Russian President Vladimir Putin has sternly rebuffed his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyp Erdogan’s ambitions to play peacemaker in the Russo-Ukrainian war and partially ease Russia’s blockade of Ukrainian grain exports. Receiving Erdogan in Sochi on September 4, Putin made clear that he had no use... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s absence at the G20 summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10 was not all that surprising and seemed hardly registered by any of the two dozen world leaders who attended. Putin also missed the previous summit in Bali, Indonesia,... MORE

On August 29, a new version of Russian commercial aircraft, the SJ-100 (formerly known as the SSJ-100), completed its first flight. The main difference between the new SJ-100 and the old SSJ-100 is that extensive import substitution efforts were carried out to source the necessary... MORE

From September 8 to 10, polls will be open across Russia as part of the annual “single voting day,” during which 26 governors will be elected and 16 regions will select new members of parliament (TASS, September 8). Usually, these elections do not bring many... MORE

It has been almost two months since Russia terminated the United Nations–approved deal ensuring the safe export of Ukrainian wheat and corn from its Black Sea ports. And following his most recent meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on September 4 in Sochi, Russian... MORE

According to Diana Panchenko, a Ukrainian journalist considered by some to be a “pro-Russian propagandist,” most commentators seemed to fixate on one particular admission coming from Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s two-hour interview on August 17 (Zerkalo, August 17). Specifically, Panchenko referred to the widespread discussion... MORE

On August 23, Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the notorious Wagner Group who had earlier ventured on an aborted mutiny against the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) (see EDM, July 11), died under mysterious circumstances when his business jet crashed in Russia’s Tver region (Ru.euronews.com, August... MORE

Until June 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin was apparently quite confident in his power and the lack of any true challenge to it. Anti-Putin activists were successfully squeezed out of the country, the most vociferous were imprisoned or killed. The more measured dissatisfied voices largely... MORE

*Read Part One. *Read Part Two. As the Ukrainian counteroffensive presses ahead, reports have increasingly characterized the effort as a campaign with steady gains, but heavy losses (Kyiv Post, June 13; Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, June 25; Commonspace.eu, June 27). At some level, Ukraine’s mounting... MORE

On August 18, the Russian Foreign Ministry banned entry to the country for 20 Moldovan officials, 18 of which come from the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, August 18). This came in response to Moldova’s supposed “unfriendly” policy, when... MORE