Artjoms Ļipins, TVNET, for Re:Baltica

Is Russia preparing for a potential war with NATO? The question has loomed large since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, resurfacing again and again across political and security circles.

A robot styled after Yulia Tymoshenko; a 17th‑century Muscovite guardsman sneering at Europe’s “effeminate” men; the chance to step into the boots of a modern Russian soldier invading Ukraine — all of this appears in video games released in Russia over the past four years.