Russia’s 2022 re-invasion of Ukraine has damaged not only bilateral relations between the two majority–Eastern Slavic neighbors but also—perhaps inadvertently—destabilized ties, links, goodwill, and mutual trust between the Russian periphery and the center, on the one hand, and between certain ethnic groups within the Russian... MORE

In recent years, relations between Ukraine and Hungary were repeatedly overshadowed by bilateral conflicts and mutual accusations. The primary stumbling block to this day continues to be one of Ukraine’s western provinces—Transcarpathia (Zakarpatska Oblast). For example, earlier this month, the secretary of the Ukrainian National... MORE

Three months into Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, the role of Russian military reconnaissance and communications satellites remains noticeably underdeveloped. Although Moscow has 102 military satellites in orbit, the efficiency of its battlefield reconnaissance, surveillance, targeting, and command-and-control systems still seems to be... MORE

On May 17, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed an order to lift all restrictions on the movement of Russian citizens through the Nizhny Zaramag checkpoint, located near the border with Georgia, at the north end of the Roki Tunnel (Kommersant, May 18). The Roki... MORE

At dawn on Thursday (May 19), an ethanol plant in the Russian village of Tyotkino, in Kursk Oblast, near the Ukrainian border, came under artillery fire for the second day in a row. One person died in the attack (TASS, May 19). On Wednesday, the... MORE

In the seemingly deadlocked but, in fact, fast-evolving war in Ukraine, two impactful events coincided in mid-May, altering the course of the battles and political stand-off. The first one was the end of the months-long resistance of Mariupol, as the last defenders of the city’s... MORE

Azerbaijan intends to contribute to Europe’s energy security by developing into a regional “green” energy hub, the government officially announced on May 9, at The World Utilities Congress, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (Minenergy.gov.az, May 9). In line with such goals, several days earlier,... MORE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly advocates for an embargo on Russian oil imports to the European Union: “Now the priority is the oil embargo. No matter how hard Moscow tries to disrupt this decision…” (President.gov.ua, May 15). His economic advisor Oleg Ustenko has further admonished... MORE

Russia’s unprovoked war of conquest against Ukraine, launched on February 24, is being fought on multiple fronts. Beyond the conflict’s conventional military aspect and the information war, Russia has now been found to be unlawfully seizing Ukraine’s agricultural goods and machinery. According to Ukrainian officials,... MORE

The ninth online poll of 823 urban-based and internet-using Belarusians, conducted by Chatham House during April 8–18 (Svaboda.org, May 6), showed that roughly one-third of respondents support Russia’s war and about the same fraction is against it, whereas 57 percent are afraid Belarus may be... MORE