
Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

New Caucasus Emirate Leader Takes Hard Line Stance Against Suicide Bombing
Last month, the newly appointed leader of the Caucasus Emirate, Abu Muhammad, explained why Muslims should not support the head of the al-Qaeda breakaway group—the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi—but instead provide support to al-Qaeda leader Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahiri... MORE

Ukraine Struggles to Stem Cross-Border Supplies to Russia’s Proxy Forces
Russia reinforces and resupplies the secessionist troops in Ukraine’s east across certain sections of the border. The cross-border flow continued unabated during Ukraine’s two unilateral ceasefires (June 20–30), enabling pro-Russia forces to stage attacks throughout the conflict zone. This required Kyiv to seize the initiative... MORE

Russia, Germany Eye to Eye on Ukraine’s Border Security
In late June and early July, German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia, Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine and Francois Hollande of France held a series of telephone conferences in variable formats to negotiate control arrangements for the Russia–Ukraine border. Russia... MORE

Total Rebel Defeat not Seen as an Acceptable Option in the Kremlin
The pro-Russia separatist rebellion in the Donbas seems to be teetering on the brink of a humiliating and bloody collapse. Last Saturday, July 5, the rebels led by Igor Girkin (also known as Strelkov) fled the city of Slavyansk north of Donetsk—the scene of constant... MORE

The Role of the Turkic Council for the Future of Eurasian Politics
The Cooperation Council of the Turkic Speaking States (the Turkic Council) held its 4th Summit on June 5 in Bodrum, Turkey. The organization includes Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey. One of the participants in the Bodrum Summit was Ramil Hasanov, former secretary general of the... MORE

Russian-backed Abkhaz Separatist Regime Steps Up Discrimination of Ethnic Georgians
On June 30, the Abkhaz separatist regime announced that it would remove from the voter lists 22,787 ethnic Georgians living in the Russian-occupied Abkhazia. The separatist regime officials claimed that those people acquired so-called “Abkhaz passports” illegally and hence, as non-citizens, they could not qualify... MORE

Russian Government Seeks to Crowd Minority Languages out
On July 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of the presidential council for interethnic relations, which he began by stating that the focus of the meeting would be improving his government’s interethnic policies. “It is important for youth to understand the significance of... MORE

How Grapes and Politics Stand Close in Uzbekistan
Tashkent hosted an international conference on “Vital Reserves in the Realization of Food Program in Uzbekistan” during June 5–6. Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov gave an opening speech at the event. As the timing of the conference was chosen at the peak of the fruit and... MORE

Russia’s Information-Centric Warfare Strategy: Re-defining the Battlespace
Russian military theorists, experts, commentators and officials have long shown interest in moving the country’s military toward information or network-centric approaches to warfare. Following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in February–March 2014, which was executed by harnessing a mixture of hard and soft power in what... MORE

Jailed Environmentalist ‘Real Hero of Russia,’ Mitrokhin Says
Last week, Yevgeny Vitishko marked his 40th birthday in a Russian prison where he is serving a three-year sentence, because he exposed the environmental damage Vladimir Putin and his entourage inflicted on the North Caucasus in the run-up to the Sochi Olympics. He has always... MORE