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The Continued Myth of Russia’s Imminent Collapse: Lessons from Prigozhin’s Mutiny Three Years On

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KREMLIN FILES/COLUMN: Three years ago, in June 2023, the Kremlin confronted one of the most dramatic internal crises of Vladimir Putin's quarter-century in power. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the former [...] More

Expect Russia to Escalate Its Attacks on our Democracies

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The Kremlin Files: For many in the West, Russian information warfare still conjures images of hacked emails, troll farms, and social media manipulation during the 2016 U.S. election and the Brexit [...] More

More from Sean Wiswesser

RUSSIA-CHINA-DIPLOMACY

The Threat of Sino-Russian Opportunism

Russia and China don’t need a secret war plan to overwhelm U.S. strategy — they may only need to reach the same dangerous conclusion at the same time. [...] More
Silhouette of towers against a vibrant orange sunset sky.

From Chernobyl to Ukraine: The Enduring Cost of Kremlin Lies

Forty years after Chernobyl, the same culture of concealment and distortion continues to shape Russia’s decisions - with global consequences. [...] More
Iranian president meets with Putin, discusses ways to boost cooperation in all sectors

What Iran Is Learning from Russia’s War and Why the U.S. Should Be Concerned

Rather than deterring Tehran, Moscow’s wartime adaptation could be shaping a more capable and durable Iranian regime. [...] More
The Chalk Mark Still Matters: Russian Espionage Handling in the Modern Era

The Chalk Mark Still Matters: Russian Espionage Handling in the Modern Era

From dead drops and surveillance routes to covert digital communications, Russian espionage tradecraft remains disciplined, adaptive, and deeply [...] More
RUSSIA-UKRAINE-CONFLICT-POLITICS

After the War and After Putin: Three Potential Succession Scenarios for Russia’s Modern Tsar

Russia’s tightly controlled system makes a popular uprising unlikely—but succession inside the Kremlin may still reshape the country’s future. [...] More
Tracing the Evolution of Russian Hybrid Warfare

Tracing the Evolution of Russian Hybrid Warfare

Moscow is following a 'Gray War doctrine' that has seemingly served it well since Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014 [...] More
The Kremlin Files: Russian Double Agents and Operational Games

The Kremlin Files: Russian Double Agents and Operational Games

Understanding Russia’s operational games: the tradecraft that defines how the Kremlin spies and lies [...] More
Two men in a serious conversation, one in a suit, the other in a military uniform.

The Kremlin Files: Russia’s Way to the Gray Zone

In the first of a 2-part series, former Senior CIA Officer Sean Wiswesser explains the below the radar ways that Moscow is waging war on the West [...] More
The Kremlin Files: Russia, the Modern Surveillance State

The Kremlin Files: Russia, the Modern Surveillance State

A closer look at the use of surveillance by Russia's intelligence services [...] More