The Russian Ministry of Defense published a legislative proposal, on October 4, that introduces a number of critical changes to the law “On the status of military personnel” (RBC, October 4). The bill is supposed to become law in early 2018. The most crucial part... MORE

In Russian Karelia, there had been no election for the office of head of the republic since 2002. This year (September 10), such an election was finally held; and on September 25, Arthur Parfenchikov was officially inaugurated to the position. He had been serving as... MORE

Kyrgyzstan has had a Russian military base on its territory since handing over the Kant airfield to Moscow in 2003. And now it wants a second one. The Kyrgyz Republic’s president, Almazbek Atambayev, says that he would not be disturbed by having one and has even... MORE

Kaliningrad oblast, the non-contiguous part of the Russian Federation that Joseph Stalin formed after annexing much of German East Prussia at the end of World War II, has often been a hotbed of separatism since the end of the Soviet Union. In part, this is... MORE

The Azerbaijani Ministry of Defense reported, on July 10, on a new batch of military equipment and ammunition purchased from Russia (Mod.gov.az, July 10). The projectiles, rockets and other military equipment are being shipped to Azerbaijan under the bilateral agreement on military-technical cooperation. Initially, Russia... MORE

On Thursday, July 17, at 12:00 p.m., Alexei Navalny, the leader of the opposition to Vladimir Putin and a prospective candidate in the 2018 presidential election, sat down for a debate with Igor Stelkov, the leader of the “Novorossiya” (“New Russia”) social movement and part... MORE

The leaders of Dagestan’s 40,000 Nogays, say that Makhachkala’s latest land reform program violates Moscow’s nationality policy, threatens their survival as a nation, and undermines the possibility for inter-ethnic peace not only in the northwestern part of that republic but in neighboring North Caucasus republics... MORE

Twenty-five years ago, on March 31, 1992, the Federative Treaty on the division of powers between the federal center and the Russian regions was signed in Moscow. This event was considered state-forming at that time. However, in Russia today, almost nobody remembers it. Three months... MORE

With the end-of-year Holidays only weeks away, the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius became inundated with highly provocative leaflets disseminated by the Embassy of the Russian Federation (Dayonline.ru, December 12, 2016). The printed matter, which the Russian diplomatic post began distributing on December 12, contained a... MORE

In an interview with the news agency Reuters, on October 27, Vice Admiral Ihor Voronchenko, the head of the Ukrainian Navy, announced the commencement of the refurbishment of the navy’s flagship, the U130 frigate Hetman Sahaidachny, among other steps to enhance the capabilities of the... MORE