Vladimir Putin first became Russian president in 2000—appointed by then–head of state Boris Yeltsin to succeed him. Last March, Putin was reelected in a landslide—winning over 76 percent of the popular vote (Interfax, March 19). On May 7, he was inaugurated for six more years... MORE

The former Soviet Union accounts for at least one-third of the total death toll of over 60 million in World War II. Thus, particularly for the numerous families who lost their loved ones in that colossal conflict, Victory Day (marked on May 9, based on... MORE

The Ukrainian government will resume its privatization campaign in October, the acting head of the local privatization body, the State Property Fund, Vitaly Trubarov, announced on May 10. Speaking after a meeting of the cabinet of Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, which discussed privatization, Trubarov said... MORE

Syria intercepted 71 of 103 cruise missiles fired by the United States and its allies on April 14, the head of the Russian General Staff’s Main Operations Directorate, Colonel General Sergei Rudskoi, claimed during his briefing that day (TASS, April 14). The implication was that... MORE

In the past two months, the Russian government twice warned Latvian authorities that it was planning to conduct missile tests over Latvia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Baltic Sea. Yet, in both cases (April 4–6 and April 17–19), Russia never actually shot off any... MORE

The mass street protests across Armenia, which began in late March, forced the resignation, on April 23, of Serzh Sargsyan, who had recently taken over as prime minister (with strengthened constitutional powers) after ruling as president for the last decade. Shortly thereafter, on May 8,... MORE

Almost no one in Minsk—or indeed anywhere else—expects that the Belarusian military could repel an invasion by Russian forces. The balance of power between the two countries is simply too lopsided and Russian penetration of Belarus too large. But additionally, recent reporting strongly suggests that... MORE

Sudden Russian interest in the resource-rich Central African Republic (CAR—the former French colony of Oubangui-Chari) has raised questions regarding Moscow’s intentions in the violence-plagued nation (see EDM, April 30). As much as 80 percent of the CAR is not under government control. A new burst... MORE

Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida published a report, on May 3, that cited “an informed source” alleging Israeli intelligence services had used the territory of Azerbaijan to smuggle half a ton of seized secret files regarding the Iranian nuclear program from Tehran to Israel. The source did... MORE

Since the announcement of looming inter-Korean and United States–North Korean summits, regional powers China, Japan and Russia have all striven mightily not to be excluded or marginalized from those processes. All thee governments are doing what they can to support the summits. On one hand,... MORE