He is an associate professor at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, the National Technical University, and the executive director at the Institute of World Policy, Ukraine. Author of reports “Hybrid War: Survive and Win” (Kharkiv, 2015), “Russia’s Hybrid Aggression: Lessons for the Europe” (Kyiv, 2017), and “Games of Images: How Europe Perceives Ukraine” (Kharkiv, 2016, with co-author Tetyana Vodotyka). His book “The Sixth: Memories of the Future” – a study of Ukrainian presidents – was published in 2017. Since April 2017, he is a member of the Public Council at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The European Council's decision to start accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova and to grant candidate status to Georgia indicates Brussels' desire to play a more active role in foreign policy. There are several reasons for this.
Russia has traditionally used gas as a weapon, and Ukraine has been a traditional target of Kremlin’s energy aggression. The events of autumn 2021 in Europe invite us to have a look at the previous so-called “gas-wars” and their impact, in order to be able to better predict Russia’s future actions and understands its tactis and motivations.
The Russian-Belarusian exercise "Zapad-2021" has become the object of increased attention from the neighbors of the two countries. But this event on the military-political map of Europe was only used as a distraction by the Kremlin.
The refugee crisis that erupted in the summer on Belarus’ border with its western neighbors has several components. We are looking at new tactics in Russia's hybrid actions with the cynical use of an ally and the desire to strike at the most consistent criticisms of Russia.
The study of hybrid impact tools and technologies for their application is now becoming a necessity for most European countries. It should be understood that their application lasts long enough to form the basis of the study, and the need for countermeasures will remain relevant for many years.
The incident with the forced landing of a Ryanair plane and the detention of Roman Protasevich and Sofia Sapieha only forced the European Union and the United States to take more active action against Belarus. However, Russia is also on the trajectory of absorbing Belarus in the autumn of 2021.