Nataliya Bugayova

Position:

Non-Resident Russia Fellow

Nataliya Bugayova is a non-resident Russia Fellow at ISW. Nataliya previously led ISW’s Russia research team where she helped build the analytical framework that serves as the foundation for ISW’s in-depth reporting on Russia. Her analytical work focuses on the Kremlin’s decision-making, information operations, and global campaigns from Ukraine to Africa. She also serves as the Director of Strategic Intelligence at Babel Street – a US OSINT technology company and an ISW technology partner. At Babel Street, Nataliya optimizes data and technology for national security analysis of key capabilities of US adversaries. Before ISW, she worked on reform efforts in Ukraine in several roles. She was the Chief Executive Officer of the Kyiv Post, then Ukraine’s only independent English-language publication. She also served as the adviser on international technical cooperation to a former Ukrainian Economy Minister, 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 Russia’s operations globally. Her insights have been featured in Foreign Policy, Fox News, PBS NewsHour, CNN, NBC News, The Hill, BBC. She has testified in the US Congress and the European Parliament. She regularly briefs US military and civilian leaders.

Ms. Bugayova holds a master’s in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School, where she was a student fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

ISW Publications:

Lessons of the Minsk Deal: Breaking the Cycle of Russia’s War in Ukraine, February 11, 2025

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