7, 2022: Ms. Matviichuk and her organization have won the 2022 Nobel ...
Time for the Russian Army and Russian People to Revolt and Overthrow Putin
While any NATO attack on Russia—including a no-fly zone where Russian military aircraft are operating in Ukraine—would likely mean World War III and Putin quite possibly using nuclear weapons, revolution from within does not pose such risks and is hardly ...
Putin’s Zombie Russian/Slavic Ethnonationalism Is Utterly Banal
As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addresses the U.S. Congress, a look at the emptiness of his Russian counterpart’s ideological and revisionist historical underpinnings girding his revanchist, blatantly imperialist war against Ukraine (Russian/Русский перевод) By Brian E. Frydenborg, March 16, 2022 ...
How Best to Penetrate Putin’s Media Iron Curtain in Russia? Dead Russian Troops
Why thousands of dead Russian soldiers are likely beyond the skill of Putin's disinformation propaganda gaslighters and can strike at the core of Putin's social contract with Russians and the foundations of his power (Russian/Русский перевод) By Brian E. Frydenborg ...
On Casualty Counts in Russia’s War on Ukraine
Credibility and other factors lead to a far more honest accounting from Ukraine than Russia when it comes to Russians killed and Russian vehicles and aircraft destroyed (Russian/Русский перевод) By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter @bfry1981) March 9, 2022; ...
A Look at Putin’s Disgraceful, Heartless, Barbaric Treatment of Russian Soldiers and Their Families
The Russian people need to know (Russian/Русский перевод) By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter @bfry1981) March 9, 2022; updated to add Tolkien content March 11; excerpted and slightly adapted from his article The Beginning of the End of Putin? ...
Putin’s NATO Narrative Is Bullshit
He has Russians and useful idiots believing in mythology that was invented after the fact (Russian/Русский перевод) By Brian E. Frydenborg (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter @bfry1981), March 1, 2022 (additional source on NATO expansion added March 3); excerpted and slightly adapted ...
How to Lose Nations and Alienate People, by Vladimir Putin
When it comes to Ukraine, Russia is like an abusive ex-husband who will not let go (Russian/Русский перевод) By Brian E. Frydenborg, February 25, 2022 (Twitter @bfry1981; LinkedIn, Facebook); excerpted and slightly adapted from his article The Utter Banality of ...
Why Is Putin Doing All This Now?
The confusing cocktail of context and events that inspired Russia's rash actions, explained (Russian/Русский перевод) By Brian E. Frydenborg, February 21, 2022 (Twitter @bfry1981; LinkedIn, Facebook); excerpted and slightly adapted from his article The Utter Banality of Putin’s Kabuki Campaign ...
