Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, and Western hand-wringing in response, demonstrate the depth of the security vacuum in Europe’s East. Comprising Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia, this area forms the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) and the European Union’s direct eastern neighborhood.... MORE

In an attempt to change the statistics related to the armed underground movement in the North Caucasus, which damage the image of its republics, the authorities are turning a blind eye to human rights violations in the region.Fifteen years after the start of the Chechen... MORE

As the West prepares economic sanctions against Russia for its actions in Ukraine, the head of the government-owned State Atomic Energy Corporation (Rosatom) nuclear complex, Sergei Kirienko, said that Russia’s nuclear industry contracts with other countries could be affected, observing, “Considering an array of comments... MORE

The unscheduled meeting in Paris of US Secretary of State John Kerry with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, on March 30, had raised hopes in Moscow that a compromise solution to the Ukrainian crisis may be found (https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/2441781). After annexing Crimea, the Kremlin... MORE

Following President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s pronouncements about Crimea being effectively part of Russia (see EDM, March 26), Ukraine recalled its ambassador in Minsk for consultations. After Belarus voted against the United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s annexation of Crimea, damage control on the part of... MORE

Against the backdrop of Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, its annexation of Crimea and the international community’s weak reaction, supporters of Georgia’s integration into the Eurasian Union—a political-economic project dominated by Moscow and championed by Vladimir Putin—have begun raising their voices. Small, but active groups in... MORE

With a patriotic frenzy under way in Russia in connection with the crisis in Ukraine, annexation of Crimea and ensuing tensions with the West, ethnic minorities living in Russia are predictably coming under increased scrutiny by the state security services and Russian nationalists. As one... MORE

Visiting Moldova on March 29, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland declared that US-Moldova relations “have never been stronger” (Moldpres, March 30). Nuland’s visit was the latest in the series of high-profile US-Moldova meetings following Russia’s seizure of Crimea from Ukraine.US President Barack Obama... MORE

A Ukrainian parliamentarian has called for the United Nations to intervene and stop the looting of museums in Crimea by the Russian occupation authorities, an action that he says raises the specter of a broader effort by Moscow to change the cultural and ethnic face... MORE

The military aspect of Russia’s intervention in Crimea is coming to an end. On March 25, Vladimir Putin ordered the local “self-defense” forces to integrate into the regular Russian military and security forces (Interfax, March 25). Whereas, the Security and Defense Council of Ukraine resolved... MORE