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. Nataliya 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.

Nataliya 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.

Nataliya currently serves as the Director of Strategic Intelligence at Vertical Knowledge, a US data and technology company.

Prior to ISW, she worked on reform efforts in Ukraine in a number of roles. Nataliya 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.

Nataliya holds a Master's 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:

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

Nord Stream 2 Poses a Long-Term National Security Challenge for the US and Its Allies, December 5, 2021

Strategic Misdirection: An Alternate Framework for Understanding Russia's Play in Ukraine, December 2021

Putin's Offset: The Kremlin's Geopolitical Adaptations Since 2014, September 2020