Faced with the successful Ukrainian counteroffensive, and with military costs mounting, the Russian elite has splintered into bickering factions. Alexandr Burilkov argues that the nationalist information space is exerting significant pressure on Putin to continue and escalate the war. This makes negotiations and a lasting ceasefire unlikely
With the Russian invasion of Ukraine reduced to a protracted battle for the Donbas, discontent grows in Russian military and ultranationalist circles. This could lead to the formation of paramilitary groups aiming for a Russia of the revolutionary right, says Alexandr Burilkov
Postdoctoral Researcher, Centre for the Study of Democracy (ZDEMO), Leuphana University of Lüneburg
Alex obtained his PhD on the maritime strategy of emerging powers from the University of Hamburg.
He was previously a junior researcher at the GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies (Institute of Asian Studies), and the Metropolitan University of Prague.
Alex's research interests are military strategy and security policy in Russia, the post-Soviet space, and East Asia.
He also studies the diffusion of international organisations and their institutional features using quantitative methods.
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