The Kremlin has been using freelancers to carry out dirty deeds across Europe with increasing frequency — and those freelancers can be anyone. The strategy is as sinister as it is effective. It’s also a law enforcement nightmare. But do our governments have the will to tackle the issue, and the leadership qualities that will be required to fully mobilise resources, and be frank with electorates? ---------- Elisabeth Braw is a senior fellow at the Atlantic council. She is also a columnist with Foreign Policy, where she writes on national security and the globalised economy. Before joining AEI, Elisabeth was a Senior Research Fellow at RUSI, where she led the Modern Deterrence project. She is published in a wide range of publications, including Politico, The Times and Wall Street Journal. Elisabeth is also the author of highly regarded books – including Goodbye Globalization: The Return of a Divided World. ---------- LINKS: https://twitter.com/elisabethbraw https://www.linkedin.com/in/elisabethbraw/ https://rusi.org/people/braw https://www.aei.org/profile/elisabeth-braw/ https://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/person/elisabeth-braw/ https://foreignpolicy.com/author/elisabeth-braw/ https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/people/elisabeth-braw https://cepa.org/author/elisabeth-braw/ ---------- ARTICLES: https://www.politico.eu/article/gig-model-russian-subversion-nightmare-western-intelligence-shopping/ https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/01/16/russia-ukraine-gray-zone-warfare-autocrats-democracy-527022 https://www.ft.com/content/0ac9e1a9-2aad-47d9-83fb-4839e9b31b33 https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/china-is-master-of-grey-zone-aggression-t6z2khp69 https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/60291/create-a-psychological-defence-agency-to-prebunk-fake-news https://www.aei.org/podcast/elisabeth-braw-on-gray-zone-warfare/ ---------- BOOKS: ‘God’s Spies: The Stasi’s Cold War Espionage (2019) The Defender's Dilemma: Identifying and Deterring Gray-zone Aggression (2022) Goodbye Globalization: The Return of a Divided World (2024) ---------- SUMMER FUNDRAISERS NAFO & Silicon Curtain community - Let’s help help 5th SAB together https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community We are teaming up with NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade to provide 2nd Assault Battalion of 5th SAB with a pickup truck that they need for their missions. With your donation, you're not just sending a truck — you’re standing with Ukraine. https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community Why NAFO Trucks Matter: Ukrainian soldiers know the immense value of our NAFO trucks and buses. These vehicles are carefully selected, produced between 2010 and 2017, ensuring reliability for harsh frontline terrain. Each truck is capable of driving at least 20,000 km (12,500 miles) without major technical issues, making them a lifeline for soldiers in combat zones. In total we are looking to raise an initial 19 500 EUR in order to buy 1 x NAFO truck 2.0 Who is getting the aid? 5 SAB, 2 Assault Battalion, UAV operators‍. https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community ---------- Car for Ukraine has once again joined forces with a group of influencers, creators, and news observers during this summer. Sunshine here serves as a metaphor, the trucks are a sunshine for our warriors to bring them to where they need to be and out from the place they don't. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain This time, we focus on the 6th Detachment of HUR, 93rd Alcatraz, 3rd Assault Brigade, MLRS systems and more. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain - bring soldiers to the positions - protect them with armor - deploy troops with drones to the positions ---------- SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ----------

Edition No157 | 10-06-2025 - Putin has ordered and executed one of the largest attacks on Ukraine's capital since the full-scale war began. Why? Because he can. Kyiv and Odesa came under massive bombardment in the early hours of June 10. Explosions were heard across the capital as air defence systems were activated, engaging targets that included ballistic missiles and drones. The full toll is not known, but four people have been reported injured in Kyiv, according to local authorities. In the southern city of Odesa two men were killed and at least eight civilians were wounded. One more person suffered shock. Again, this may not be the final toll. Zelensky proclaimed this one of the largest attacks on Kyiv to date, and few people would have slept through though the intense bombardment that lasted several hours. "Russian missiles and Shahed drones strike out the efforts of the United States and others around the world to force Russia into peace," he wrote on X. "For yet another night, instead of a ceasefire, there were massive strikes with Shahed drones, cruise and ballistic missiles." ---------- Links: https://kyivindependent.com/waves-of-explosions-rock-kyiv-amid-russian-missile-drone-attack/ https://kyivindependent.com/trump-redirects-20-000-anti-drone-missiles-meant-for-ukraine-zelensky-confirms/ ---------- SUMMER FUNDRAISERS NAFO & Silicon Curtain community - Let’s help help 5th SAB together https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community We are teaming up with NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade to provide 2nd Assault Battalion of 5th SAB with a pickup truck that they need for their missions. With your donation, you're not just sending a truck — you’re standing with Ukraine. https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community Why NAFO Trucks Matter: Ukrainian soldiers know the immense value of our NAFO trucks and buses. These vehicles are carefully selected, produced between 2010 and 2017, ensuring reliability for harsh frontline terrain. Each truck is capable of driving at least 20,000 km (12,500 miles) without major technical issues, making them a lifeline for soldiers in combat zones. In total we are looking to raise an initial 19 500 EUR in order to buy 1 x NAFO truck 2.0 Who is getting the aid? 5 SAB, 2 Assault Battalion, UAV operators‍. https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community ---------- Car for Ukraine has once again joined forces with a group of influencers, creators, and news observers during this summer. Sunshine here serves as a metaphor, the trucks are a sunshine for our warriors to bring them to where they need to be and out from the place they don't. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain This time, we focus on the 6th Detachment of HUR, 93rd Alcatraz, 3rd Assault Brigade, MLRS systems and more. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain - bring soldiers to the positions - protect them with armor - deploy troops with drones to the positions ---------- SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemysl https://kharpp.com/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ -----------

Edition No155 | 08-06-2025 - Russia has a fascist ideology. It may be incoherent when it comes to doctrinal details, but it is clear on one thing. If you are part of the democratic world, it intends to destroy you. Russian propagandists and ideologies are clear on this point at least. It’s time to face this ideology for what it really is: aggressive, intolerant, extreme, calculated, premeditated and completely nihilistic. Modern Russian fascism is built for export, and is fundamentally opposed to the democratic world, its culture, values and its institutions. In this episode we’ll look at an interview given for Le Grand Continent, a respected European journal of geopolitical analysis published by the GEG - Groupe d'Études Géopolitiques, a think tank affiliated with the prestigious École Normale Supérieure in Paris. They published a deeply disturbing conversation with Sergei Karaganov, one of the Kremlin’s most influential ideologues and a longtime advisor to Vladimir Putin. ---------- Links: https://legrandcontinent.eu/fr/2025/06/07/entretien-avec-serguei-karaganov-larchitecte-de-la-geopolitique-de-poutine/ https://substack.com/@statedept/p-164571608 ---------- SUMMER FUNDRAISERS NAFO & Silicon Curtain community - Let’s help help 5th SAB together https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community We are teaming up with NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade to provide 2nd Assault Battalion of 5th SAB with a pickup truck that they need for their missions. With your donation, you're not just sending a truck — you’re standing with Ukraine. https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community Why NAFO Trucks Matter: Ukrainian soldiers know the immense value of our NAFO trucks and buses. These vehicles are carefully selected, produced between 2010 and 2017, ensuring reliability for harsh frontline terrain. Each truck is capable of driving at least 20,000 km (12,500 miles) without major technical issues, making them a lifeline for soldiers in combat zones. In total we are looking to raise an initial 19 500 EUR in order to buy 1 x NAFO truck 2.0 Who is getting the aid? 5 SAB, 2 Assault Battalion, UAV operators‍. https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community ---------- Car for Ukraine has once again joined forces with a group of influencers, creators, and news observers during this summer. Sunshine here serves as a metaphor, the trucks are a sunshine for our warriors to bring them to where they need to be and out from the place they don't. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain This time, we focus on the 6th Detachment of HUR, 93rd Alcatraz, 3rd Assault Brigade, MLRS systems and more. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain - bring soldiers to the positions - protect them with armor - deploy troops with drones to the positions ---------- SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemysl https://kharpp.com/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ -----------

The United Nations has confirmed what residents of Kherson, and Zarina Zabrisky, revealed nearly a year ago: Russia’s drone attacks on civilians were systematic, premeditated and intended to instil terror and forcibly displace the population. A deliberate war crime. ---------- Zarina Zabrisky is an American writer based in the Bay Area, California. She is the author of the novel, We, Monsters, several collections of short stories, including Explosion, A Cute Tombstone and her debut work, Iron, and a book of collaborative poetry and art, Green Lions, co-written with Simon Rogghe. Zabrisky is currently based in Odesa, Ukraine. From the beginning of the 2022 full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zabrisky has been reporting on the war in Ukraine for Euromaidan Press, Byline Times and A Community Alliance, and has been published in The Paris Review and various other publications. ---------- ARTICLE: https://bylinetimes.com/2025/05/29/un-confirms-russian-drone-attacks-on-kherson-are-crimes-against-humanity-and-war-crimes/ LINKS: http://www.zarinazabrisky.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zarina_Zabrisky https://euromaidanpress.com/author/zarinazabrisky/ https://kyivindependent.com/author/zarina-zabrisky/ https://bylinetimes.com/author/zarinazabrisky/ ---------- SUMMER FUNDRAISERS NAFO & Silicon Curtain community - Let’s help help 5th SAB together https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community We are teaming up with NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade to provide 2nd Assault Battalion of 5th SAB with a pickup truck that they need for their missions. With your donation, you're not just sending a truck — you’re standing with Ukraine. https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community Why NAFO Trucks Matter: Ukrainian soldiers know the immense value of our NAFO trucks and buses. These vehicles are carefully selected, produced between 2010 and 2017, ensuring reliability for harsh frontline terrain. Each truck is capable of driving at least 20,000 km (12,500 miles) without major technical issues, making them a lifeline for soldiers in combat zones. In total we are looking to raise an initial 19 500 EUR in order to buy 1 x NAFO truck 2.0 Who is getting the aid? 5 SAB, 2 Assault Battalion, UAV operators‍. https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community ---------- Car for Ukraine has once again joined forces with a group of influencers, creators, and news observers during this summer. Sunshine here serves as a metaphor, the trucks are a sunshine for our warriors to bring them to where they need to be and out from the place they don't. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain This time, we focus on the 6th Detachment of HUR, 93rd Alcatraz, 3rd Assault Brigade, MLRS systems and more. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain - bring soldiers to the positions - protect them with armor - deploy troops with drones to the positions ---------- SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyśl https://kharpp.com/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ ---------- PLATFORMS: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSilicon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/ Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- Welcome to the Silicon Curtain podcast. Please like and subscribe if you like the content we produce. It will really help to increase the popularity of our content in YouTube’s algorithm. Our material is now being made available on popular podcasting platforms as well, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Edition No155 | 08-06-2025 - Let’s forget for a moment there are such things as Republicans and Democrats, one side and the other. Let’s simply look at the authoritarian timelines of regime such as those in Russia, Georgia, Hungary and Germany in the 1930s and others. At some point, regimes looking to consolidate their power, and limit democratic expression move from muzzling or coopting the press to tackling the people. They manufacture crises and provocations to crack down hard on liberties. For those who have studies the process of democratic slide such a moment if inflection in the US was completely expected, just not the time nor the place. But if we take the most pessimistic forecasts, then unfortunately, Trump’s regime is bang on schedule with this. ---------- Links: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/los-angeles-dress-rehearsal-trump/683078/ https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2025/jun/08/trump-national-guard-la-protests-immigration-ice-us-politics-live-news https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/los-angeles-ice-protests-latest-trump-b2765843.html https://www.latimes.com/california/live/national-guard-troops-la-immigration-ice-clashes-paramount ---------- SUMMER FUNDRAISERS NAFO & Silicon Curtain community - Let’s help help 5th SAB together https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community We are teaming up with NAFO 69th Sniffing Brigade to provide 2nd Assault Battalion of 5th SAB with a pickup truck that they need for their missions. With your donation, you're not just sending a truck — you’re standing with Ukraine. https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community Why NAFO Trucks Matter: Ukrainian soldiers know the immense value of our NAFO trucks and buses. These vehicles are carefully selected, produced between 2010 and 2017, ensuring reliability for harsh frontline terrain. Each truck is capable of driving at least 20,000 km (12,500 miles) without major technical issues, making them a lifeline for soldiers in combat zones. In total we are looking to raise an initial 19 500 EUR in order to buy 1 x NAFO truck 2.0 Who is getting the aid? 5 SAB, 2 Assault Battalion, UAV operators‍. https://www.help99.co/patches/nafo-silicon-curtain-community ---------- Car for Ukraine has once again joined forces with a group of influencers, creators, and news observers during this summer. Sunshine here serves as a metaphor, the trucks are a sunshine for our warriors to bring them to where they need to be and out from the place they don't. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain This time, we focus on the 6th Detachment of HUR, 93rd Alcatraz, 3rd Assault Brigade, MLRS systems and more. https://car4ukraine.com/campaigns/summer-sunshine-silicon-curtain - bring soldiers to the positions - protect them with armor - deploy troops with drones to the positions ---------- SILICON CURTAIN FILM FUNDRAISER A project to make a documentary film in Ukraine, to raise awareness of Ukraine's struggle and in supporting a team running aid convoys to Ukraine's front-line towns. https://buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain/extras ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemysl https://kharpp.com/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ -----------

Denys Ganzha joined CFC Big Ideas in 2019 and advanced rapidly from an intern to become Co-CEO now. Denys founded an NGO “Public Diplomacy Platform” which worked closely with the Ukrainian government on youth policy projects. The NGO set up more than 20 projects in nearly all regions of Ukraine and cooperated with such international partners as USAID. In 2021-2023 Denys served as Ukrainian Youth Delegate to the UN and participated in Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts at the UN. Also, Denys served as a part of the Youth Affairs Council under the President of Ukraine. Denys has appeared in international media such as BBC, Sky News, CNN, Al Jazeera and many others. In 2022 Denys worked in Ukrainian frontlines as a local producer. ---------- LINKS: https://cfcbigideas.com/ https://x.com/Denys_Ganzha https://www.linkedin.com/in/ganzha/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZQCZw66Gu0 ---------- SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/siliconcurtain https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- TRUSTED CHARITIES ON THE GROUND: Save Ukraine https://www.saveukraineua.org/ Superhumans - Hospital for war traumas https://superhumans.com/en/ UNBROKEN - Treatment. Prosthesis. Rehabilitation for Ukrainians in Ukraine https://unbroken.org.ua/ Come Back Alive https://savelife.in.ua/en/ Chefs For Ukraine - World Central Kitchen https://wck.org/relief/activation-chefs-for-ukraine UNITED24 - An initiative of President Zelenskyy https://u24.gov.ua/ Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation https://prytulafoundation.org NGO “Herojam Slava” https://heroiamslava.org/ kharpp - Reconstruction project supporting communities in Kharkiv and Przemyśl https://kharpp.com/ NOR DOG Animal Rescue https://www.nor-dog.org/home/ ---------- PLATFORMS: Twitter: https://twitter.com/CurtainSilicon Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/siliconcurtain/ Podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4thRZj6NO7y93zG11JMtqm Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/finkjonathan/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/siliconcurtain ---------- Welcome to the Silicon Curtain podcast. Please like and subscribe if you like the content we produce. It will really help to increase the popularity of our content in YouTube’s algorithm. Our material is now being made available on popular podcasting platforms as well, such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.