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Latest Articles about Europe's East
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Will Putin’s Successor Be More Flawed, Brutal and Inept?
It appears that the influence of the radical patriots in Russia has declined as of late. Around the same time as the arrest of war criminal and regime critic Igor Girkin (Strelkov) (Interfax.ru, July 21), communications about the need for peace negotiations with Ukraine began... MORE
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Clash of Moldova’s Two Orthodox Churches Complicates Chisinau’s Turn to the West
The intensifying clash between Moldova’s two Eastern Orthodox churches reflects the growing conflict over Chisinau’s turn away from Moscow and pursuit of integration with the West. The larger of the two churches, the Metropolitanate of Chisinau and All Moldova, is a self-governing hierarchy under the... MORE
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Prigozhin’s Failed Coup and the Future of Wagner in Sub-Saharan Africa and MENA (Part One)
On July 31, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the notorious Wagner Group that had attempted an unsuccessful mutiny resulting from conflict with the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD), stated, “At the moment, we are not planning to open recruitment centers. To avoid any talks and rumors,... MORE
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Belarusians Reflect on Third Anniversary of 2020 Anti-Regime Protests
Three years ago, massive protests triggered by the rigged presidential elections of August 9, 2020, took place in Belarus. This year, the anniversary has inspired a number of musings on the part of Belarusian political commentators. Thus, the sociologist Gennady Korshunov, former director of the... MORE
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Belarus Remains a Persistent Vector of Russia’s Hybrid Campaign Against the West
Since mid-July 2023, as a result of the agreement reached after Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny, Russia has begun to relocate Wagner Group mercenaries to Belarusian territory, raising well-reasoned concerns in the neighboring states. On August 1, Poland faced yet another provocation in which two Belarusian helicopters... MORE
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Russian Black Sea Fleet Intrudes Bulgarian Waters, Harasses Turkish Grain Freighter
On August 13, a warship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet executed a board-and-search operation of a Turkish freighter that was passing through Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) en route to Ukraine to load grain. The Russian crew fired warning shots from automatic weapons to intimidate... MORE
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Ukraine’s Slow-Moving Counteroffensive: The Russian Response (Part Two)
*Read Part One. As Ukraine was readying for its counteroffensive, the Russian side was making what the top brass deemed as necessary preparations. These efforts were laid out in documentation of the Russian Armed Forces that Ukrainian units “captured” on the battlefield—namely the documents “Recommendations... MORE
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Hard Georgian Lessons for Ending the War in Ukraine
Russia’s all-out aggression against Ukraine, which will pass the 18-month mark next week, is indirectly but strongly connected to the Russo-Georgian war of 15 years ago. In the first week of August 2008, Georgian villages in South Ossetia, a separatist enclave controlled by Russia since... MORE
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Patrushev Says West Organizing Terrorist Plots in Karelia to Promote Separatism
Four months after Finland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council and President Vladimir Putin’s closest confidant on security issues, announced that the West and Ukraine have launched a broad campaign to destabilize Karelia by promoting secessionist attitudes.... MORE
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New Sanctions and Lukashenka’s Improvised Reaction to Belarus’s Western Neighbors
On August 1, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka paid a working visit to Kamenets district in Brest oblast, right on the border with Poland. His major task was to personally observe harvesting operations—one of Lukashenka’s hobbies derived from his professional background. Still, after having lunch with... MORE