For the last month, important engagements have filled Russian President Vladimir Putin’s schedule: the official visit to China, the signing of the treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, the trip to Normandy for the celebration of the 70th anniversary of D-Day.... MORE

On May 21, two people were killed by law enforcement officers in Tajikistan’s eastern city of Khorog (the capital of the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province, located in the eastern half of Tajikistan, in the Pamir Mountains region). The police opened fire on a crowd that had... MORE

Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s balancing act (see EDM, April 2) includes his ability to make statements that defy unequivocal interpretation and may please two mutually hostile parties at the same time. After the June 7 inauguration of newly elected President Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine, Lukashenka... MORE

In the first five months of 2014, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) prevented six terrorist attacks and killed 130 militants (echo.msk.ru, June 10). The absolute majority of these attacks took place in Dagestan, but there were also special operations in nearby regions that resulted in... MORE

As was previously announced, the leader of Ingushetia’s insurgents, Artur Gatagazhev (Emir Abdullah), was killed in the village of Sagopshi on May 24. Officers of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) blockaded and then attacked the house of a police officer where a group of militants... MORE

On June 1, Alexander Ankvab, the separatist president of Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia, resigned. His first term was to expire in 2016. The Abkhazian parliament scheduled early presidential elections for August 24, 2014 (IA Regnum, June 1). Ankvab’s resignation followed four days of chaos... MORE

Russia seems at a crossroads in the Ukrainian crisis, unsure how to proceed: to seek some negotiated compromise with Kyiv, or intensify its support for pro-Russian separatists in southeastern Ukraine? During Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to Finland last week, a possibility was discussed... MORE

Early in 2014, at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov declared, “The main goals and priorities for advancing the economy in 2014 are dictated primarily by long-term program objectives of the country, the continuation of the adopted strategy ensuring high... MORE

On May 31, members of Dagestan’s opposition participated in a large conference in Makhachkala, where they called on the republic’s governor, Ramazan Abdulatipov, to step down. According to the conference organizers, Abulatipov’s rule in Dagestan has resulted in “total corruption, poverty and unemployment, persecution of... MORE

Several cities in Donbas, the eastern portion of Ukraine comprising the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, have been embroiled in Russian-sponsored secessionist violence against Ukrainian authorities since early April 2014. And while Russia has no officially identified uniformed troops in the region, there are claims... MORE