Illia Kabachynskyi

While Russia holds the advantage in manpower and equipment, Ukraine is fighting not with scale, but with technology — a strategy on full display in the Black Sea, where naval drones have forced Russia’s fleet into retreat. At the center of this effort is Brave1, a government-backed hub designed to find, fund, and fast-track defense tech.

Russia is pushing to change a century-old agreement over Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, with public calls to rename the region the “Pomor Islands.”

Russia continues the militarization of the Arctic, strengthening its Northern Fleet by commissioning new warships and submarines.

Most countries don’t have long-range cruise missiles like this. Ukraine built the 1,000-km Neptune in just three years.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, one of the Kremlin’s first targets was Mariupol. While the Ukrainian army tried to hold back the Russian advance, the city was being obliterated—tens of thousands of civilians were killed, and almost all residential buildings were reduced to rubble. Now, Moscow is attempting to convince the world that life in Mariupol has improved, portraying the destroyed city as “better than it was under Ukraine.”

Ukraine’s fleet of naval drones has turned the tide in the Black Sea, carving out a secure maritime corridor despite Russia’s aggression, fueling a surge in exports—including vital agricultural shipments to Africa and other regions that rely on them.