Alexander Query

While Ukraine’s elite corps and regiments managed to contain a major Russian breakthrough near Dobropillia this fall, the battle further south in Pokrovsk has turned into brutal, close-quarters urban combat. Russia’s push grinds forward, but not without cost.

Russia’s drone war against civilians in Ukraine is growing deadlier, with direct strikes increasingly targeting journalists even 20 to 30 kilometers from the frontline.

Russia’s hybrid warfare against the West is in full swing, with Russian services’ hands in increased disinformation campaigns aimed at sowing divisions in Western societies using Eastern European proxies and internal actors. 

Poland launched Iron Defender-25 on September 2, its largest NATO -led military exercise of the year, involving over 30,000 troops, as Russia and Belarus conducted their routine Zapad 2025 military drill. Is NATO finally taking Russia’s constant threat to the alliance seriously?

Ukraine’s 28th Brigade has been among the many on the forefront of the defense of Kostiantynivka, a key stronghold that Russia has been attempting to capture for months. First defending Chasiv Yar, the brigade had to relocate closer to the city. We spent a day with a crew manning a US-made M109 artillery gun—between massive blasts and the constant threat of Russian FPVs. 

As Russia closes in on Ukraine’s frontline city of Kostiantynivka, a key gateway to Kramatorsk, we witnessed firsthand how Russian troops are methodically razing it, preparing the ground for their next urban battlefield.