Mike Eckel

Russia’s economy has been going gangbusters for more than two years now as the government floods the country with funds to wage war on Ukraine. Now the warning lights are blinking, experts say.

Western nations have struggled to stem the flow of restricted, dual-use electronics sent to Russia for use in its war on Ukraine. Customs data shows how hard that continues to be.

A Chinese company that owns a California electronics distributor has sent hundreds of shipments of restricted dual-use technology to Russia since the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, including to sanctioned companies with ties to the Russian military.

The Russian currency has dropped precipitously in recent weeks, a drop mainly sparked by new U.S. sanctions on a major Russian bank. It’s not a collapse, but it’s definitely another warning light for the country’s war economy.

Russia’s intervention in Syria in 2015 was massive—and successful, propping up the embattled Bashar al-Assad. Now the Syrian dictator is gone, toppled by rebels, and the fate of Russian military bases is “hanging by a thread.”

Inside Syria, the prison complex called Saydnaya was widely known for its cruelty and depravity. Newly liberated by rebels, the prison, its inhumane conditions, and its tortured former inhabitants are now spilling into the world’s view.

In European capitals, behind closed doors, diplomats and leaders are spit-balling what a Ukrainian peace plan might actually look like. European peacekeeping troops are one option (don’t expect much enthusiasm from Moscow).

An RFE/RL investigation reveals that an influential X account called Europe Invasion concocted fake personas to push xenophobic narratives and fuel anti-immigrant sentiment in the EU.

Behind closed doors in Moscow, Kyiv, Brussels, Washington, and other capitals, diplomats, elected leaders, and military ...

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte and several European leaders met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday evening. According to Rutte, the meeting focused on how to put Kyiv 'in a position of strength'. Europe's press wonders where this strength is supposed to come from.