Threats

As Moscow Sends Fighter Jets Into Syria, US and Russian Defense Chiefs Open Talks

Four Russian Flankers have arrived at Moscow’s forward operating base in Syria, Pentagon confirms.

Threats

Eyeing Russia, Estonian Company Creates Underground Hamster City for Humans

With an aggressive Russia nearby, Estonia is making mobile underground bunkers. But other countries are buying them too.

Policy

Russia Is Setting Up A Forward Operating Base in Syria, Pentagon Confirms

Amid a tide of news reports and statements about Russian deployments to Syria, the Defense Department confirms a few details.

Threats

US and Russian Forces in Syria Aren’t Talking to Each Other

CENTCOM says it has “no military-to-military contact” with Russian forces sent to help the embattled Assad regime.

Threats

NATO Caught ‘Surprised’ By Russia’s Move Into Syria

Intelligence chief says the alliance members can’t even agree whether Moscow or ISIS is the greater threat — and there’s not enough ISR to go around.

Science & Tech

Russia’s Troll Army Is Making Life Harder for US Spies

How Moscow’s robotic feeds and paid social-media commentators complicate open-source intelligence gathering.

Threats

What's Putin Doing in the Arctic? Trying To Keep Russians Distracted

Stuck in Ukraine, battered by global energy trends, the Russian president is trying to insure his still-stratospheric popularity at home.

Threats

Russia Is Running Out of Options in Ukraine

As negotiations flounder, Moscow is turning to other subtle, more desperate means to influence its non-NATO neighbor.

Policy

America Is Paying a Heavy Price for Russia’s Help

Washington is getting Moscow’s assistance on grave, complex issues like Iran and Syria — and Ukraine is footing the bill for it.

Threats

How to Make a Country Vanish: A Journey Inside Eastern Ukraine

From mailboxes to license plates, Russia is everywhere in eastern Donetsk.

Policy

Russia, Not ISIS, Greatest Threat to US, General Says

Some senators seemed surprised when Gen. Paul Selva called the nuclear-armed former superpower a bigger threat than Islamic State militants who drive captured Humvees.

Threats

Pentagon Moves Money to Counter Russia

The midyear budget request to Congress includes more money for submarine detection devices, more powerful guns on the Army’s Stryker vehicles, and improvements to nuclear command centers.

Science & Tech

Cyber War Puts Democracies on the Defensive

Free countries must band together to fight off authoritarian states that can be more institutionally flexible, opaque, unaccountable, and corrupt.

Science & Tech

Why Putin’s ICBM Announcement Does Not Signal a New Nuclear Arms Race

The Russian President’s announcement was entirely in line with previous expectations, and won’t add new capabilities to Moscow's arsenal.

Threats

Pentagon Building Cruise Missile Shield To Defend US Cities From Russia

The military moves to set up an expensive sensor-and-shooter network, but is the threat real?

Policy

Putin Bad, GOP Candidates Agree

Less clear is what they’d do, as America's next president, about a more assertive Russia.

Policy

On National Security Cred Tour, Jeb Shakes Fist at Putin

Bush is taking a different tack on his presidential rite of passage in Europe than his GOP rivals: he’s talking.

Threats

Russia, China Grow Closer With New Cyber Agreement

Xi Jinping’s appearance at Vladimir Putin’s side at the Victory Parade in Moscow signifies a deepened relationship based on a common adversary: the U.S.

Threats

Russia Scales Back Long-Range Aircraft Patrols, NATO General Says

After beefing up long-range aviation patrols last year, Russia has been flying near the borders of NATO countries less frequently, Gen. Philip Breedlove says.