Nataliya Bugayova

Position:

Non-Resident Russia Fellow

Nataliya Bugayova is a non-resident Russia Fellow at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) focusing on the Kremlin’s foreign policy decision-making, information operations, and global campaigns from Ukraine to Africa. Ms. Bugayova previously led ISW’s Russia research team where she helped build the analytical framework that continues to serve as the foundation for ISW’s in-depth reporting on Russia.

Before ISW, she worked on reform efforts in Ukraine in a number of roles. Ms. Bugayova was the Chief Executive Officer of the Kyiv Post, then Ukraine’s only independent English-language publication. She also served as the adviser to former Ukrainian Economy Minister Pavlo Sheremeta, appointed after the pro-democracy Euromaidan Revolution in February 2014.

Ms. Bugayova is the author of “How We Got Here with Russia: The Kremlin’s Worldview” and "Putin's Offset: The Kremlin's Geopolitical Adaptations Since 2014." She has been a trusted voice on Russia’s war on Ukraine and on the Kremlin’s campaigns globally. Her insights have been featured in media outlets including Foreign Policy, PBS NewsHour, CNN, NBC News, Fox News, The Hill, BBC, Voice of America, and others.

She currently serves as the Director of Strategic Intelligence at Babel Street Data.

Ms. Bugayova holds an M.A. in Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School, where she was a student fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

ISW Publications:

Ukraine and the Problem of Restoring Maneuver in Contemporary War, August 12, 2024

Denying Russia’s Only Strategy for Success, March 27, 2024

The High Price of Losing Ukraine: Part 2 — The Military Threat and Beyond, December 22, 2023

It’s Time for the West to Embrace Ukraine’s Way of War, Not Doubt It, September 25, 2023

Ukraine’s Sustained Counteroffensive: Denying Russia’s Prolongation of the War, July 24, 2023

Reframing the US Policy Debate on a 'Long War' In Ukraine, April 27, 2023

Target Russia’s Capability, not its Intent’, December 20, 2022

Putin on track to disappoint multiple competing factions in Russia’, October 18, 2022

The West Must Help Ukraine Free its People to Stop Russian Atrocities, April 14, 2022

Testimony to the European Parliament, April 8, 2022

The Risks of a Russian Ceasefire Offer, March 31, 2022