By Valery DzutsevFrom June 8-9, the Russian company OJSC “North Caucasus Resort” and a delegation from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) visited ski tourism sites in China. Chinese Dalian Wanda Group and North Caucasus Resort OJSC signed a preliminary agreement about possible Chinese investments into... MORE

By Valery DzutsevWell-known Dagestani journalist and analyst Akhmednabi Akhednabiev published a surprise article on the creeping influence of Iran in Dagestan. Akhmednabiev alleged that the members of the Iranian delegation from Gilyan province, who visited the republic earlier in the April 2012, bribed local officials... MORE

By Taras KuzioFour perpetrators of the April 27 bombings in Dnipropetrovsk that wounded 30 people were arrested on June 1. They had demanded $4.5 million to prevent a repetition of their attacks (see Security Service [SBU] surveillance and arrest here: https://www.pravda.com.ua/photo-video/2012/06/2/6965888/). The timing of the... MORE

By Taras KuzioIn November 2002, President Leonid Kuchma was advised not to attend NATO’s Prague summit, but he ignored the advice and went. NATO changed the language used to allocate seats for countries, using French not English, and thereby ensured Kuchma would not sit next... MORE

By Taras KuzioUkraine’s relations with the West have been dropping below freezing in the last few weeks. Yulia Tymoshenko”s claim that she was “beaten” as she was forcibly taken to a Ukrainian clinic have led her to announce she is on a hunger strike. The... MORE

By Taras KuzioLeonid Kuchma, Ukraine’s longest serving president (1994-2004), published some, at times, rambling memoirs entitled, Posle Maydana. Zapysky prezydenta 2005-2006 (After the Maidan: The President’s Writings 2005-2006) (Vremya, Moscow and Dovira, Kyiv, 2007). Although datelined after he left office, the 700-page book deals with... MORE

By Valery DzutsevThe speaker of Tatarstan’s parliament, Farid Mukhametshin, welcomed Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s refusal to change the preamble of the Russian constitution to emphasize ethnic Russians as the main ethnicity in the country. Observers, however, pointed out that Tatarstan’s own constitution accentuates the... MORE

By Taras KuzioThe appointment of Dmitri Salamatin as Ukraine’s Defense Minister in February came as a surprise to both Party of Regions and opposition deputies because he has a track record of violent behavior against opposition deputies in parliament, has no competence in the field... MORE

By Fuad HuseinzadehAzerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has issued an executive order to award a group of officers of the Ministry of National Security for their bravery in a special operation carried out in Ganja.Under the order, Lieutenant-Colonel Elshad Guliyev has been posthumously decorated with the... MORE

By Matthew CzekajWithin just days of his party’s overwhelming victory in the parliamentary elections, Direction-Social Democrats (Smer-SD) party chairman and Slovakia’s new Prime Minister Robert Fico suggested to the media that a number of government ministries and agencies may be merged to increase efficiency and... MORE