The first of the two French-made helicopter-carrying Mistral-class assault ships, which Russia ordered in 2011, is reportedly ready for delivery. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin announced that a Russian official delegation has been invited to arrive on November 14, at the Saint-Nazaire shipyard for a... MORE

On October 13, the Kremlin unveiled the so called “Agreement on Alliance and Integration” between Russia and breakaway Abkhazia (see EDM, October 23). To summarize this long and verbose text, the new treaty envisages a gradual but ultimately complete merger of the separatist region’s defense,... MORE

The notoriously well-known analyst from Tatarstan, Rais Suleimanov, has attacked the West for alleged support of Islamists in the republic. In his controversial and contradictory report, Suleimanov accuses the West of supporting Tatar nationalism and Islamism, but in the process he exposes his apparent close... MORE

As more people die in eastern Ukraine in the fighting between government forces and Russia-backed rebels, Moscow seems determined to pursue its internal economic goals despite the damage already caused by the West’s sanctions. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, on October 19, that his... MORE

President Vladimir’s Putin’s decision, on September 2, to order adjustments to Russia’s 2010 Military Doctrine by the end of the year raised questions concerning the timing and its underlying intention (see EDM, September 9). Recent analysis in the Russian military press and statements by the... MORE

Because the Crimean Tatars and their assembly, the Mejlis, have opposed the Russian Anschluss of their homeland since the beginning, Moscow and the Russian occupying authorities on the Ukrainian peninsula have attempted to break it by banning some of its leaders, harassing others, and raiding... MORE

The German government’s response to Russia’s war against Ukraine—and by extension, Berlin’s assessment of Russia—is undergoing some reconsideration. Moscow has shaken Germany’s “trust” once more by flouting the armistice in Ukraine’s Donbas (eastern region encompassing the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk). The annexation of Crimea... MORE

The German government has come round to the view that Russia’s actions against Ukraine potentially threaten the “European peace order.” Policy debates in Germany reflect, belatedly and still tentatively, this assessment (see accompanying article). Germany has not yet initiated a policy review in keeping with... MORE

On October 15, Kyrgyzstani lawmakers in the Jogorku Kenesh (Kyrgyzstan’s parliament) voted on an “anti–gay propaganda” bill to criminalize and impose up to year-long prison sentences for distributing information about homosexuality or LGBT issues that is reflected in a positive light. The bill was overwhelmingly... MORE

On October 21, the authorities in Dagestan announced that the head of the Dagestani branch of the Russian Federal Service for State Registration, Cadaster and Cartography, Adam Amirilaev, had stepped down from his position and was replaced by his deputy, Rizvan Bulatov (to05.rosreestr.ru, October 21).... MORE