On September 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a “snap inspection” of the Armed Forces in Eastern Military District (MD). The motif of the “snap inspection” has been popularized by the defense minister, Army-General Sergei Shoigu, since early 2013 and used to great effect during... MORE

The ceasefire agreement signed in Minsk, on September 5, by representatives of Ukraine, Russia and Moscow-backed rebels operating in Ukraine’s Donbas region (area including Luhansk and Donetsk provinces) seems to be holding. Yet, serious problems of implementation persist among the different parties to the somewhat... 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

Long the most neglected of the Russian Federation’s four fleets, the Pacific Fleet is receiving new equipment and participating in more international exercises as the administration of President Vladimir Putin focuses on building up its eastern Siberian and Far East regions.During his “Presidential Address to... MORE

Despite the mounting ferocity of Sino-Japanese rhetoric, China’s partner Russia is moving forward on normalizing its ties with Japan. Indeed, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at Sochi on February 8, and Putin has accepted an invitation to visit Tokyo... MORE

On December 4, Russian Minister for Regional Development Igor Slyunyaev stated that the country’s population should be resettled along the borders and in the coastal areas. This strategy, according to the minister, should resolve the problem of the underdevelopment of Russia’s remote areas—most principally, the... MORE

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited Beijing on October 22 and 23, as Russia signed large energy, trade and investment deals with the Chinese government. Rosneft signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CNPC to form a joint venture to explore several fields in eastern... MORE

This week (September 23), the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), held a summit in President Vladimir Putin’s Black Sea residence in Sochi. The Russian-led military alliance is made up of several post-Soviet republics—Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Russia’s allies supported Moscow’s stand on... MORE

Since 1991, the highly developed Soviet space industry has fallen on hard times. Even though much Russian commentary has emphasized the competitiveness of Russia’s present-day space sector, it has nonetheless fallen behind its global competitors. And now Kazakhstan is demanding a greater say in what... MORE

Russia’s gas monopoly, Gazprom, has apparently ruled out the possibility of building a subsea Sakhalin-Japan natural gas pipeline. However, the continuation of talks on this ambitious project is thought to remain a valuable bargaining instrument in Russia’s difficult negotiations with China on gas prices.On November... MORE