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Mike Eckel

Mike Eckel is a senior correspondent reporting on political and economic developments in Russia, Ukraine, and around the former Soviet Union, as well as news involving cybercrime and espionage. He's reported on the ground on Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the wars in Chechnya and Georgia, and the 2004 Beslan hostage crisis, as well as the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

EckelM@rferl.org

Also by Mike Eckel

April 12, 2024
Ukraine's Three-Front War: Advancing Russians, Depleted Artillery, Exhausted Troops

The eastern Ukrainian city of Chasiv Yar is being wiped from the map as Russian jets drop heavy, guided bombs that flatten apartment blocks and elite airborne units edge into the city’s eastern outskirts. Low on ammunition and morale, Ukraine is hard-pressed to hold on across the long front line.
April 11, 2024
Exclusive: How A Balkan Crime Gang Sprang A Russian Businessman From Italian House Arrest

How a Balkan crime gang sprang a Russian businessman from Italian house arrest.
March 30, 2024
What A Missed Terror Warning Says About U.S.-Russian Ties And Putin's Thinking

After the Soviet collapse, Moscow and Washington took steps to exchange intelligence and terrorist warnings, an effort that was ramped up after the September 11, 2001, attacks. For veteran spies like Putin, however, old habits die hard. The Crocus City Hall attack is Exhibit A.
March 19, 2024
Shpilkin's Razor: How A Statistical Model Raises Questions About Putin's Election. Again.

A statistical modeling tool developed by a Russian physicist designated a "foreign agent" has shown substantial anomalies with past Russian elections. According to number crunchers using the technique, this year's election, in which Vladimir Putin has claimed a resounding victory, may have been the worst ever.
March 15, 2024
Six More Years For Putin. Five Things To Watch For.

So what happens next after Putin is declared victor of Russia’s presidential election? Look for this: more men for the Ukraine war, new taxes to fund the war, new personnel shuffling within the Kremlin, new threats for NATO, new repression of dissent.
March 13, 2024
Ukraine's New War Strategy: Dig In, Hold On, Find More Soldiers, Hope For U.S. Weaponry

Russia is advancing. Ukraine is rushing to dig defenses. New U.S weapons aren’t expected soon. Ukraine’s military needs men. The government doesn’t want new mobilization. Things are looking grim on the battlefield these days.
March 05, 2024
Ex-U.S. Army Officer Accused Of Sharing Ukraine War Intelligence On Dating Site Pleads Not Guilty

A retired U.S. Army officer has pleaded not guilty to charges that he shared classified intelligence with a woman claiming to be from Ukraine, using e-mail and an online dating platform to send information that included Russian military targets in Ukraine.
February 29, 2024
Threats For The West. Money For Mothers. Help For Veterans: What Putin Did And Didn't Say In His State-Of-The-Nation Speech.

It was his longest state-of-the-nation speech, coming just two weeks before Russians vote in an election in which he is set to win a new six-year term. Putin's address was heavy on domestic policy concerns, with ample saber-rattling and bellicose threats sprinkled in.
February 19, 2024
Ukraine Has No Navy. But It's Hammering Russia In The Black Sea.

The landing ship that purportedly sank off Crimea last week is one of nearly two dozen Russian warships that Ukraine has seriously damaged or sunk since the full-scale invasion two years ago. It’s an extraordinary set of naval losses inflicted by a country that currently doesn’t even have a navy.
February 09, 2024
Battlefield Woes Mounting, Ukraine Gets A New Top General. Who Is He?

Ukraine's new top commander is a Soviet-trained artillery officer known for his role in thwarting the Russian thrust to capture Kyiv in 2022. Oleksandr Syrskiy is also known for his command during the disastrous retreat in 2015 in Debaltseve, and what some say was the costly defense of Bakhmut.
February 07, 2024
'The Situation Is Critical': What The Looming Fall Of Avdiyivka Says About Ukraine's Battlefield Mood

Along the 1,200-kilometer-long front line, Ukraine’s wintry discontent is turning into despondency as Russia forces close in on the capture of Avdiyivka, U.S. political infighting stalls a $60 billion weapons package, and Ukrainians brace for the expected ouster of country’s top military commander.
February 05, 2024
Yandex, A Bellwether For Russia's Tech Industry, Leaves In Cut-Rate Deal

Yandex, once dubbed Russia’s Google for becoming the country’s dominant online search engine, will exit Russia entirely, selling its assets there in a deeply discounted $5.2 billion deal that marks the end of an era.
January 31, 2024
Another Brick In The Great Kremlin Firewall: Mass Internet Outages Part Of 'Sovereign Internet'

Broader and wider than previous outages, the disruptions in Russia's Internet were the latest indication that Russian digital regulators are moving forward to create a "sovereign Internet" to wall off Russia's cyberspace and to restrict the free flow of information.
January 31, 2024
CIA Director Says Ukraine War 'Corroding' Putin's Grip On Power

Russia's war against Ukraine has eroded President Vladimir Putin's grip on power, hollowed out the Russian military, and stoked an "undercurrent of disaffection" within the country, according to the director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
January 26, 2024
Under Sea, Under Stone: How The U.S. Claimed Vast New Arctic Territory -- In An Unusual Way

As competition for resources in the Arctic Ocean intensifies, nations are staking claims to swaths of undersea territory where oil, gas, and other minerals could someday be found and mined. The United States has just staked its own claim -- and it did so in a way that’s raising lots of questions.
January 25, 2024
Why Did The Russian Il-76 Crash? What We Know, And Don't Know, About A Major Aviation Disaster

A day after a Russian military cargo jet exploded in a fireball not far from the Ukrainian border, there’s still major uncertainty about why it crashed, whether it was shot down, and what exactly was on the plane. Here’s what we know so far.
January 12, 2024
First It Was Eggs. Now Exploding Hot-Water Pipes. The Domestic Headaches Overshadowing Putin's Reelection Messaging

Exploding pipes left hundreds of thousands of Russians freezing and angry. It’s an unwelcome headache for the reelection campaign of President Vladimir Putin, who is less worried about winning than he is about getting a credible mandate from an electorate already anxious about the Ukraine invasion.
December 20, 2023
Western Weapons In Doubt, Ukraine Ponders How Long It Can Hold Out

Not since the opening weeks of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, when its forces seemed poised to capture Kyiv and force the government to capitulate, has the outlook for Ukraine’s military commanders and its political leadership been so gloomy.
December 14, 2023
The War Must Go On, Until Putin Says Otherwise: Takeaways From A Four-Hour Talk

If there’s one takeaway from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s four-hour question-and-answer session, it’s this: The war on Ukraine will continue as long as he says so.
December 13, 2023
Why Should You Pay Attention To Putin's Q&A? Here Are Six Reasons.

War widows and orphans. “Traditional” values. Diatribes against NATO and the West. Bananas and eggs. (Yes, eggs.) Here’s what to watch for at Putin’s almost-annual news conference and call-in show on December 14.

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