|   | | | | SITE February 2026 Newsletter
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| | | | On February 24, 2026, we mark four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Four years of brutality and destruction - and four years of extraordinary Ukrainian courage, ingenuity, and resolve. Ukraine has shown the world what resilience looks like: to defend freedom under the hardest imaginable conditions, and to refuse to surrender the right to choose its own future.
In recent weeks, Swedish political, military, and economic leaders gathered in Stockholm to discuss what it will take to secure a lasting outcome. The message was clear: support for Ukraine is not only solidarity - it is an investment in Europe's security and stability.
From a military perspective, this war has transformed at speed. The battlefield is increasingly "transparent," shaped by drones, satellites, electronic warfare, and innovation cycles that now unfold in months rather than years. Ukraine's ability to adapt has been remarkable - and it underscores why sustained support matters.
But the long-term outcome will also be determined by economics. Russia's war economy is under growing strain. Its dependence on oil revenues, rising domestic interest rates, and the drawdown of financial buffers reveal vulnerabilities that can widen over time - especially if sanctions and international pressure remain firm. In contrast, the combined economic capacity of the EU and the United States far exceeds Russia's. The resources exist. The decisive factor is whether political commitment holds.
Ukraine, meanwhile, is carrying an immense burden: a wartime budget dominated by defense needs and rising debt that will require serious long-term solutions. Planning for recovery must begin now - including a serious international discussion on how frozen Russian state assets can be used to support Ukraine's reconstruction.
On this anniversary, Ukraine does not only deserve our words. It deserves our continued attention, our sustained support, and our refusal to accept aggression as a normal feature of European life.
At SITE, we will keep contributing with rigorous analysis and policy-relevant research on the economic realities of the war - and on the choices Europe faces.
Thank you for standing with Ukraine.
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| | | | With respect,
Torbjörn Becker
Director, Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) | |
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| | NEWS |
 | | Photo: Martin Ridne |
| Sweden Backs Ukraine As Russia's Finances Strain
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| | Sweden has pledged SEK 114 billion in support to Ukraine - its largest commitment to another country in modern times. At a seminar hosted by the European Parliament in Stockholm, Torbjörn Becker, Director of SITE, warned that Russia's war economy is under mounting pressure and argued that sustained Western support can ultimately determine the outcome. |
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| | SLAVA UKRAINI |
 | | SITE Joins Stockholm Demonstration For Ukraine |
| On February 24, 2026, SITE joined the "Sverige står upp för Ukraina" demonstration at Sergels torg in Stockholm, where Torbjörn Becker, Director of SITE, spoke about Ukraine's resilience and future.
SITE also stands with Ukraine through our close partnership with Kyiv School of Economics (KSE) - a collaboration spanning two decades - supporting research and learning even under wartime conditions.
As Torbjörn said at Sergels torg:
"Ukraine lives despite daily attacks of rockets and drones. Ukraine's future is defended every day by soldiers in trenches, but it is also built every day by students."
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| | NEWS |
 | SITE's Maria Perrotta Berlin In Sorbonne Alliance Research Series On Europe And The War In Ukraine
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| | Maria Perrotta Berlin, Assistant Professor at SITE, contributed to the Sorbonne Alliance research initiative "Europe and the War in Ukraine" - a joint project led by ESCP Business School, INALCO, and Paris Sorbonne Nouvelle examining the war's consequences for Europe in geopolitical, geoeconomic, and business terms. |
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| | EVENT HIGHLIGHT |
 | | Photo: Johanna Ståhlberg |
| | What Europe Can Learn From Ukraine's Experience Of Information Aggression |
| | How costly is it for a democracy to ignore antagonistic information threats? That question brought together Ukrainian and international researchers, policymakers, and security experts at the Stockholm School of Economics on February 12, 2026, for a high-level discussion examining the economic, political, and societal consequences of disinformation and hybrid information aggression. |
| | FREE NETWORK POLICY BRIEF |
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 | | | | Why do carbon and fuel taxes trigger political backlash? In a new policy brief, Julius Andersson, researcher at SITE, points to income polarization. As the middle class's income share shrinks, the tax burden shifts toward middle-income groups – helping explain backlash such as the Yellow Vests protests and fuel-tax rollbacks.
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 | | | | Can Autocrats "Win" Trust By Announcing Big Turnout? | |
| | | | Authoritarian elections are often described as largely symbolic exercises: the outcome feels decided, yet leaders still spend huge effort staging voting day. A new policy brief analysis by Anastasiia Arbuzova, Postdoctoral Researcher at SITE, highlights that a single indicator - reported turnout - can meaningfully shape how legitimate people think an autocratic government is. | |
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| | | | (Listed from oldest to most recent as of this month.) | |
| | | | The Swedish Maritime Administration's procurement is being criticized: ‘Security risk' / Sjöfartsverkets inköp får kritik: "Säkerhetsrisk" (SvD Näringsliv)
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| | | | Putin Faces Pressure as Russia's Economy Flashes Warning Signs / Putin pressad när rysk ekonomi blinkar rött (Radiokorrespondenterna Ryssland, Sveriges Radio) | |
| | | | Expert: Why Russian money may have ended up in a Swedish bank / Experten: Därför kan ryska pengar ha tagit sig till svensk bank (Ekot, Sveriges Radio) | |
| | | | Hungary and Slovakia block the EU's aid package for Ukraine / Ungern och Slovakien sätter stopp för EU:s stödpaket till Ukraina (P1 Morgon, Sveriges Radio) | |
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| | | | Browse upcoming SITE events and register - on campus at SSE and online. | |
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| | | | THANK YOU FOR READING
THIS MONTH'S NEWSLETTER
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Until then, see you in the next newsletter!
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