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What does Navalny’s murder confirmation mean for Russia, Ukraine and the West?

The effective confirmation by five European countries that Russia did kill opposition leader Alexei Navalny in 2024 did not surprise those familiar with the Kremlin's track record. But the Feb. 14 statement, which blames Russia for the murder and suggests the kind of poison used, represents a new milestone in the deterioration in Russian-European relations. Previously European countries were more reluctant to antagonize Russia. But Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and Kremlin-linked

Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow, Russia, on Sept. 29, 2019.

Ukraine war latest: Russian 'mothership' drones push Ukraine to consider SIM card passport rules

Key developments on Feb. 18: * Russian 'mothership' drones prompt Ukraine to weigh passport requirement for SIM card sales * Explosion at Ukrainian military enlistment office declared terrorist attack * Ukraine hits 6 Russian military targets, including S-300VM missile launcher, General Staff says * Ukraine's SBU denies Zaluzhnyi's claim that office was raided in 2022 while army commander Ukraine is considering requiring passport verification for the purchase of local SIM cards in response

Are dollars replacing diplomacy in US-Russia talks?

Anyone hoping for a geopolitically robust and sustainable resolution to Russia's war on Ukraine should quickly re-examine their optimism or at least check their assumptions. Commercial interests, rather than military or political concerns, are driving the United States' talks with Russia. This mercantile approach carries two critical risks. First, Russia's aggression against Ukraine does not stem from an economic rivalry. Talking business with Russia misses the point entirely. Second, the sugg

Trump (R) and Putin (L) shake hands at the end of a U.S.-Russia in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S. on Aug. 15, 2025.

'He just wanted to go home' — Brazilian recruit’s death in Ukraine points to abuse, torture in foreign fighter unit

A 28-year-old Brazilian recruit died after a brutal punishment handed out in a unit that regularly used discipline practices described as "torture" by those who both witnessed and suffered them, a Kyiv Independent investigation can reveal. The man, Bruno Gabriel Leal da Silva, died overnight Dec. 28-29, 2025, according to former fellow fighters who spoke to the Kyiv Independent on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation. The unit in question is a Brazilian-led formation called A

investigation found allegations that a Brazilian-led unit used violent “discipline” practices

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When Russia announced a "partial" mobilization in the fall of 2022, its society experienced a genuine shock. The queues at the Upper Lars border crossing into Georgia and the chaotic roundups of reservists are still fresh in public memory. The Russian authorities learned from that episode and shifted tactics toward a more concealed form of mobilization. Several tools were deployed at once: mass recruitment from prisons, sending convicts to the front in exchange for pardons, and aggressive enli

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