Centre for Democratic Integrity

23/09/2026

Book launch — Russia against Ukraine: Russian Political Mythology and the War on Ukrainian Identity

🗓 25 September 2026, 18:00
📍 Einstein-Saal, Akademiegebäude am Gendarmenmarkt, Jägerstraße 22, Berlin, Germany
🌐 In English

Join us at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) for the launch of a new essay collection edited by Anton Shekhovtsov (ibidem-Verlag, 2026, distributed by Columbia University Press).

The book is a multi-author study of the ideological, political and cultural roots of Russia's war, showing how Russian elites have cultivated anti-Ukrainian narratives through propaganda, education, diplomacy, and historical revisionism — placing the destruction of Ukrainian statehood and identity at the heart of Putin's project.

Speakers:
🎙 Welcome — Roland A. Römhildt (BBAW)
🎙 Moderator — Gwen Sasse (ZOiS / Humboldt University of Berlin)
🎙 Presenter — Anton Shekhovtsov (Central European University, Vienna)
🎙 Discussant — Susann Worschech (European University Viadrina)
🎙 Discussant — Andreas Umland (Kyiv-Mohyla Academy / EPIK, Kyiv)

Registration required (you may need to copy/paste this link into a browser of choice) 🔗 https://tinyurl.com/ypkhekbn

22/09/2026

What JK Rowling’s Voldemort can teach us about Ukraine war.

Since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, as the West decided to support Ukraine in its defensive efforts, Moscow has been sounding exactly like Lord Voldemort: “Give me Ukraine. It cannot win."

17/09/2026

Russia is trying to push Kyrgyz payment system Vexpay into China’s financial bloodstream to keep circumventing Western sanctions and funding its war machine. https://shekhovtsov.substack.com/p/leaked-document-reveals-russias-desperate

16/09/2026

How Russia Turns Europe’s Divisions into Power. https://buff.ly/h7fZE5X Anton Shekhovtsov explains why Moscow does not need Europeans to become pro-Russian and why its campaign against Western unity remains tied to Vladimir Putin.

Anton Shekhovtsov explains why Moscow does not need Europeans to become pro-Russian and why its campaign against Western unity remains tied to Vladimir Putin

10/09/2026

A leaked Russian briefing note for Putin reveals how Russia hopes to use a Kyrgyz payment platform, Vexpay, and Chinese help to slip its war money past Western sanctions: https://shekhovtsov.substack.com/p/leaked-document-reveals-russias-desperate

04/08/2026

While drones already account for most of the bloodshed in Ukraine, the push to let AI, not humans, choose who lives or dies is racing far ahead of any global rules meant to protect civilians.

16/06/2026

Washington’s attempts to influence the Hungarian parliamentary elections in April this year may be just the tip of a much larger interference iceberg looming over Europe in 2027.

What the string of elections Europe faces in 2027, from France to Greece, demands is a crystal-clear conceptualisation of foreign interference, stated without qualification: the illegitimate manipulation of a member state’s democratic processes is unacceptable, whether it emanates from a hostile s...

28/04/2026

Viktor Orbán’s regime turned Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), a private Hungarian educational institution, into a talent factory for Fidesz. By opening an office in Brussels and launching multiple...

28/04/2026

Fidesz’s electoral defeat means the removal of a key hub of illiberal power, right-wing networks, and far-right financing built under Viktor Orbán.

Yet while Orbán's fall carries clear symbolic, political, and financial consequences, it does not fundamentally alter the broader picture: the populist radical right across Europe remains electorally strong and politically relevant, even without Hungary as their central anchor.

Viktor Orbán’s regime turned Mathias Corvinus Collegium (MCC), a private Hungarian educational institution, into a talent factory for Fidesz. By opening an office in Brussels and launching multiple events, MCC brought together rightwing politicians, journalists, academics, and other figures from ...

11/04/2026

International far-right networks: Peter Jukes and Nafeez Ahmed reveal how James Orr, Nigel Farage’s new head of policy, is the key religious and ideological linkman for Palantir’s Peter Thiel and Sir Paul Marshall’s GB News.

Peter Jukes and Nafeez Ahmed reveal how James Orr, Nigel Farage's new head of policy is the key religious and ideological linkman for Palantir's Peter Thiel and Sir Paul Marshall's GB News