Read more about the article Lines of Sustainment: Evaluating Ukrainian Military Logistics in the Russo-Ukrainian War
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Lines of Sustainment: Evaluating Ukrainian Military Logistics in the Russo-Ukrainian War

This paper aims to examine the critical role of logistics in the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian war, focusing on the evolving challenges and innovations in Ukraine's military logistics infrastructure. Logistical disruptions, especially from Russian missile strikes and precision bombing, threaten Ukraine's operational momentum and the sustainability of its military operations. This piece explores Ukraine's efforts to modernise its logistics systems, drawing from both doctrinal shifts and technological advancements, such as the integration of drones for last-mile delivery and the launch of the DOT Chain digital logistics platform. Despite these innovations, systemic challenges such as bureaucratic delays and limited air defence coverage persist, undermining the effectiveness of Ukraine's logistics network. The paper offers recommendations for enhancing resilience at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels.

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17 July 2025
Read more about the article Toward Hybrid Deterrence: Conceptual Foundations and the Evolution of NATO Response
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Toward Hybrid Deterrence: Conceptual Foundations and the Evolution of NATO Response

Hybrid threats, leveraging ambiguity and asymmetry, increasingly challenge NATO’s deterrence and credibility. This paper critically examines NATO’s doctrinal evolution and responses to hybrid threats since first acknowledging cyber challenges in 2002. Despite doctrinal progress and tools like Counter-Hybrid Support Teams (CHSTs) and initiatives such as Baltic Sentry, NATO’s response remains largely reactive and fragmented, activated only post-crisis rather than proactively deterring threats. Ambiguous attribution and contested thresholds further hinder collective action. The analysis highlights persistent strategic gaps and concludes by asserting that credible hybrid deterrence cannot be improvised post hoc but must be embedded systematically into NATO’s doctrine and operational architecture, a concept that will be further developed in a forthcoming companion article.

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18 June 2025
Read more about the article Operation Spiderweb: under Russia’s nose
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Operation Spiderweb: under Russia’s nose

On 1 June 2025, Ukraine launched Operation Spiderweb, the most effective drone attack against Russian airfields since the start of the war. A total of 117 drones were used to strike airbases across five regions – Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions –, with the aim of inflicting maximum damage on Russian aircraft far away from the frontier (Al Jazeera, 2025; Horowitz, 2025). Reports suggest that 41 aircrafts – including A-50, Tu-95, Tu-22 M3 and Tu-160 – have been hit in the operation along with a third of Russian bombers that are currently used as cruise-missile carriers (Horowitz, 2025; Security Service of Ukraine, 2025; Zoria, 2025).

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10 June 2025
Read more about the article From Cape to Kazan? Russia’s Contemporary Use of Colonial Warfare in Africa
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From Cape to Kazan? Russia’s Contemporary Use of Colonial Warfare in Africa

The scale of the war in Ukraine has overshadowed Russia’s other overseas military ventures. This includes the multiple operations across Africa which began with Libya in 2016, and has since expanded to Mali, the Central African Republic (CAR), and Sudan, among others. Such operations were a key source of notoriety for the Wagner group before its deployment to Ukraine, which has since dominated coverage and analysis of the group’s conduct. Hence, in comparison to their conduct in Eastern Europe, the modus operandi of Russian state and private forces in Africa has received comparatively less attention. This paper aims to fill this lacuna and provide a taxonomical framework for this conduct, arguing that the military methods utilised by Russia in Africa are classifiable as colonial warfare, akin to the warfare waged by Europeans in the region two centuries earlier. It will elaborate on colonial warfare as a distinct practice of violence and how Russia’s conduct fits in with this framework. Furthermore, this paper will elaborate on the risks that the use of these methods directly and indirectly poses to European security.

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21 May 2025
Read more about the article Resilience and Rearmament: A Comparative Analysis of Russia’s Defence Industrial Base in 2025
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Resilience and Rearmament: A Comparative Analysis of Russia’s Defence Industrial Base in 2025

This paper provides a comparative analysis of Russian and European defence industrial capacities in the aftermath of the 2022 Ukraine invasion amid the ongoing retreat of U.S. global security commitments. While Russia has demonstrated short-term resilience through mass production of tanks, artillery, and drones, it remains vulnerable due to technological dependencies and supply chain constraints. In contrast, the European Union, despite structural fragmentation, is mobilising towards strategic autonomy through initiatives like ASAP and EDIS. The study argues that Russia’s high-volume model may face sustainability limits, whereas Europe’s innovation-oriented, collaborative framework could offer long-term strategic depth. The research evaluates production trends, budgetary shifts, and geopolitical implications to assess the trajectory of both blocs in the emerging post-American security order.

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7 May 2025