Eastern Europe / Features
Nawrocki’s rise sparks fresh uncertainty for wartime Ukraine
Conservative historian Karol Nawrocki’s victory in the June presidential election in Poland has all but dashed Ukrainian hopes for Warsaw speaking with one voice about Ukraine.
A drone arms race between Russia and Ukraine is in full swing
Drones have increasingly become an offensive, not defensive, weapon.
Ukraine, Russian ceasefire talks are dead
Both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy have given up on ceasefire talks, calling them pointless as both sides increase the frequency and ferocity of their mutual missile strikes on each other's territory.
The Bazarification of war
In the early hours of June 1, 2025, Ukrainian intelligence operatives executed what military historians may well regard as warfare's equivalent of Pearl Harbor.
China helping Russia outpace Ukraine in drone production, Kyiv claims
Russia is rapidly closing the gap with Ukraine in drone warfare thanks in part to covert support from China that is supplying Russia with all the parts and technology it can, but strictly staying within technical limits imposed by sanctions.
Countering drones in modern warfare: lessons from Ukraine and beyond
Electronic countermeasures are among the most widely used methods for neutralising drones. These include GPS jamming, radio-frequency jamming and signal spoofing.
CITIES IN PERIL: Cities confront the rising tide of climate change
Fast and chaotic urban population growth combined with climate challenges on multiple fronts are putting cities at risk around the world.
Ukrainian startup FortuneGuard dominates war risk insurance market
A Kyiv-based start-up has emerged as Ukraine’s leading provider of war risk insurance, launching a facility backed by Lloyd’s of London and now preparing to expand to become an international player.
Polish farmers call for sanctions to stop a flood of Russian cucumber imports
The cucumber rules supreme in the cuisine of Eastern Europe. No salad is complete without a humble cucumber, which is a staple on any kitchen table across the region. But now a cucumber war has broken out between Poland and Russia.
Russia escalates drone and missile strikes on Ukraine as EU and US weigh stronger response
Russia launched more than 900 drones and dozens of missiles at Ukrainian cities over a three-day period starting on May 23 in a devastating barrage, killing at least six people and injuring 24 others, Ukrainian authorities report.
Ukraine risks €2bn EU funding cut over unmet reform benchmarks, EU trade relations in limbo
Ukraine risks losing up to €2bn in European Union financial support after missing four EU chapter reform targets required under the Ukraine Facility programme in the first quarter of the year. Trade relations with the EU are also in limbo.
Ukraine’s two biggest EU export-earners of corn and metals falling in 2025 as tariff-free deal set to expire
The exports of two of Ukraine’s biggest export earners, corn and metal, are falling, which will squeeze the already cash strapped government and make a €20bn trade deficit with the EU worse in 2025.
LONG READ: Wanderlust wins: Russia’s travel boom defies the times
Russia’s $50bn+ tourism industry has been one unexpected beneficiary of the war in Ukraine.
COMMENT: Vying for influence in Southeast Asia – Russia VS America
Although both nations have engaged with the region historically and continue to do so in the present day, their roles, influence, and staying power differ markedly.
Russia pushes to grow its influence in Africa’s nuclear future
Russia, under sanctions from the West over the war in Ukraine, is using nuclear partnerships to grow its influence in Africa.
COMMENT: Europe must choose either to accept 15% of Russian gas supplies or zero
The European Commission on May 6 unveiled a brief roadmap outlining how it plans to achieve the EU objective of eliminating all remaining Russian energy imports by 2027.
United States has image problem in Central Asia
Public perceptions toward Washington rapidly swing from positive to negative.
Slow Kazakhification of Russianised lands falls flat in Kazakhstan’s north
“We're moving poor people who are unemployed, to regions where they'll be poor,” says sociologist.
EBRD2025: Ukraine prepares for peace by getting ready for war
“We keep struggling, but we are strong and now we are stronger than we were in 2022, but of course we have suffered a lot,” said Ukraine’s Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko at a high-level panel on Ukraine.
"We've been lost in a game of cards": the IDPs starting new lives in Ukraine's interior
Fighting at the front in Ukraine kills thousands each week, but behind the frontline, the war continues to shatter lives in less visible ways.