Forget Greenland: This Arctic NATO Island Already Has a Russian Presence Norway controls Svalbard, but a treaty grants Russia, China and others access. Now concerns are mounting over President Trump’s focus on the Arctic.

We drove 4 hours by snowmobile in the Arctic polar darkness to reach Russia's mining town of Barentsburg, run by Moscow but part of Norway. Read my dispatch on how Norway's fears over Svalbard have grown as Trump's pursuit of Greenland threatens to rewrite global rules www.wsj.com/world/forget...

Russian colleges are offering struggling students ‘one-year’ army contracts. Lawyers warn it’s a trap. — Meduza Russian colleges are offering failing students a new way to avoid expulsion: join the military for a year as a drone operator. Schools claim these “special contracts” can be terminated after 12…

Russian colleges are offering failing students a new way to avoid expulsion: join the military for a year as a drone operator, then return to finish their studies. There’s just one catch: lawyers say there’s no such thing as a one-year contract.
meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Ukraine Can No Longer Spare Its Youngest Soldiers From the Front Lines A shortage of soldiers is Ukraine’s most serious challenge as it enters another year of war with Russia.

Last spring I met a young Ukrainian soldier who had fire in his eyes & a determination that made a big impression on me. Within 5 months, Kyrylo Horbenko was dead - one of so many teens sent to the front with basic training. A story about Ukraine's impossible choice: www.wsj.com/world/ukrain...

Inside Ukraine’s Quest to Build a Missile to Strike Deep in Russian Territory The company that built one of the country’s most potent drones is trying to replicate its success with a cruise missile.

A photographer and I were blindfolded last month & driven by representatives of Ukrainian defense company Fire Point to a secret location building the “Flamingo,” a 7-tonne missile central to Kyiv’s quest for weapons able to strike deep inside Russian territory. Our story www.wsj.com/world/inside...

Ukraine’s Source of Pride—a Sprawling Rail Network—Has Become a Key Target More than 1,100 Russian attacks this year have targeted everything from control towers and bridges to trains and the substations that power them.

Russia carried out over 1,100 attacks on Ukraine’s rail infrastructure this year, equal to the combined total in 2024 & 2023 - hitting trains, control towers, depots, the bridges the trains pass under and the substations powering the network. Our dispatch www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Loved this book by @juliaioffe.bsky.social, which offers such a smart and thought-provoking take on many events and characters I thought I knew well. It’s also an accessible and thrilling guide to Russian history for readers coming to it fresh. The widespread praise is well-deserved.

Zelensky’s Front-Line Visit Highlights Ukrainian Resilience Ukraine says it counterattacked in Kupyansk, a city whose capture Russia touted almost a month ago.

Ukraine’s military-intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov told us Russia has recruited over 400,000 new soldiers this year, surpassing its plan for 2025. But he said Ukrainian forces are holding the line & far from losing the capacity to repel Russia’s assaults www.wsj.com/world/zelens...

Putin Says Russia Ready for War With Europe if Attacked The Russian leader accused Kyiv’s European allies of trying to undermine peace talks by amending a U.S. peace plan devised with Kremlin input, in remarks ahead of a meeting with White House special en...

Putin warning Europe tonight of his readiness for war. He’s being fed news of constant battlefield triumphs in Ukraine from his generals and feels emboldened in his decades-long mission to split the trans-Atlantic alliance. Not a man about to strike a deal www.wsj.com/world/russia...

New Peace Push Offers Clues to Fundamental Question: What Does Putin Want? The Russian leader wants far more than just the conquest of eastern Ukraine.

What does Putin actually want in Ukraine? His many speeches suggest that any deal not satisfying his core demands will become a prelude to a new invasion aimed at securing them. “Russia sees no future that doesn’t involve continuing to fight for Ukraine.” www.wsj.com/world/russia...

I have. And it’s outstanding

Putin Is Turning Eighth-Grade Classrooms Into Army Training Grounds A vast militarization of the education system is gathering pace in Russian classrooms, where students are trained to handle weapons by active soldiers.

My piece on the dramatic changes inside Russian schools since 2022, with weapons training in the classroom and a push from kindergarten to prepare soldiers for future conflicts. “They are preparing kids ideologically & psychologically for war,” said @irgarner.bsky.social www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Talked to a woman in Russia, mother of two, who said "I am ashamed of what my country has done, & that there's little I can do." Her whole town is pro-war, except a few close friends. Always amazed such Russians exist, despite the crackdown & info blackout. But they're dwindling.

Inside Ukraine’s Effort to Fortify Hundreds of Miles of Defensive Lines Kyiv must install hundreds of lines of defense fast enough to outpace Russia’s advance. But the effort faces increasingly long odds.

200 miles of antitank ditches & barbed wire cut through fields across Ukraine’s battle-scarred east - fortifications that Kyiv is trying to lay fast & far enough to halt Russia’s advance. But, it's proving to be like building an airplane while flying it. My latest www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Russia Counters Ukrainian Drones by Turning Off Russians’ Mobile Internet The same data networks that enable phone apps and web surfing help drones navigate, so officials are imposing daily, patchwork shutdowns. The actions can be very disruptive to daily life.

Good piece by @nataliyavasilyeva.bsky.social. The Kremlin has tried hard to shield ordinary Russians from the war but that is now impossible. Regular internet shutdowns, texts warning of possible drone attacks, cyber attacks on airports - all have brought the war home
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/28/w...

I visited 4 different POW jails in Ukraine & interviewed soldiers from both sides who took part in the battles I describe. I reviewed video footage & audio intercepts. I’m lucky to work for a paper willing to finance such work, and talented photographers like Sasha Maslov www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Russia is able to continue this war because thousands of men like Simdyankin are willing to fight in it - without any real sese of what they’re fighting for. I have spoken to dozens of Russian POWs in Ukrainian captivity - his story is far from unusual

Mikhail Simdyankin was living a middle-class life in Russia’s cultural capital when he enlisted for money in August 2024. He was swayed by TV propaganda and had no clue about life on the frontlines - until he learned first-hand how little a Russian soldier’s life is worth.

‘Commanders Saw Us as Expendable’: A Russian Soldier’s View of the War Mikhail Simdyankin was lured into the military by a generous sign-on bonus and was stunned by what he found in Ukraine. ‘If I could, I would rewind and give all that money back.’

We often hear Ukraine’s side of this war. But we rarely hear from Russian soldiers.

I spent months on this piece about a young Russian man who abandoned a decent life in St. Petersburg to join Moscow’s brutal war machine.

His story is hard to believe - but it’s true. www.wsj.com/world/europe...

Russia’s Top Peace Negotiator Is a Historian Who Justified the War Vladimir Medinsky warned, in an interview, that Ukraine would lose more territory if it doesn’t agree to Moscow’s list of demands.

My interview with Vladimir Medinsky, Putin's chief negotiator on Ukraine and a man who has spent decades cementing a Kremlin narrative on history that paved the way for the invasion of Ukraine. He said Russia is willing to fight as long as is necessary to win www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Ukraine Is Offering Money and Perks for Gen Z to Fight The country’s leaders hope that the program will help chase down a demographic they have largely sought to spare from the front lines of the conflict with Russia.

I spoke to fresh recruits to the Ukrainian army’s 18-24 program, which targets Gen Z with perks including an interest-free mortgage, trips abroad & a $24,000 sign-on bonus that exceeds many soldiers’ yearly pay. “Who is going to fight, if not us?” www.wsj.com/world/ukrain...

How Putin Keeps Russia’s Battle-Hardened Veterans on His Side A growing crop of Russian soldiers have been tapped to fill a wave of government positions after serving in Ukraine, raising the prestige of military service and encouraging more people to enlist.

Among the war veterans who stood on Red Square today was Amyr Argamakov, part of a crop of Russian soldiers whom Putin is elevating to government positions to pacify dissent. He told me how he rose from service in Chechnya to a seat in Russia's parliament www.wsj.com/world/russia...

A Battlefield Death That Spelled the End for Russia’s Opposition Ildar Dadin spent years arguing that nonviolent resistance was the best way to unseat Putin, until he took up arms against Russia.

My piece on Ildar Dadin, an extraordinary Putin critic who spent a decade protesting inside Russia and then traveled to Ukraine to fight his own country in war. His battlefield death in October is a symbol of the challenge Russia's divided opposition faces www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Oleg Gordievsky: the loneliest and bravest man I ever met The KGB double agent, who died on Friday, was steely, intelligent and could charm anyone — including Angelina Jolie — writes Ben Macintyre, author of a book about the spy

Ben Macintyre on Gordievsky: “…I got to know Gordievsky well, spending more than 100 hours in his overheated living room. His neighbours had no idea that the bearded, diminutive man living next door, under an assumed name, had averted World War Three” www.thetimes.com/world/europe...

Putin’s response to a ceasefire offer: don military fatigues, head to embattled Kursk region and announce Russia will keep fighting till Ukraine is ousted from its land.

Pretty clear message about what he thinks of Zelensky’s overture

Putin Played a Long Game. It’s Starting to Pay Off. Advisers to the Russian leader have been surprised by the sudden change in tone from the White House in recent weeks.

Putin won’t be rushed into a quick peace deal of the sort Trump is advocating because he has spent decades calling for the kind of global reorganization that he thinks might now be finally emerging. My latest for @wsj.com www.wsj.com/world/russia...

Putin ally pushes deal to restart Nord Stream 2 with US backing Ex-spy Warnig’s plan to involve American investors shows breadth of Trump’s rapprochement with Russian president

💥 Former Stasi agent and close friend of Putin, Matthias Warnig has been engineering a deal with US investors to restart Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe, a once unthinkable move that shows the breadth of Donald Trump’s rapprochement with Moscow.

www.ft.com/content/dc9c...

Russia says it proposed resuming direct flights with U.S. — Meduza At the U.S.-Russia talks in Istanbul on February 27, Russian representatives proposed restoring direct flights between the two countries, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Russia says it proposed resuming direct flights with the U.S. at the two countries' talks in Istanbul on Thursday.

Exclusive | Captured North Koreans Describe Fighting for Russia in a War They Didn’t Understand The two soldiers thought they would be fighting South Korean troops and were told to kill themselves rather than be captured.

We spoke exclusively to the only two North Korean soldiers Ukraine has captured in battle. They were told they’d be fighting South Korean troops, and knew nothing about the war they were thrown into. Their ideological indoctrination did not stop even on the frontlines www.wsj.com/world/north-...

Trying to access Truth Social from Kyiv

The line about Zelensky’s illegitimacy has been a core element of Putin’s narrative on Ukraine for months