Executive Summary Russia’s March 17 annexation of Crimea capped nearly two decades of increasingly fractious Russian-Ukrainian relations, punctuated by rising tensions over Russia’s lease of Sevastopol and natural gas transit and cost issues. The election of the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych as president in March 2010... MORE

As the Crimean Tatars commemorated the 70th anniversary of their deportation from Crimea on May 18, many wondered what the Tatars’ next moves under the Russian occupation will be. Having already deported ethnic groups en masse—the Karachays in November 1943, the Chechens and Ingush in... MORE

Ukraine’s wealthiest industrialist, Donetsk-based Renat Akhmetov, on May 20, urged the workers of Donbas to protest against “those who call themselves some kind of people’s republic of Donetsk [secessionist leaders].” In a televised address via the Ukrayina channel, Akhmetov declared that the region’s population “can... MORE

Western sanctions against Russia may not appear as strong or as sweeping as many expected, but their targeted effect is becoming visible in major Russian industries and critical ongoing projects, such as the South Stream gas pipeline, Yamal liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, and the... MORE

The Russian military seems to have begun a genuine pullback of combat forces, which had been poised for almost three months on the eastern borders of Ukraine. On May 19, President Vladimir Putin flew to Shanghai to oversee the signing of a grandiose agreement to... MORE

Understanding the nuances of ethnic and national identity in faraway countries is arguably the Achilles’s heel of Western foreign policy making. This is regrettable considering that such nuances have powerful influence on international crises and on shaping their outcomes. This was the case in Iraq,... MORE

The World Forum of Tatar Youth recently staged a game called “Tatar Watch” in Kazan, the capital of the Russian Middle Volga republic of Tatarstan. The “Tatar patrols,” as they called themselves, went around the city in groups of seven people, wearing T-shirts that said... MORE

The Russian government, like its Soviet predecessor, has a long history of sending draftees to places far from their homes and using non-Russians as cannon fodder in conflicts of one kind or another. But rarely has the cynicism behind such policies been so evident or... MORE

Ukrainian forces are struggling to contain Russia’s proxy insurgency in Donbas (Donetsk and Luhansk provinces). The Ukrainian “anti-terrorist operation,” under way since April 13, remains inconclusive thus far. This operation has revealed how deeply Ukraine’s army and police were hollowed out in recent years, materially... MORE

A week ago, after the boost of patriotic emotions in the Victory Day celebrations and the blatantly fake quasi-referenda in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions (see EDM, May 12, 14), Russia appeared ready to make a decisive move into eastern Ukraine. The procedure of voting... MORE