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A Russian serviceman stands guard by a military truck part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, in Russia, on May 17, 2021.
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Russia's Arctic shadow war: How Moscow’s most-probed front fuels its Ukraine invasion

by Olena Goncharova

Norway’s Svalbard fiber optic cables — a pair carrying vital Arctic satellite data from SvalSat, the world’s largest commercial ground station — thread through waters dangerously close to Russia’s reach. The Kremlin's Nagurskoye air base on Franz Josef Land is just 260 kilometers (161 miles) from Svalbard’s shores. These cables transmit satellite signals and sensitive data that European governments, research institutions, and militaries rely on, including infrastructure bolstering Ukraine’s de

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Russia's Arctic shadow war: How Moscow’s most-probed front fuels its Ukraine invasion

Norway’s Svalbard fiber optic cables — a pair carrying vital Arctic satellite data from SvalSat, the world’s largest commercial ground station — thread through waters dangerously close to Russia’s reach. The Kremlin's Nagurskoye air base on Franz Josef Land is just 260 kilometers (161 miles) from Svalbard’s shores. These cables transmit satellite signals and sensitive data that European governments, research institutions, and militaries rely on, including infrastructure bolstering Ukraine’s de

A Russian serviceman stands guard by a military truck part of the Franz Josef Land archipelago, in Russia, on May 17, 2021.

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As Russians and Belarusians compete at Olympics, Ukraine pushed to the margins

As Russians and Belarusians compete at Olympics, Ukraine pushed to the margins

One of the most talked-about moments at the Olympics came from Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych. After his race in Beijing in 2022, just days before Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he held up a sign reading "No war in Ukraine." But his appeal went largely unheard. Four years later, Heraskevych is preparing to represent Ukraine at the Olympic Games again — at a time when the war continues to escalate, while restrictions on athletes from Russia and Belarus are gradually be

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