In March 2026, the Ukrainian Armed Forces initiated a middle-scale counter-offensive. In consequence, causing effecting shift in the current static architecture of the front. This operation should not be regarded as an isolated attempt at a breakthrough, but rather as the direct culmination of strategic preparation. In December 2025, the Ukrainian army exhibited a high… Read more: The Ukrainian Counter-Offensive 2026

Author: Oleksandra Diakonova is a Master’s student in International Relations at CEU, specialising in Conflict and Security Studies. She holds Bachelor’s degrees from NaUKMA (Psychology, focusing on student-centred educational approaches) and the University of Amsterdam (Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics, with research on the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russian authorities). Her current research examines… Read more: Reflection Paper: Non-Interventionist Global Order: Neo-Imperial Wars from Korea and Vietnam to Iraq and Crimea.

To truly understand the grit of the fighting in eastern Ukraine, you have to look past the colored lines on a news map and look at the heavy, rusted reality of Soviet-era steel. In the Kharkiv and Donbas sectors, this isn’t just a war of ideologies; it’s a war of tonnage. Kupiansk isn’t just a… Read more: The Hinge of the East: Why Kupiansk Dictates the War’s Pace