Ruslan Trad

Risk analyst, consultant, and book author interested in Russia, Syria, conflicts, and hybrid warfare. Resident Fellow for Security Research at Atlantic Council's DFRLab.

A former author in Foreign Policy Bulgaria and Goethe Institut; former freelance columnist in Actualno and Vesti. Member of Association of European Journalists - Bulgaria. Co-founder of Bulgarian online journal for conflicts, De Re Militari.

I was a correspondent in Lebanon, Turkey, Iraqi Kurdistan, Tunisia, and Saudi Arabia. In 2014 I was awarded Activist of the Year by the Helsinki Committee for my journalistic and activist work on refugee issues and Syria war coverage.

Personal blog:Intidar

My book: The Murder of a Revolution (BG, 2017)

Co-author of Conflict reporting in the smartphone era (EN, 2016)

Documentary from N. Iraq [BG, 2014]

Co-author of The Russian Invisible Armies (BG, 2020)

My interviews and materials have found a place in BBC, Bellingcat, European Eye on Radicalization, The New Arab, Vocal Europe, Bild, Vocativ, IB Times, Der Standard, Muftah, Internazionale, Al Jazeera, and others.

- From Syria to Nagorno-Karabakh: Russia and Turkey's complex regional rivalry (The New Arab)

- Moscow's mercenaries: How Russia is swelling the global market for private military companies (The New Arab)

- Western Withdrawal is Helping ISIS’s Resurgence (EER)

- What Russia Gets About Warfare That the West Does Not (Fletcher Forum)

- Under the Radar: Iran’s ‘Stealth’ Presence on the Balkans (Globe Post)

- An experimental playground: The footprint of Russian private military companies in Syria (Defense Post)

- Expanding global footprint: Russia builds on Syria experiments in Central Africa (Defense Post)

- The Alliances of Criminal and Terrorists Groups in Europe (EER)

- Self-Appointed Defenders Of “Fortress Europe”: Analyzing Bulgarian Border Patrols (Bellingcat)