Katri Pynnöniemi is a professor at the University of Helsinki (Aleksanteri Institute) and holds a joint Mannerheim Chair of Russian Security Studies at the University of Helsinki and the National Defence University since 2017. She is responsible teacher at the Master’s Programme in Russian, Eurasian and Eastern European Studies; coordinates Ukrainian Studies Programme at the University of Helsinki, a visiting professor at the College of Europe, Natolin (2023-2025); member of the cognitive warfare research group (Matine, 2025-); member of the advisory board of the Slavic Library; Member of the MTS research advisory board; Member of the advisory board of the War and Peace Museum.
Pynnöniemi has published widely on the system change in Russia and on Russian foreign and security policy. Her current research deals with Russia’s strategic thinking, focusing in particular to narratives shaping public perception on Russia’s war against Ukraine, Russian military thought and analysis of military threats.
Santeri Kytöneva is currently working on an article-based doctoral dissertation as part of the Mannerheim Professorship of Russian Security Studies Working Group. In his doctoral dissertation, he examines the role of neoconservative actors in contemporary Russian ideology production through case examples. In the broader context, the political philosophical research seeks for ways to clarify why the seemingly marginal and radical ideas of Russian neoconservatives have become more prominent in Russian political discourse.
His research employs case studies to examine how different ideas and thinkers are instrumentalised to fit the contemporary Russian regime’s needs. Moreover, the research explores ways to conceptualise and demystify the underlying strands of intellectual influence in the Russian ideological landscape whilst maintaining a critical view of the Russian regime’s aggressive means in furthering its security interests. Prior to starting his doctoral studies, Santeri graduated from the University of Jyväskylä with a master’s in social sciences and philosophy and has worked at the Finnish National Defence University as a research assistant.
I'm a doctoral student in the Doctoral Programme in Political, Societal, and Regional Changes. I hold a MA degree in Global and Regional Security Issues from Ural Federal University (Yekaterinburg, Russia, 2020), and M.Soc.Sc. degree in European and Nordic Studies from the University of Helsinki (2021). In my PhD studies, I focus on Russian strategic security communication, specifically on framing enemy images in the national discourse. Within this framework, I explore the so-called enemization in Russian public discourse in my PhD dissertation. In addition, I focus on Russian foreign politics in Europe, and Russia's security issues.
Mira Ruokolainen’s current research centres on the interconnection of two discussions: study of developments in Russian strategic thought and analysis of systemic factors which lead to the targeting of the civilian population in war. Her doctoral study Russia’s Strategic ‘Islam’ focuses on how discourses and structures on Islam are used and framed to influence target audiences during Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, and to justify forceful strategies in exerting influence on population groups beyond its borders. The study aims to contribute to research about the dynamics between evolving perception of threats and strategies behind their deliberate distortions, due to especially but not exhaustively, strategic deception.
I am a visiting researcher with the Mannerheim Professorship of Russian Security Studies Working group until June 2027 and a PhD Candidate in Political Science at the University of Toronto. I hold an MA in European and Russian Affairs from the Centre for European and Eurasian Studies at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy (2022). My doctoral research focuses on variations in violence perpetrated by the Russian military during its occupation of Ukraine.