A high-ranking Ukrainian intelligence officer is assassinated in broad daylight—five shots, close range, in the middle of Kyiv. Within hours, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) launches a manhunt. Days later, they kill two suspects tied not only to Russia’s FSB but also to a U.S.-founded extremist group now operating from inside Russia.

In this episode, Dr. Hans-Jakob Schindler, Sr. Director at the Counter Extremism Project, navigates us through the shadow war playing out across Eastern Europe, where the lines between war, terrorism, espionage, and state power are blurring.