Center for International Studies

  A NEW ERA OF RUSSIAN TERROR IN THE EU With the beginning of his fifth presidential term, Vladimir Putin intensified his attempts to influence the political elites of EU countries, which is leading to significant destabilization in the region. Terrorist attacks have become one of the key elements of this strategy, serving as a tool for reformatting power and influencing neighboring countries. The first signal of the "new era of terrorism" was the attack on the town hall in Crocus, which turned out to be only the beginning of a large-scale campaign of terrorist attacks. One of the most striking examples of this strategy is the attempted murder of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico. This incident is compared to the "Shot in Sarajevo", which became the prologue to World War I. Such a scenario is considered to be Putin's attempt to recreate the paradigm of the Russian Empire from the beginning of the 20th century. However, the modern world and the West do not resp...

  KHARKIV BECOMING A GHOST CITY Russian occupation troops attack Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region every day with guided aerial bombs, drones and other weapons. The Russian Federation actually wants to turn the millionaire city into a "gray zone" unsuitable for life. Kharkiv Oblast is one of the regions of Ukraine most affected by Russian aggression. In February-April 2022, significant areas of the region were occupied by Russian troops. Over the past month, as a result of Russian attacks in Kharkiv, almost the entire energy infrastructure has been destroyed, and it will not be possible to quickly restore it after Russian shelling. Today, despite shelling and power outages, more than a million residents remain in the city. Currently, the situation in the energy system of the region is extremely difficult - the main generating capacities of the city and region (TPP-5, Zmiivska TPP), as well as most of the transformer substations, have been destroyed, which has led to a sho...