On March 6, the car of the commander of the Ukrainian special police battalion “Slobozhanshchyna,” Andriy Yanholenko, exploded in the government-controlled eastern city of Kharkiv. The commander and his spouse were inside the car at the time of the explosion and both were hospitalized. Yanholenko... MORE

Since Moscow initiated military operations in Ukraine in February 2014, China has seemingly adopted an ambiguous stance as Russia’s annexation of Crimea and destabilization of southeastern Ukraine evoked international condemnation. During the past year, Beijing and Moscow strengthened their strategic partnership by deepening economic ties... MORE

In the run up to the signing of the agreement between Russia and South Ossetia “On Alliance and Integration,” which should take place soon (Interpressnews.ge, March 7), the president of South Ossetia, Leonid Tibilov, lashed out at those residents of the breakaway Georgian autonomy who... MORE

It took a week for the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) to produce a pair of plausible suspects in the shocking murder of Boris Nemtsov on February 28 (see EDM, March 2). Last Saturday (March 7), FSB Director Aleksandr Bortnikov reported to President Vladimir Putin... MORE

On March 2, a court in the southern Dagestani city of Derbent ruled that the criminal case against the city’s mayor, Imam Yaraliev, was illegal. Prosecutors appealed the court’s decision, accusing the mayor of abuse of power. A criminal investigation was launched against Yaraliev on... MORE

When, in December 1918, the Red Army captured Minsk and the short-lived (established on March 25, 1918) Belarusian People’s Republic (BPR) ceased to exist, multiple nationalist activists fled Belarus and found refuge in several European countries, including Germany. After Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist (Nazi) Party... MORE

On February 25, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev made a televised address to the nation to announce an early presidential election that will take place on April 26. The head of state used his right to call an early election granted to him by article 41(3-1)... MORE

Istanbul has experienced another series of murders of Chechens who fled to Turkey from persecution back home during the second Russian-Chechen war. After the start of that war in the fall of 1999, thousands of Chechens flocked to Turkey seeking political asylum. According to unofficial... MORE

Moldova has a new government, the Alliance for a European Moldova (AEM), since February 28, after elections and an agitated interregnum. It is a minority coalition and, moreover, an internally divided one, requiring cooperation with the Communist Party’s “constructive opposition” (see EDM, March 5). The... MORE

From time to time, Russia is forced to reveal information about the real situation involving the jihadist movement in the Russian capital. Authorities are not keen on providing figures on how many Moscow residents are Muslims to avoid traumatizing the Russian Orthodox residents. According to... MORE