The Tajik newspaper Tojikiston Weekly has cast doubt on Tajikistan's ability to protect its border with Afghanistan on its own. An editorial published in the paper on April 29 claimed that the withdrawal of Russian troops from Tajikistan was not in the latter's interest, as... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly flew to Chechnya on the morning of May 11, announcing the visit only during a Cabinet meeting he chaired after returning to Moscow later in the day. While in Grozny, Putin presented the gold star-shaped Hero of Russia medal to... MORE

In the first week of May two human rights organizations, the Paris-based Reporters Without Frontiers and the Kyiv-based Institute of Mass Information, released reports on the state of media freedom in the world and in the CIS and Ukraine respectively. The picture both organizations provide... MORE

The vaunted "Mountain Storm" U.S. spring offensive on the Afghan border with Pakistan and the supporting Pakistani action against tribes believed to be harboring Al-Qaeda on its side of the border in Waziristan has petered out. From "a hammer and anvil" strategy that would have... MORE

According to the headline of an article that appeared on May 6 in the Uzbek newspaper Narodnoe slovo ("People's Word"), "Uzbekistan considers Russia one of its most important economic partners." The publication of an article with such a title in a newspaper that has among... MORE

The murder of Akhmad Kadyrov, a former mufti turned politician handpicked by the Kremlin to lead the pro-Moscow administration in Chechnya (see yesterday's EDM), dealt a severe blow to the assertions of the Putin government that it had reestablished full control over the rebellious region.... MORE

On May 6 the Russian cabinet endorsed an ambitious, twenty year plan to spend US$1 trillion on improving the country's inadequate road system. The plan would boost the paved roads in Russia from the current 368,000 miles to 525,000 miles. By comparison, the United States,... MORE

A debate has raged in Ukraine this month over the authenticity of poll numbers for Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Kuchma candidate in this year's October election. Pro-opposition activists have questioned how Yanukovych's ratings could have grown so suddenly and nearly reached those of the main opposition... MORE

Ukraine's prosecutor general is to report to parliament on May 12. He has already claimed that his office has undertaken 600 interviews during the course of its investigation into irregularities that occurred during the April 18 election in Mukachevo. Nevertheless, since the election, violent attacks... MORE

In a huge blow to President Vladimir Putin's policy in Chechnya, pro-Moscow Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov was killed on May 9 in a large explosion that occurred in Grozny's Dinamo stadium during a Victory Day parade. The blast took place at around 10:35 a.m. Moscow... MORE