Politics

President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, on April 23, 2026.
Politics

From showman to commander-in-chief: Zelensky's struggle to balance war, governance, and trust

by Kateryna Denisova

Riding a wave of political momentum in 2019, Volodymyr Zelensky, a showman turned wartime leader, could have hardly imagined the path his presidency would take. Some argue that Zelensky's 2019 election was less of an endorsement of his political platform, a populist one, rather a rejection of the old entrenched elite seen as ineffective and corrupt. Years later, Zelensky still faces the domestic challenges that confronted his predecessors — issues he once promised to resolve. On the internatio

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'I'm not counting on the US' — In Estonia, faith in Trump's defense of Baltics fades

TALLINN, Estonia — Among Estonians, there is little confidence that U.S. President Donald Trump would rush to defend their country in the event of a Russian invasion. As a 1.3-million-strong NATO member sharing a border with Russia, Estonia would likely be at the forefront of a potential conflict between the alliance and Moscow — a prospect seen as increasingly realistic since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Publicly, Estonian officials have cast a confident note. While Russia rem

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When 23-year-old Russian student Valery Averin signed a military contract in January after being recruited into Russia’s drone forces campaign targeting students, he was told he would train as a drone operator. Three months later, he was dead near Luhansk after reportedly being sent into an assault unit despite having no military experience. His case, reported by the BBC Russian Service, appears to be the first known death linked to Russia’s growing campaign to recruit university and college st

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