Breaking down Western military weapons in Ukraine

Ukraine has received over $300B in Western military and financial aid

Although not a member of NATO, Ukraine has received substantial support from Western nations, primarily the United States and the European Union, totaling more than $300B in military, financial, and humanitarian assistance.

A deep dive on the weapons being used by both sides

From ballistic missiles to armed drones, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is proving the devastating power of modern weaponry. This infographic illustrates and explains the uses and effects of the weapons of choice for both sides of the conflict. Tactics are also explored in regards to their efficacy and consequences, with expert commentary added.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II

The Russia-Ukraine war began on Feb. 24, 2022, when Russian forces launched a multi-front invasion. The conflict has become Europe's largest ground war since World War II, reshaping global security, energy markets, and alliances.

Breaking down Europe's reliance on Russian energy (preinvasion)

One side effect of the Russian-Ukraine conflict is how it underscored European dependence on Russian natural gas and oil. This article, published days before the Russian attacks, outlines and illustrated how much gas and oil flows from Russia to Europe and the potential for either side to use sanctions to get what they want.

Russia armed and backed separatists in Eastern Ukraine while denying involvement

Throughout the Donbas conflict, Russia covertly supplied weapons, training, and troops to separatist forces in eastern Ukraine, even as the Kremlin publicly denied direct involvement in the fighting.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is the largest ground war in Europe since World War II in casualties, forces mobilized, and displacement of civilians.

The day Russia invaded Ukraine—an oral history

Experience the slow build-up to the Russian-Ukraine war, to the moment when it was clear Putin intended to invade, to the actual invasion and occupation in this oral history compiled by Politico. Multiple US and Western officials share their perspectives and thoughts on the war, how it's been conducted, and what can happen next.

Ukraine's contested Donbas region: a visual explainer

Russia's heavily industrialized eastern Donbas region has been largely controlled by Russian separatists since 2014. Here's everything you need to know on the key strategic region.

Ukraine once had the third-largest nuclear arsenal—and gave them all up by 1996

After the rapid collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was left with over 1,700 nuclear warheads positioned throughout its territory. A massive global effort ensued, led by the United States, to return these and other nuclear weapons in former Soviet allied states to Russia.

The Russia-Ukraine war greatly affected the global food supply

Russia's invasion devastated Ukraine's agricultural sector, destroying farms, ports, and grain infrastructure and causing over $40B in losses. Disrupted exports fueled global food insecurity, while Moscow leveraged its grain exports to expand influence across the Global South.

The first year of war in Ukraine, in photos

The Russian/Ukrainian war grows more real in this series of photographs from Associated Press News. Showing the effects of war on soldiers and civilians alike, the photographs turn an unflinching eye on the injuries and fatalities wrought by the conflict, now in its second year after Russia's invasion in 2022.

NATO condemned Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine

While Ukraine is not a member, NATO responded forcefully to the Russian invasion of the country in 2022. This page from the NATO website offers answers to frequently asked questions about NATO’s response to the invasion, specifically on how NATO is aiding Ukraine.

Prehistoric to present day Ukraine

Recognizing the abundance of information available on the current war between Ukraine and Russia, this video focuses on the history of the region. Encapsulating Ukraine's background, the viewer will gain a better grasp of how the modern state arose from a quilt of different ethnicities, noteworthy conflicts between various groups, and more.

Testing assumptions about the war in Ukraine, one year later

Two years ago, policymakers in Washington made multiple predictions about the course of the war between Russia and Ukraine. One year later this site revisited several common assumptions about the war—for example, that Russia would swiftly defeat Ukraine—and asks several experts if they came true, or not. But things can always change.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine accelerated fractures in the rules-based international order

This piece examines how the Ukraine conflict intensified underlying divisions in the global order—between Western democracies and the Global South, and between rule-of-law norms and great-power politics.

'20 Days in Mariupol' is a firsthand look at a siege from the war's front lines

The award-winning documentary "20  Days in  Mariupol" follows a Ukrainian AP team trapped in Mariupol during the first weeks of Russia's 2022 invasion—documenting the bombing of a hospital, mass graves, and civilians under siege. Note: graphic content.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has destabilized safety and oversight at Chernobyl

Russian forces cut power and disabled monitoring of the decommissioned nuclear power plant in 2022, endangering operators at Chernobyl. In February 2025, a Russian drone struck the confinement structure—part of broader efforts to pressure Ukraine's energy infrastructure—punching a hole in the containment shell.

Russia's private military force, explained

Not all participants in the Russian/Ukraine war are enlisted or drafted soldiers. Some, like the Wagner Group, are private mercenaries. But their reach extends past Russia and Ukraine's borders. This eight-minute video explores the activities of this shadowy company and how they aid Vladimir Putin in his military endeavors.

Russian Roulette offered raw, on-the-ground reporting from Ukraine's 2014 war

VICE News' Russian Roulette series includes more than 100 on-the-ground episodes, filmed in real time during the 2014 conflict in Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk. Reporter Simon Ostrovsky was kidnapped by pro-Russian forces while documenting the war.

Anonymous' war against Russia

Anonymous has been waging a cyber war on Russia for invading Ukraine. CNBC takes a look at how effective the collective’s six main strategies have been.

Ukraine's sushi restaurants have remained open through the country's war with Russia

Although the country's cities have become battlegrounds, its sushi restaurants—a popular comfort food for Ukrainians—have remained open. That's especially surprising considering they require imported fresh fish and highly skilled chefs.

Much of the Global South responded to the Russia-Ukraine war by pursuing a strategy of 'active nonalignment'

Boston University scholar Jorge Heine suggests that countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America are avoiding taking sides between Washington and Beijing—viewing the rules-based order as increasingly unresponsive to the needs of developing nations and considering the West's framing of the war irrelevant to its own interests.

Is there an arms race in the Middle East?

In 2021, countries in the Middle East spent $168 billion on weapons. Defense spending in the Middle East has been falling in the last few years, but this doesn’t necessarily mean that the region is de-militarizing. In 2021, Saudi Arabia spent $55...

Taiwan's semiconductor dominance

Taiwan is a leader in the production of semiconductors. In the event of a Chinese invasion, what happens if China controls the supply chain for these indispensable materials? How would it affect the United States as well as other nations already dealing with disruptions due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine? This blog explores these questions and more.

10 items that could have saved your life in the trenches

Soldiers settled into trenches to defend themselves against shrapnel and bullets, but weapons such as mustard gas crawled along the ground and settled in these low-lying areas. Here are 10 items that could have helped you survive the trenches, according to this article.

Dario Amodei explains what led to his company being designated a supply chain risk

When pressed about the use of Claude in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Anthropic's CEO acknowledged its contract with the Pentagon. However, he also emphasized that Claude is not to be used for mass surveillance or autonomous weapons, in part because the technology is not yet safe or reliable for such uses.

Experimental hantavirus vaccines and therapies, still under development, have long been funded by the US military.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Explore an interactive map of battles from the American Revolution, along with detailed summaries of each engagement

See how Ebola tore through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in 2014-2016.

The United States is one of only around two dozen countries with a fully federal system of government, in which power is divided between national and state governments.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

Before the current East Wing ballroom project, only two White House renovations in the past 100 years cost more than $10M.

Discover the catastrophic consequences of a failure of the US electrical grid—something that is more likely than many Americans think.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

Poison ivy's characteristic rash is caused by an allergic response to an oily compound in the plant called urushiol.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'