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Tag: eastern europe

  • Can Shotguns, Spy Planes and Lasers Protect Europe From the Next Drone Incursion?

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    WYRYKI, Poland—After suspected Russian drones violated NATO airspace in recent weeks, closing airports and rattling citizens, European militaries and governments find themselves in a new era of conflict with an urgent need to bolster their defenses.

    Allied countries are caught between having to develop long-term solutions to address Russia’s continuing hybrid threats, and a more immediate need to help civilians prepare for the next potential wave of drones. The solutions span from multilayered air-defense systems to civilian target practice against drones.

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    Sune Engel Rasmussen

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  • As Russian Aggression Turns West, Poland Says It’s Ready

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    By

    Thomas Grove

    and

    Karolina Jeznach

    | Photography by Maciek Nabrdalik for WSJ

    WARSAW—For more than a decade, Poland has prepared for the worst-case scenario: becoming the front line in a war between Russia and the West.

    With an eye on growing Russian aggression in Europe, Warsaw’s military planners built out the country’s armed forces, turning it last year into the largest European military in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It ramped up military spending to 4.7% of gross domestic product this year—the highest in the alliance. A multibillion-dollar spending spree has put Poland among the biggest buyers of U.S. weapons.

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    Thomas Grove

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  • Trump May Send Tomahawks to Ukraine

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    President Trump threatened to send long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Ukraine, should Russian President Vladimir Putin continue to decline his efforts to negotiate a peace deal in the region.

    “I might say, look, if this war’s not going to get settled, I’m going to send them Tomahawks,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday as he flew overseas to Tel Aviv, where he is set to take part in a ceremony for a landmark peace deal between Israel and Hamas.

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    Natalie Andrews

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  • Inside the West’s Race to Defend the Arctic

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    ABOARD THE MV NUNALIK—Greenland lurked in the distance as Capt. Donald Gibson rushed to the bridge of his cargo ship amid a sudden Arctic storm. Snow lashed against the pilothouse windows while he and his crew struggled to control the vessel and steer clear of icebergs.

    Down in the ship’s hold was construction material needed to upgrade the northernmost military outpost, a Canadian spy station providing crucial intelligence on Russia’s military.

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    Sune Engel Rasmussen

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  • North Korea’s Kim Flaunts New ICBM Able to Reach U.S.

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    SEOUL—North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, armed with nuclear weapons and powerful friends, signaled his determination to stand up to Washington with an elaborate military parade Friday night that featured advancements in an arsenal capable of striking the U.S.

    Fresh from staking his place on the global stage at Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s parade of military firepower in Beijing last month, Kim oversaw a display starring his new solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile Friday at Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party. The ICBM was called the “Hwasong-20.”

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    Dasl Yoon

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  • Opinion | Ukraine is Starving Russia of Oil

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    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has labeled his military’s strikes on Russia’s oil infrastructure “the most effective sanctions.” Meanwhile, reports indicate that alongside urging Europe and India to halt purchases of Russian oil, Washington plans to share additional intelligence with Ukraine on Russian refineries, pipelines and other energy infrastructure.

    Most discussions about these “sanctions” have focused on their financial implications for Russia. Vladimir Putin relies heavily on corruption and patronage, with oil and gas serving as key revenue streams. Disrupting the flow could force Mr. Putin to choose between sustaining the war and maintaining the payouts to oligarchs and citizens that secure his political backing—though such an economic squeeze would take some time.

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    Michael Bohnert

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  • László Krasznahorkai Wins Nobel Prize in Literature

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    Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai, known for his dense prose and apocalyptic themes, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

    The Swedish Academy in Stockholm credited Krasznahorkai “for his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.”

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    Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg

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  • Russian Drones Turn the Streets of Kherson Into a Civilian Kill Zone

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    By

    Oksana Grytsenko

    and

    Jane Lytvynenko

    | Photography by Emanuele Satolli for WSJ

    MYKOLAIV, Ukraine—Yaroslav Pavlivskiy waved his hands as he sprang from his car, pleading for mercy with the operator of a Russian drone circling overhead as he drove home from a market in the southern city of Kherson.

    The operator flicked a switch to release a grenade, which exploded and tore into the legs of the 69-year-old pensioner. A passerby used a belt as a tourniquet to stop him from losing too much blood, saving his life.

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    Oksana Grytsenko

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  • Trump Praises Putin’s Offer to Extend Nuclear Treaty

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    An accord capping the number of long-range nuclear weapons was due to expire in February but would be extended by a year.

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    Michael R. Gordon

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  • Putin Warns West as Drones Appear in European Skies

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    WARSAW—For weeks, drones have been mysteriously appearing in European skies, closing airports from Warsaw to Munich. Western officials suspect that Russia is behind the campaign, seeking to sow fear in European capitals, probe NATO weaknesses and raise the stakes over the continent’s support for Ukraine.

    The latest sightings came late Thursday, when Germany closed the Munich airport, grounding 17 departing flights and stranding nearly 3,000 passengers during Oktoberfest. Separately, Belgium said on Friday it was investigating overnight drone sightings above a military base in the east of the country.

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    Thomas Grove

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  • Opinion | Why Not Let Ukraine Hit Moscow?

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    The news this week that the U.S. will lend intelligence support for Ukraine’s long-range missile strikes on Russian targets is welcome—and testifies to the live debate inside the Trump Administration on how to deal with Vladimir Putin’s refusal to negotiate an end to his assault on Ukraine.

    All who follow the war understand that Ukraine won’t gain the upper hand in the fight if the Russian homeland is a sanctuary. Mr. Trump himself said on social media this year that President Biden’s big mistake was refusing to let Ukraine “fight back” instead of merely defending its own territory. He was right then, not that his policy has changed much since.

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    The Editorial Board

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  • Opinion | Ukraine at the Rubicon

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    An elite Russian unit is escalating its use of drones in Donetsk, forcing the defenders to innovate.

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    Jillian Kay Melchior

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  • France Detains Russian ‘Shadow Fleet’ Tanker Suspected in Drone Attack

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    PARIS—French authorities detained crew members of a tanker carrying Russian crude oil and are investigating whether it played a role in last week’s drone incursions in Denmark.

    French soldiers boarded the tanker, which is under Western sanctions, as it was en route to India from Russia’s Baltic Sea port of Primorsk. The vessel was traveling south through the Bay of Biscay when it turned east and headed toward Saint-Nazaire, home to Europe’s largest shipyard, according to the ship-tracking service Kpler. Authorities took the tanker’s captain and second-in-command into custody.

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    Matthew Dalton

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  • Opinion | Will Europe Admit It’s at War?

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    Vladimir Putin declared war on Europe on Feb. 24, 2022, by sending his tanks to assault Ukraine. Or in December 2021, when Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the Duma’s Defense Committee, threatened any country that stood in his way with a “preventive strike.” Or on Feb. 20, 2014, when the Russian army invaded Crimea.

    This year things are speeding up. Intimidations, provocations and aggressions are multiplying:

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    [ad_2] Bernard-Henri Lévy
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  • Opinion | The Key to Ukraine’s Victory

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    ‘Is there a Manstein in Kyiv?’ isn’t the right question.

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  • Opinion | Trump Flips the Global Script

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    Walter Russell Mead is the Ravenel B. Curry III Distinguished Fellow in Strategy and Statesmanship at Hudson Institute, the Global View Columnist at The Wall Street Journal and the Alexander Hamilton Professor of Strategy and Statecraft with the Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education at the University of Florida.

     

    He is also a member of Aspen Institute Italy and board member of Aspenia. Before joining Hudson, Mr. Mead was a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations as the Henry A. Kissinger Senior Fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy. He has authored numerous books, including the widely-recognized Special Providence: American Foreign Policy and How It Changed the World (Alfred A. Knopf, 2004). Mr. Mead’s most recent book is entitled The Arc of A Covenant: The United States, Israel, and the Fate of the Jewish People.

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    Walter Russell Mead

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  • Opinion | Time to Abandon ‘Active Defense’ in Ukraine

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    The doctrine proved to be ineffective after Vietnam, but better ideas came with Reagan’s military buildup.

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    Mark T. Kimmitt

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  • Moldova’s Pro-Europe Party Claims Victory Over Russia-Backed Coalition 

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    Moldova’s ruling pro-European party claimed victory Monday in parliamentary elections that became a referendum on its efforts to pull the former Soviet republic away from Moscow and closer to the West. 

    Ahead of the ballot, President Maia Sandu said Russia had spent the equivalent of hundreds of millions of dollars to buy votes and accused the Kremlin of carrying out a massive disinformation campaign to scare voters into the arms of Moscow-backed parties. Russia has denied election interference.

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    Thomas Grove

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  • Russia’s Ambitious Plans in Africa Are Unraveling

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    Russia, not long ago a rising military force in Africa, is now struggling to maintain its footprint on the continent.

    The Kremlin’s new official guns-for-hire military force, the Africa Corps, has failed to replicate the financial success and political sway once held by Russia’s private Wagner Group mercenary outfit. And some of Wagner’s own African ventures have unraveled since 2023 when its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, rebelled against President Vladimir Putin and then died when an explosive device blew the wing off his plane at 28,000 feet. 

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    Benoit Faucon

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  • Rheinmetall to Build Ammunition Plant in Latvia

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    Rheinmetall plans to build an ammunition plant in Latvia, as part of its efforts to ramp up production to respond to increasing demand from North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s member states.

    The German arms maker signed a preliminary deal in Hamburg on Thursday for the construction of a new 155mm ammunition factory in the Baltic country, helping Latvia to boost its deterrence vis-a-vis Russia.

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    Cristina Gallardo

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