
Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

Major Mudslide Forces Consideration of Alternative Transportation Routes Across Great Caucasus Ridge
On June 23, the Terek River flooded and destroyed part of the Georgian Military Highway (Voyenno-Gruzinskaya doroga). The highway, which connects Russia to Georgia and Armenia, was closed. The flood caused mudslides and destroyed an estimated 500–600 meters of the highway, blocking the narrow road... MORE

Dialogue With Russia Produces Universal Frustration
The idea of engaging in more dialogue with Russia is eagerly accepted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), is being pursued by the United States, is cultivated by the Chinese leadership, and has again become embraced by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The latter... MORE

Russian Security Services Target Muslim Cleric
Police in Moscow this week arrested the imam of one of the city’s mosques, Makhmud Velitov. The authorities accused the cleric of “public justification of terrorism” as described in Article 205.2, Part 1 of the Russian Criminal Code. The authorities alleged that Velitov defended a... MORE

Russia’s Draft Information Security Doctrine at Odds With Realities of Modern Information Environment
The Russian Security Council website announced that special discussions took place between June 25 and July 5 regarding the formulation of a new doctrine on information security. A draft “Information Security Doctrine of the Russian Federation”—reportedly prepared with input by members of the Security Council,... MORE

NATO’s Summit Takes Half-Way Measures on the Black Sea Region (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. It was a summit of modest expectations and modest results for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Warsaw on July 8–9. These results are of an interim nature: building blocks for further decisions at upcoming ministerial meetings,... MORE

NATO’s Summit Takes Half-Way Measures on the Black Sea Region (Part One)
It was a summit of modest expectations and modest results for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Warsaw on July 8–9. These results are of an interim nature: building blocks for further decisions at upcoming ministerial meetings, not waiting until the next summit. The... MORE

Beset by Cash Flow Problems, Russia and Kazakhstan Consider Leasing Baikonur Cosmodrome to Other Countries
Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome is the oldest and largest space launch facility in the world, built in 1955 as a test range for the Soviet Union’s first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the R-7. It covers 2,600 square miles, measuring 47 miles from north to south and... MORE

Russia’s National Antiterrorist Committee Reports Special Operation in Dagestan
Russia’s National Antiterrorist Committee (NAK) reported that during a special operation in Dagestan’s Karabudakhkent district on July 7–8, “as a result of operational and combat activities, the forces of the FSB [Federal Security Service] neutralized nine people” (Riadagestan.ru, July 8). According to the NAK, the... MORE

Russia and the West Engage in Mutual Deterrence
After the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) summit in Warsaw last week (July 8–9), the NATO-Russian Council met in Brussels, on July 13, at the ambassadorial level. The meeting did not lead to much progress: Both the Alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Russian... MORE

Ukraine’s Resilience Strengthens, Though Regional Cohesion Risks Remain
President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials frequently refer to Ukraine’s weak social cohesion, thereby justifying the notion that Russia is intervening in this allegedly ungovernable weak state to protect its clientele groups there. During this year’s St. Petersburg Economic Forum (June 16–18), Putin indirectly... MORE