The Belarusian government’s decision to try to fight the COVID-19 pandemic without a nationwide quarantine dominated international coverage of this East European country for several weeks. And yet, that perhaps understandable focus muscled out attention to a number of other key stories related to Belarus.... MORE

The Russian Federation’s North Caucasus republics are now being directly affected by the double crisis connected to the spread of COVID-19 and the slump in global oil prices. The individual republics are facing both crises in profoundly diverse social and economic conditions, however. Most of... MORE

The government of the Russian Federation, like the authorities in most other countries, proved slow to respond and initially mostly downplayed the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic. But as cases of COVID-19 have begun to soar in the densely populated parts of the country,... MORE

On April 19, Georgians celebrated Orthodox Easter. But this year, the date highlighted a confrontation between the national authorities and the governing institution of the Orthodox Church of Georgia (the Patriarchate). As worshippers flocked to attend Easter vigils, virologists expressed concern that the holiday might... MORE

Russia has been invaded once again. But this time, the intruder is the novel coronavirus responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has already resulted in the deaths of 361 Russians, as of April 19 (StopKoronavirus.rf, April 19). As in past invasions, the country’s Armed... MORE

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has changed Russians more fundamentally than any past revolution. In particular, the government’s response and the changes in day-to-day life for the average Russian has destroyed traditional widespread faith in society that Russia’s authorities are omnipotent while the people lack political... MORE

On March 30, the European Union announced it would provide substantial support to the six Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine—to mitigate the health and socio-economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic (Ec.europa.eu, March 30). About a week later, additional details of... MORE

The COVID-19 coronavirus has dealt the Russian crude oil industry a two-pronged blow: first, decimating global demand, and now, disrupting output by infecting hundreds of oil-field workers. It has similarly hit natural gas–production operations, another Russian economic mainstay. The blame rests squarely with the Russian... MORE

After a delayed start, Russia is now being hit by the COVID-19 outbreak with devastating force; yet, it has only praise for China’s policy of containing the disease, despite the obvious fact that this containment failed to prevent a local outbreak in Wuhan from becoming... MORE

Thanks to having quickly adopted strict countermeasures, Azerbaijan, so far, appears to have succeeded in flattening the curve of new COVID-19 infections and slowing the domestic spread of the novel coronavirus responsible for this disease. As of April 14, 1,197 persons tested positive, 351 persons... MORE