Russian foreign policy took an unexpected turn and suffered a serious setback last week when President Vladimir Putin suggested sending to Washington a delegation headed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, which was firmly turned down by the United States government. The initiative was poorly prepared,... MORE

On October 4, Kyrgyzstan held parliamentary elections—the first in the country’s history in which the authorities used voters’ biometrics to obtain quick and reliable polling data. While the definitive results will only be released 20 days after the vote (by October 25), the Kyrgyzstani Central... MORE

The clumsy attempt, in mid-September, of an Italian man to allegedly join pro-Russia separatist forces in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, reignited the issue of Western “volunteers” fighting in this worn-torn country. The would-be Italian combatant for the self-styled separatist “people republics” of Donetsk and... MORE

Muscovites were surprised by news reports of a thwarted terrorist attack (Lenta.ru, October 11) planned by militants with ties to the so-called Islamic State (IS). Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said two people taken into custody testified that they were preparing a terrorist attack on... MORE

Ukraine is nearing its third nation-wide election campaign since the fall of Viktor Yanukovych’s kleptocratic regime early last year. The ballot marathon commenced with presidential and parliamentary votes in 2014, and is now being followed by local elections, slated for October 25, 2015 (Kyiv Post,... MORE

A recent special operation in Grozny against suspected militants of the so-called Islamic State (IS) took Chechnya’s residents and analysts who follow the situation in the republic by surprise. Readers of Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov’s Instagram postings were the first to learn about the incident.... MORE

The Russian air bombing campaign in Syria began on September 30, with about 20 sorties a day. The bombing drastically increased on October 8, to over 60 sorties and reached 88 on October 13. The Russian mixed air task force deployed last month at a... MORE

On September 30, the Russian firm RAO UES International and Tashir Group—a Moscow-based group of companies controlled by a Russian billionaire of Armenian origin, Samvel Karapetyan—announced the signing of an agreement pertaining to the sale of Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), which is owned by... MORE

Dagestan’s clans have experienced significant shifts after the republic’s political leadership changed in 2013, when Moscow dispatched Ramazan Abdulatipov to rule the territory. The politics in the republic have remained quite fluid despite the removal of many political heavyweights. “Dagestan is one of the few... MORE

For the last several years, numerous Russian politicians, commentators and activists have repeatedly suggested that the ethnic and religious situation in Russia’s Middle Volga region—which includes the republics of Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, Mordvinia, Mari El and Udmurtia—is rapidly deteriorating. And they have argued that as... MORE