In mid-May 2021, the Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan began to take on a dangerous new dimension. In contrast to the last 25 years—when fighting between the two countries mainly took place on territory internationally recognized as Azerbaijan’s (with a notable exception last summer—see... MORE

On May 11, news emerged of a terrible tragedy in Kazan, the capital of the Russian Republic of Tatarstan—19-year-old Ilnaz Galyaviyev brought a weapon to the school he had graduated from four years earlier and opened fire. As a result, seven children and two adults... MORE

Ukrainian law enforcement authorities have detained Viktor Medvedchuk, head of the pro-Russia parliamentary opposition, to prosecute him on treason charges (see EDM, May 13). President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly hailed (President.gov.ua, May 14) the move against this personal protégé of Russian President Vladimir Putin; and... MORE

Russia has traditionally excelled at exploiting crises in the Middle East as a way to boost its own global stature, but the sharp escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in recent weeks has left Moscow uncharacteristically muted. At the United Nations Security Council, Russia ceded the... MORE

Under President Vladimir Putin’s rule, the annual May 9 grand military parade on Red Square in Moscow has transformed into the main ideological prop to legitimize his regime. Changes have already been made to the Russian constitution and additional legislation is being introduced making it... MORE

On May 15, Russia will assume the rotating two-year chairmanship of the Arctic Council, a role President Vladimir Putin has already said Moscow will use to advance his country’s interests in the High North (see EDM, February 17, March 2, April 22). Initially, Russian moves... MORE

On May 12, Ukraine’s General Prosecutor’s Office detained Viktor Medvedchuk, pending his trial for multiple alleged criminal activities. His legal status as of now is that of “suspect,” pending the change to “accused.” Medvedchuk’s main alleged accomplice, Taras Kozak (member of parliament with Medvedchuk’s party),... MORE

Belarus’s political crisis involves four principal actors. Two of them are domestic: the political regime, headed by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and the protest movement, whose leaders are currently in Lithuanian, Polish and Latvian exile. Two more actors are external: Russia and the collective West. At... MORE

Between late April and early May, several authoritative information outlets, including Al Arabiya (TASS, April 28) and local Sudanese sources (Sudan Tribune, May 3), argued that Sudan’s government had de facto annulled a bilateral agreement on military-technical cooperation with Russia. Reportedly, the Sudanese authorities had... MORE

Since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in February–March 2014 and its subsequent involvement in destabilizing southeastern Ukraine, Russia’s Armed Forces frequently conduct force generation close to the border. In March, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered a snap inspection of combat readiness across Russia’s system of Joint... MORE