Veronika Bedenko leads ONN’s efforts for monitoring and initial assessment of emerging nuclear risks.
Veronika Bedenko serves as a senior analyst and acting head of ONN’s Office for Monitoring, Assessment, and Distribution. She oversees open-source data monitoring work to detect emerging nuclear risks in the NATO-Russia and Asia-Pacific regions which feeds ONN’s Event Horizon news digest on nuclear risks and risk assessment publications in ONN’s Thought Room.
With a background in nuclear policy, Veronika focuses on using open-source data analysis to understand military capabilities and support nuclear risk reduction, especially concerning the Korean Peninsula and NATO-Russia contexts. Before joining ONN, she was a research assistant at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP), a graduate research assistant for the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), and a graduate research fellow at the Nonproliferation Education and Research Center at the Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST NEREC).
Veronika holds a bachelor’s degree from the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI (Moscow) and a dual Master’s degree from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) and the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).
Growing up in one of Russia’s atomic cities in the Ural region, Veronika developed a passion for nuclear studies and nature early on. In her free time, she enjoys exploring Austria’s countryside with her partner and their two dogs. Veronika is also a Formula 1 fan and loves attending big rock festivals.
My Team: Open Nuclear Network
