Charlie Hancock

Moscow's told us to expect its flagship Sarmat ICBM to come into operation soon for several by this point. Leaked documents show how manufacturing and logistics issues put the Kremlin's ability to deliver a long way behind its rhetoric.

Russia’s ambitious claims about its nuclear capabilities come years before defense manufacturers can meet the deadlines needed to make them real.

V. interesting to hear from a former Gazprom exec now fighting for 🇺🇦 about problems facing Russia's gas industry 🇺🇦 drone strikes, shadow fleet seizures, sanctions etc. grab headlines. But less discussed is how 🇷🇺 is reliant on imported tech to maintain its gas infrastructure

Just been on @lbc.co.uk talking with @shelaghfogarty.bsky.social about why Keir Starmer is hesitant to hike defence funding despite orders for the arson attack targeting him coming from Russia, and what governments can learn from the Baltics and Scandinavia in talking to citizens about the threat

@elisethomas.bsky.social Hi Elise. Hope all's well. Please could you drop me an email at c.hancock@themoscowtimes.com ? I tried to email you about an article but it bounced

Unable to pick up their cargo from Russian oil terminals damaged by Ukraine, dozens of aging tankers are at risk of suffering oil leaks. Experts warn they could also carry out sabotage against subsea cables in the Gulf of Finland.

How do you commission opinion journalism on Russia during the war in Ukraine? The Naked Pravda spoke with Moscow Times opinion editor @hancock2001.bsky.social about the challenges that now define the job. meduza.io/en/episodes/...

I don't use this site often because, as unwieldy as the other-place is, it's still better set up for news. But it's interesting that 90% of the engagement I've had for the past month is from obvious bots that don't even pretend not to be Russian anymore.

If anyone at Yale or BYU wants to get in touch to talk about how your university is handling being banned in Russia, my DMs are open

I spent a few days this week at an airbase in the northern 🇳🇱, talking with fighter pilots and military planners about NATO's largest air exercise, practicing how to respond to a Russian attack (or any other adversary). I also got up-close with the jets, but not in the cockpit

After a brief illness-induced pause, @ekesa.bsky.social and I are back with stories from 🇹🇷, 🇪🇪, 🇬🇪 and 🇦🇿, joined by @Turkova , talking about her experiences of tightening media freedom in Russia and the US. Youtube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWnP... Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/4o6l...

In Moscow, officials believe that Washington — which doesn’t view the exact dividing lines as a major priority — will pressure Kyiv to concede even more territory than Russia has been able to seize by force. www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/03/23/p...

#OpEd If Russia won't take responsibility for killing of MH17's 298 passengers, we can't trust them to ensure peace in Ukraine, argues Sander van Luik, whose brother Klaas Willem was killed when the plane was shot down.

The Kremlin worries that a potential deal with the U.S. to secure its control over Ukraine, restore diplomatic ties, lift sanctions and launch joint resource development could be derailed by the Trump-Zelensky clash, @kozlov.bsky.social reports.

#OpEd While the rest of the world is shutting the door to the corrupt super-rich, President Donald Trump is welcoming them in, warns @cjcmichel.bsky.social.

For Crisis Europa, I wrote a little something about what it is like to be an on-the-ground reporter at the Munich Security Conference.

Throughout my time at the #MunichSecurityConference I was struck by two narratives: the pessimism of many delegates that Washington was abandoning a complacent Europe and 🇺🇦 to Russia’s whims, and the insistence from 🇪🇺 leaders that talks were more productive than many assumed

Another report from the #MunichSecurityConference #MSC2025

Scholz, at #MSC2025 said that Germany cannot spend more on defence by cutting in other areas as the citizens would be against it. @ecfr.eu actually asked exactly that question, and 40% of Germans (against 36%) say they would want more money for defence even if it meant cutting spending elsewhere.

A foreign service employee tells me their team can no longer access Politico, NYT or Bloomberg -- even though they have paid subscriptions to all of them. "It is critical to our jobs" to have this access, says this employee.

My report from the #MunichSecurityConference #MSC2025

Trump’s defense secretary also said it was “unrealistic” to expect that Ukraine could return to its pre-2014 borders and urged European NATO members to end their dependency on Washington for security.

Breaking News: Russia released a U.S. prisoner — a teacher who was arrested on charges of bringing medical marijuana into Russia in August 2021 — as part of a deal negotiated by President Trump’s Middle East envoy. The terms of the exchange were unclear.

ICYMI, you can follow @themoscowtimes.com’s reporters and editors on Bluesky too: @leylalatypova.bsky.social @macktubs.bsky.social @hancock2001.bsky.social @nedgarvey.bsky.social @kozlov.bsky.social

My friend Katya, who is half-Georgian half-Ukrainian, has started a podcast that will focus on the news, politics, and events in countries we sometimes call "Eastern Europe" www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5WW...

@hancock2001.bsky.social and I have a podcast now! :)

What a joy to discuss Slovakia, Fico's career and his unhinged conspiracy mongering with the brilliant @ekesa.bsky.social & @hancock2001.bsky.social! open.spotify.com/episode/3ppO...

The US government has now gutted all of the tools created to fight kleptocracy. It's going to be up to other democracies to save their political and financial systems from anonymous flows of cash. www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/02/07/w...

#OpEd In a single day, the U.S. has eliminated or kneecapped its most successful anti-corruption tools, leaving the door wide open for Russian oligarchs and more, warns @cjcmichel.bsky.social. www.themoscowtimes.com/2025/02/07/w...

NEW: Moscow is celebrating Donald Trump’s move to sanction the International Criminal Court as a game-changer that will weaken the court’s global influence and hamper the West’s efforts to isolate Putin and his inner circle, officials told MT.

Russia said its forces had seized the mining town of Toretsk in east Ukraine after months of heavy fighting, allowing Moscow to push further into the Donbas region. Kyiv denied Russia had full control of the town.

New from Crisis Europa: Without support for election monitors and corruption-busting independent media in Eastern Europe and initiatives that teach Ukrainian children wartime safety, Europe will become more vulnerable to foreign security challenges.

For my blog Crisis Europa I wrote up some of the key takeaways from last week's discussion about the future of EU security with former Finnish President Sauli Niinistö.

Sauli Niinistö, who left office in 2024, said that Europe should be involved in dialogue with Moscow about ending the invasion of Ukraine.

I'm looking forward to reporting on #MSC2025 for @themoscowtimes.com. I'm especially interested in speaking to people working on Ukraine's war effort, Western support for Ukraine, and combatting Russia aggression and espionage toward Europe and NATO. If that's you, get in touch!

#OpEd The new administration must lead NATO to respond decisively to Russia's attacks on the alliance because Moscow is waging war on the West in the shadows, not just on Ukraine's battlefields, warns Jordan Warlick.

#OpEd Real Ukrainian lives in the country's east are being treated as bargaining chips as they face brutal repression under Moscow's control, warns Jade McGlynn.

NEW: Meta has quietly dismantled the system that prevented misinformation from spreading in the United States. Machine-learning classifiers that once identified viral hoaxes and limited their reach have now been switched off, Platformer has learned www.platformer.news/meta-ends-mi...

EXCLUSIVE: The Kremlin has been in direct contact with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s team in the lead-up to his Jan. 20 inauguration, Russian government officials told The Moscow Times.

Assassins linked to the Chechen regime have already targeted people in Europe and Turkey. A shooting in Uzbekistan indicates Kadyrov's footprint could extend into Central Asia.

This week on Crisis Europa Romania sits along multiple strategic frontiers for NATO and hosts initiatives with the potential to protect the whole continent But despite record investment, 🇷🇴 own armed forces are struggling to shake-off its communist-era deficiencies

This week on Crisis Europa: Romania, Syria and reflections on British civil defense. While I research next week's analysis (between my job and studying) I have made a quick list of articles and books that I think will be of interest to my readers.

Have been craving halva for the past few days so decided to do something about it It looks a little gloopy but tastes very promising (rose, saffron and pistachio). Let’s see how it sets overnight…

I promised you all I’d do this, so I did.