Conflict & Security | 2026-06-12
On Russia's doorstep, Norway goes 'total defense' mode
For the first time since the Cold War, the country bordering Russia is rebuilding air raid shelters, stockpiling supplies, and telling households to prepare for seven days on their own. Oslo has declared 2026 the year of total defense.
Conflict & Security | 2026-06-12
Oreshnik missile debris tells Ukraine, and the West, more than Putin intended
Ukrainian investigators and Western analysts pieced together the wreckage from Russia's most-hyped ballistic missile and found Soviet-era chips, inert warheads, and signs that Moscow's supply is nearly gone.
Society | 2026-06-11
Ukraine wants to repatriate its historical figures before their graves disappear
Ukraine has identified 98 prominent figures buried in 21 countries. Bringing them home is a matter of memory and a test of its alliances.
Society | 2026-06-10
War trauma pushes more Ukrainians to become artists
Russia's full-scale invasion pushed Ukrainian artists to abandon safe careers, process trauma through collage and photography, and turn personal grief into a global artistic voice.
Conflict & Security | 2026-06-09
No light, no food, no escape: Russia's siege of Oleshky
In occupied Oleshky, hunger and drones are killing residents daily, and no evacuation is coming.
Society | 2026-06-09
Dubai prices, Soviet service and air raid sirens: inside Crimea's failed tourist season
Russia still claims Crimea is open for summer. The barbed wire on the beaches tells a different story.
Politics | 2026-06-08
The Kremlin's new chatbot targets Russian teenagers and their private thoughts
Moscow spent $1.3 million on an AI chatbot to steer teenagers toward traditional values, but Russians say the real product is a digital informant.
Politics | 2026-06-05
Inside Russia's takeover of one of the world's largest manganese deposits
A Rostec-linked company is developing Ukraine's occupied manganese reserves, enough to last a century, while experts warn the exploitation could make the deposit unviable long after the war ends.
Society | 2026-06-05
Ukrainian women in Vienna revive a 105-year-old organization
Ukrainian women in Austria have revived a 105-year-old diaspora organization, running charity fairs, supporting soldiers and hospitals and telling Europe the history Soviet propaganda tried to erase.
Society | 2026-06-04
How Russia's book purge is undoing 30 years of public knowledge
Russia's sweeping library purge, targeting books funded by now-banned organizations, could erase more than half of the country's public collections and push Russian society into state-controlled ignorance.
Conflict & Security | 2026-06-04
Russia ordered universities to send 2% of students to war
Russia's education minister quietly told university rectors to deliver 2% of their students to the military. One is already dead.
Politics | 2026-06-03
Russia expands passportization in Transnistria amid fears of forced conscription
Russia's Transnistria gambit is loud -- and, so far, not working.
Politics | 2026-06-03
As Central Asian workers flee Russia, Moscow's pivot to Pakistan faces long odds
Russia is trying to replace its shrinking Central Asian workforce with Pakistani professionals. Its own citizens aren't buying it.
Politics | 2026-06-02
Russia's billionaires hit a record high -- and the war is why
Russia's billionaire count nearly doubled since the invasion. The wealth of 155 people now exceeds the country's entire federal budget.
Politics | 2026-06-02
Putin writes off recruits' debts as Russia races to fill military ranks
The Kremlin keeps sweetening the deal to join its war. The fact that it has to keeps getting harder to ignore.
Society | 2026-06-01
Eurovision: how the song contest reshapes Ukraine's image in Europe
While diplomats negotiated, Ukrainian singers changed minds.