#Russia’s invasion of #Ukraine is now in its third week, but it only took a few days of fighting for the world to see that Vladimir Putin’s evident hope for rapid and generally bloodless victory had been shattered. Putin expected his soldiers to walk into Ukrainian cities and be welcomed with open arms. Instead, the Russian army is stalled along several fronts by stiff Ukrainian resistance, and many of the cities that were likely objectives for the first days of the war remain unconquered. But taking those cities remains a key goal for Putin, and the world is now watching as urban warfare takes center stage in this conflict. Cities like Mariupol and Kherson are either encircled or already at least partially occupied; others, like Kyiv and Kharkiv, are being battered in preparation for attempts to seize them; and those like Odesa are wondering how long it will be before Russian ground forces reach their outskirts. To talk us through the unique and bitter challenges of urban warfare, as well as Russia’s approach to it, we are pleased to welcome Dr. Rita Konaev.

Dr. Konaev is a Research Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) interested in military applications of AI and Russian military innovation. Previously, she was a Non-Resident Fellow with the Modern War Institute at West Point, a post-doctoral fellow at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House. Before joining CSET, she worked as a Senior Principal in the Marketing and Communications practice at Gartner. Margarita’s research on international security, armed conflict, non-state actors and urban warfare in the Middle East, Russia and Eurasia has been published by the Journal of Strategic Studies, the Journal of Global Security Studies, Conflict Management and Peace Science, the French Institute of International Relations, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Lawfare, War on the Rocks, Defense One, Modern War Institute, Foreign Policy Research Institute and a range of other outlets. She holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame, an M.A. in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University and a B.A. from Brandeis University.

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