Executive Summary: Russia has launched this year’s “Icebreaker of Knowledge” program, sending children to the North Pole aboard a nuclear-powered icebreaker as part of Moscow’s broader Arctic strategy. The expedition blends education with geopolitical messaging about Russia’s leadership in Arctic affairs as other states, including... MORE

Executive Summary: Since 2022, significant military construction has occurred in Asipovichy, Belarus, including new Iskander-M missile systems hangars, ammunition storage, and barracks at Military Unit 61732 (465th Missile Brigade). Satellite imagery confirms the near completion of facilities designed to support a new missile brigade with... MORE

Executive Summary:   Russia’s rehabilitation of an abandoned airbase in the Libyan desert offers an opportunity to create a reliable line of supply to Russian forces operating in West Africa.  A Russian military presence close to the borders of Egypt, Sudan, and Chad could make... MORE

Executive Summary: Russia’s state-registered Cossack movement held its “Great Cossack Circle” meeting on February 25, highlighting Moscow’s growing investment in using the Cossacks as a state-managed substitute for authentic civil society. The “Great Cossack Circle” meeting emphasized Cossack military identity and pro-war sentiment, comparing Russia’s... MORE

Executive Summary: Nearly half of Russia’s regional leaders have launched programs to give payments of up to 150,000 rubles ($1,600) to underage girls who become pregnant and give birth as a way to reverse Russia’s demographic decline and win favor from the Kremlin. This policy... MORE

Executive Summary: The presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan resolved the last major border conflict in Central Asia through the Agreement on the Junction Point of the State Borders of the Three Countries signed in Khujand, Tajikistan, on March 31. The resolution of border issues... MORE

Executive Summary: Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, passed the Foreign Agents Registration Act on April 1, expanding control over media and individuals by criminalizing foreign-funded activity, leading to media closures, and provoking international condemnation for eroding democratic freedoms. Georgian Dream has initiated sweeping personnel changes... MORE

Executive Summary: Nominally “apolitical” ecological protests are becoming seedbeds of political activism in Russia because of the importance of the environment to Russian citizens and Moscow’s clumsy approach to its maintenance. The Vladimir Putin regime is increasingly aware of the threat posed by environmental activism... MORE

Executive Summary: The Kremlin is reportedly considering “post-war normalization” scenarios, involving the rehabilitation of public figures and return of emigrants who left at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine to project internal stability amid prospects for a peace deal with Ukraine. Russia continues... MORE