Avdiivka, Ukraine under attack in barrage of indirect fire

Avdiivka, Ukraine under attack in barrage of indirect fire

The war in Ukraine is intensifying. The war between Ukrainians and separatists is escalating and has been the past several months. The war in Ukraine is not a static and boring war. Avdiivka, a frontline port city, is under bombardment. The shelling of Avdiivka has become so severe that authorities are considering and preparing to evacuate civilians. […]

Deadly violence erupts in eastern Ukraine amid ‘worsening humanitarian situation’

Deadly violence erupts in eastern Ukraine amid ‘worsening humanitarian situation’

Violence flared up once more in Ukraine, both sides accused each other as being responsible for this escalation. -Vasilis Chronopoulos At least 13 civilians and fighters have been killed in the latest escalation of violence in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv and rebel authorities said on Tuesday. Kyiv announced that eight government troops have been killed and another 26 […]

Is Ukraine a glimpse into the future of Europe?

Is Ukraine a glimpse into the future of Europe?

Ukraine’s civil war, their effort toward energy independence from Russia and a desire for a nationalist state might be a glimpse into the  European future. Ukraine is a wreck, and there’s no easy solution, or any at all, in sight. In Syria, there are options to act as band-aids. But, in Ukraine, we see opposing […]

Ukraine’s president urges to continue sanctions on Russia

Ukraine’s president urges to continue sanctions on Russia

As the world waits to see how the U.S. will approach both Syria and Ukraine, a world leader weighs in and advocates to maintain sanctions on Russia. President Poroshenko of Ukraine has urged the West to keep the sanctions on Russia. These remarks came after POTUS Trump told The Wall Street Journal he would consider lifting the […]

Cyber defense, cyber war and information operations

Cyber defense, cyber war and information operations

CYBERWAR IS COMING is the name of a paper written in the early nineties. Today, this body of work is close to prescient. But, its revelations have not yet come to pass in entirety. We’ve covered cyber war in some quantity here at SOFREP. Cyber alongside tactical ground assaults as a leverage of power before, after, […]

Will cyberwar tie into ground warfare?

Will cyberwar tie into ground warfare?

Ukraine is the setting for what is a giant experiment of the next generation of warfare. Many of the West’s previous understandings of combat and war still weigh heavily in its planning. The U.S. spends and allocates resources toward whatever is necessary to adapt to the future of war. However, much of the focus is on technology alone. […]

Explosive memos suggest that a Trump-Russia quid pro quo was at the heart of the GOP’s dramatic shift on Ukraine

Explosive memos suggest that a Trump-Russia quid pro quo was at the heart of the GOP’s dramatic shift on Ukraine

An unverified dossier provided to US intelligence officials alleges that President-elect Donald Trump “agreed to sideline” the issue of Russian intervention in Ukraine during his campaign after Russia promised to feed the emails it stole from prominent Democrats’ inboxes to WikiLeaks. The dossier was part of an opposition-research project conducted by a former British spy, […]

Ukrainian troops re-engineer abandoned tanks, APCs

Ukrainian troops re-engineer abandoned tanks, APCs

In a derelict industrial complex just outside of Kiev, soldiers of the Ukrainian National Guard are demonstrating their technical and tactical competence. Enlisted men and officers of the Ukrainian National Guard are designing, engineering, innovating, and manufacturing custom tanks developed to meet the evolving challenges throughout the Ukrainian battlespace. Warfighters with pre-war experience in engineering, mechanics, […]

The invisible kill: Snipers and counterinsurgency warfare

The invisible kill: Snipers and counterinsurgency warfare

Much has been written about the counterinsurgency (COIN) strategies and tactics being used in Afghanistan and Iraq—or rather not. Back in 2007-2008, during my army days in Kandahar, I remember  commanders endlessly bragging about how “we totally nail that COIN thing,” always gargling out quotes from the likes of COIN scholar David Galula. He was a […]

10 Conflicts to Watch in 2017

10 Conflicts to Watch in 2017

The world is on the start of a uncertain year for foreign policy. Too many new players in the game create a feeling that things can go either way on a variety of hot bed issues. -Vasilis Chronopoulos The world is entering its most dangerous chapter in decades. The sharp uptick in war over recent […]

Russians get their bubba on at fantasy combat ranch in St. Petersburg

Russians get their bubba on at fantasy combat ranch in St. Petersburg

In a half-lit basement on a side street in St. Petersburg, 18 men holding reproduction Makarov pistols were fumbling through an exercise, racking the slides, taking aim and firing. Click, click, click, click, click. Repeat. Denis Gariev, the instructor, called out to pause the training. He was not about to air his political views, an ethnic […]

Behind Russia’s Cyber strategy

Behind Russia’s Cyber strategy

MOSCOW—Russia’s military laid out what is now seen as a blueprint for cyberwarfare with a 2013 article in a professional journal by Gen. Valery Gerasimov, the chief of Russia’s General Staff. Cyberspace, wrote Gen. Gerasimov, “opens wide asymmetrical possibilities for reducing the fighting potential of the enemy.” At the time, Russia’s military was absorbing the lessons […]