According to multiple reports, Russia is recruiting Afghan security personnel, who were previously trained by the United States, for its war effort against Ukraine. The former Afghan elite commandos and soldiers are reportedly joining the Russian private military company known as the Wagner Group, a... MORE

On July 19, 2022, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russian gas company Gazprom worth close to $40 billion. The deal was signed by the CEOs of both companies during a virtual ceremony on the same day that... MORE

As its war against Ukraine drags on, Russia continues to press ahead with its nuclear modernization program. In 2022, Russia’s Strategic Missile Forces (SMF) were ordered to deploy 21 launchers armed with Yars and Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and an Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle... MORE

If there is any leitmotif to the current developments in Belarus, it would be mostly rooted in attempts at socioeconomic survival while avoiding immediate participation in Russia’s war effort against Ukraine. It could be that the leitmotif for developments within the exiled opposition is lingering... MORE

*Click here for Part One Over 475,000 Ukrainian refugees have sought asylum in the Czech Republic as of January 1, 2023 (Unhcr.org, January 1). As such, with a population of 10.7 million, the Czech Republic continues to host the most Ukrainian refugees per capita in... MORE

The ongoing illegal invasion of Ukraine has created many changes in Russian society, one of which is the continued expansion of the Cossack movement. Two recent changes highlight this process: First, the creation of a new Cossack host (voiska) in Russia looks to be on the... MORE

On December 29, the Belarusian state media reported that an S-300 surface-to-air missile launched by Ukrainian forces had dropped into Belarus, near the village of Horbakha, about 50 kilometers from the shared border with Ukraine (Belta, December 29, 2022). Later, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense... MORE

It was a striking image for a traditional season of joy and hope: Russian President Vladimir Putin attending the Orthodox Christmas service all alone in one of the Kremlin’s cathedrals. This loneliness stands in contrast with his persistent attempts to show himself actively engaging with... MORE

In the months since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his expanded invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, fires and explosions have occurred at a minimum of 72 military facilities within Russia—including 44 draft offices and 28 bases. A vast number of other fires and explosions... MORE

In December 2022, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary and Romania signed an agreement to build a strategic partnership in the field of green energy development and transmission (President.az, December 17, 2022). According to the document’s text, the four countries plan to work together in developing a 1,195-kilometer... MORE