It has been one month since a group of demobilized Ukrainian soldiers and veterans of the volunteer battalions took it upon themselves (starting on January 25) to enforce a trade embargo with the occupied territories of Donbas (region of eastern Ukraine encompassing the Donetsk and... MORE

The Crimean peninsula is a valuable asset, especially for its military attributes. When Russia illegally annexed Crimea in February–March 2014, it notably gained full de facto control over Sevastopol (where the Russian Black Sea Fleet is based and had until then been leasing its facilities)... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first telephone call with the newly inaugurated President of the United States Donald Trump, on January 28, resulted in nothing sensational. A promise to immediately lift US sanctions against Russia never materialized. The parties agreed only to maintain regular contacts and... MORE

Ukrainian forces have prevailed in the defensive battle for Avdiivka (January 28–February 4), preserving the gains on the ground achieved through “crawling advances” prior to this battle (see EDM, February 9). The current lull seems relative as firing goes on intermittently. Six Ukrainian soldiers were... MORE

The assault on the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka (January 28–February 4) was a combined-arms operation by Russia’s proxy forces, aiming to reverse the recent Ukrainian gains on the ground in a sector of key significance (see below) and, more broadly, to seize the initiative... MORE

President Vladimir Putin ordered a snap military exercise of the Russian Aerospace Forces (Vozdushno-Kosmicheskye Sily—VKS), on February 7. The VKS was placed at top battle readiness: the missile- and anti-aircraft-defense radar network and interceptor missile batteries, together with the air force, including long-range strategic bombers... MORE

The sharp escalation in artillery battles in the Donbas (eastern Ukraine) war zone one day after the January 28 telephone conversation between United States President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin was certainly not a coincidence. No leaks about the content of the 45-minute-long... MORE

German Chancellor Angela Merkel received Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on January 30, in Berlin, for an “exchange of views” on the “conflict in Ukraine,” “the peace process and the implementation of the Minsk armistice” (Bundeslanzlerin.de, January 27, 30). Those code words are widely used in... MORE

The Roshen confectionery plant in the Russian city of Lipetsk will close in April for political and economic reasons, Roshen’s press service has announced. Production in Lipetsk has shrunk threefold since 2013 because of the sanctions imposed by Russia on imports from Ukraine, falling purchasing... MORE

Ukroboronprom, the state entity responsible for Ukraine’s military-industrial complex, announced that it would begin joint production with the United States company Aeroscraft of a Ukrainian variant of the M16 assault rifle—to be renamed the WAC-47. Sergei Mykytyuk, the director of Ukroboronprom subsidiary Ukroboronservis, told journalists... MORE