Louis Beaudemont

With the New START treaty expired, the world’s two largest nuclear powers now operate without any binding arms control framework for the first time since the Cold War—prompting European states to explore new approaches to deterrence.

After four years of large-scale fighting, Moscow has failed to achieve its military, political, or societal objectives in Ukraine. But even if Russia is defeated, the war won’t simply end. A deeper, harder question emerges: how do we prevent a weakened but militarized Russia from launching the next one?

Born amid the street clashes on Kyiv’s Independence Square in 2013, the Ukrainian documentary collective Babylon 13 has spent more than a decade filming the country’s resistance—from the Revolution of Dignity to Russia’s full-scale invasion. What began as rapid, anonymous shorts shot on the barricades has evolved into one of Ukraine’s most extensive cinematic archives.

A false claim by Russia’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov about an alleged Ukrainian drone attack on one of Vladimir Putin’s residences has drawn renewed attention to where the Russian leader actually lives, and to a network of official and unofficial palaces—revealed through investigations, satellite imagery, and leaked records—designed for secrecy, luxury, and protection from modern threats such as drones.

FPV drone warfare and Russia’s meat-grinder tactics forced Ukraine to redesign its fortifications. A new continuous kill-zone system aims to stop rapid Russian assaults through layered trenches, wider fire lanes, and anti-vehicle obstacles. This is what modern trench warfare looks like.

The war turned Vladyslav Krasnoshchok, a Kharkiv surgeon and underground artist, into one of Ukraine’s most provocative war photographers. His language is raw, and his images even more so—together they capture a truth that goes beyond what the eye sees.