Distracted and Divided, Russian Security Service Misses Threats
The Ukrainian offensive over the border caught Moscow’s intelligence agencies by surprise, experts say. It wasn’t the first time that has happened during the war.
By Michael Schwirtz
Michael Schwirtz
Michael Schwirtz is an investigative reporter with the International desk at The New York Times. He has covered the countries of the former Soviet Union from Moscow and was a lead reporter on a team that won the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for a series of articles about Russian intelligence operations.
He began working for The Times in 2006 in the Moscow bureau. He has covered the New York City Police Department for the Metro desk and was part of an award-winning team that reported about brutality and corruption in the New York State prison system and at Rikers Island.
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Deception and a Gamble: How Ukrainian Troops Invaded Russia
Planned in secrecy, the incursion was a bold move to upend the war’s dynamics and put Moscow on the defensive — a gambit that could also leave Ukraine exposed.
By Kim Barker, Anton Troianovski, Andrew E. Kramer, Constant Méheut, Alina Lobzina, Eric Schmitt and Sanjana Varghese
U.S. Uncovers Russian Plot to Assassinate C.E.O. of German Arms Maker
The company produces artillery shells and tanks that Ukraine has used in its war against Russia.
By Julian E. Barnes, Lara Jakes and Christopher F. Schuetze
The Sticking Points That Kept Russia and Ukraine Apart
Documents from 2022 shed new light on what prevented Ukraine and Russia from ending the war — and what would complicate a future negotiation.
By Anton Troianovski and Michael Schwirtz
Ukraine-Russia Peace Is as Elusive as Ever. But in 2022 They Were Talking.
Representatives from the warring nations held peace talks in the early weeks of the Russian invasion. They fizzled. Documents from those talks show why any new ones will face major obstacles.
By Anton Troianovski, Adam Entous and Michael Schwirtz
Russians Poured Over Ukraine’s Border. There Was Little to Stop Them.
The stunning incursion into the Kharkiv Region lays bare the challenges facing Ukraine’s weary and thinly stretched forces as Russia ramps up its summer offensive.
By Michael Schwirtz, Jeffrey Gettleman, Maria Varenikova and Constant Méheut
Ukraine Asks U.S. to Provide More Intelligence on Targets in Russia
American officials say they do not want U.S. weapons used in cross-border attacks or intelligence reports used to strike inside Russia.
By Helene Cooper, Julian E. Barnes, Eric Schmitt and Michael Schwirtz
Facing Russian Advance, a Top Ukrainian General Paints a Bleak Picture
Ukraine’s forces are stretched thin and have minimal reserves to draw on, the chief of military intelligence said, in addition to shortages of weapons.
By Constant Méheut, Maria Varenikova and Michael Schwirtz
Ukraine DispatchWar or No War, Ukrainians Aren’t Giving Up Their Coffee
Coffee shops and kiosks are everywhere in Ukraine’s capital, their popularity both an act of wartime defiance and a symbol of closer ties to the rest of Europe.
By Constant Méheut, Daria Mitiuk and Brendan Hoffman
A Russian Defector’s Killing Raises Specter of Hit Squads
The death in Spain of Maksim Kuzminov, a pilot who delivered a helicopter and secret documents to Ukraine, has raised fears that the Kremlin is again targeting its enemies.
By Michael Schwirtz and José Bautista
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