Author: Pavel K. Baev / Eurasia Daily Monitor

Russian troops continue to sustain attacks on Ukrainian positions to the east of Bakhmut and Avdiyivka, despite the heavy casualties. These tactical advances feed Russian President Vladimir Putin’s illusion of commanding the strategic initiative on the battlefield, which he has hoped to convert into a foreign policy advantage. Instead, the Kremlin leader finds himself increasingly...

Against all strategic rationale, Russian troops keep pushing Ukrainian defenses beyond Avdiyivka and Bakhmut, paying a heavy price in casualties for every inch gained. The primary reason for these self-destructive attacks is to maintain the initiative necessary to prove Russia’s upper hand in the “long war.” This illusion of control gives Russian President Vladimir Putin...

Every Russian stereotype about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been disproven by the alliance’s surge of activity in its 75th year. Moscow portrays NATO as an aggressive and indecisive institution, rigidly controlled by the United States, and disunited. The meeting of NATO foreign affairs ministers, which took place in Brussels from April 3...

The shock from the March 22 terrorist attack on Crocus City Hall is continuing to generate angst and confusion throughout Russian society while failing to inspire unity. The Russian population may have grown accustomed to the perpetual shocks caused by the war in Ukraine, but the people are unprepared for the return of the specter...

The official results from last week’s Russian presidential election were precisely what the Kremlin ordered, but they have hardly brought the incumbent Vladimir Putin much satisfaction. Falsifications in the results were so blatant that Putin’s desire to prove overwhelming public support for the continuation of his autocratic rule has remained unfulfilled. Instead of disciplining the...

This week, from March 15 to 17, Russia will hold a presidential election. Canceling the elections would be entirely natural for the repressive autocratic regime that has matured in Moscow. The government already has all the enforcement structures it needs to suppress protests. Putin could easily justify the move by arguing that Russia is a...

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual address to the Federal Assembly on February 29 was grander in length and style than his usual domineering performances. He did not attempt to persuade the audience of loyal bureaucrats that victory in Ukraine was near. Rather, he asserted once again that the “special military operation” (SVO) was launched to...

Russians still do not call the full-scale invasion of Ukraine what it actually is – a war. Now in its third year, the war continues to be referred to in Russia by its awkward abbreviation SVO, short for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s so-called “special military operation.” Russian war propaganda pushing this narrative is everywhere. In...

On February 1, the European Council unanimously approved the 50 billion euro aid package to Ukraine. Although this package will not alter the course of the battles for Avdiyivka or Kupyansk as it does not include funding for armor or ammunition, it will deliver a boost to Ukraine’s struggling economy. In a long war of...

Russian propaganda on the war against Ukraine illogically, but deliberately, combines three different narratives. First, President Vladimir Putin insists that his goals for the “special military operation” remain unchanged. Ukraine must be “neutralized” and a pro-Russian government will be installed in Kyiv (Interfax, December 14). Second, Putin repeatedly confirms his readiness to engage in peace...

Official Russian discourse on the war against Ukraine has been blatantly misleading and self-righteous. Last week, President Vladimir Putin added a revealing new bit to Moscow’s war propaganda. He felt it necessary to address and dismiss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peace plan discussed at the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland, from January 15...

Stalemate is presently used most often to describe the current state of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Fighting along the frontlines, however, is quite fluid and may be approaching a major turn. President Vladimir Putin remains defiantly confident that Russian forces are making steady progress. He made his first trip in the new year to the...