Commentators in Russia and the West have often focused on the geopolitics of the Belarusian situation, arguing that Moscow wants a friendly regime in Belarus in order to expand its military presence there and thus be in a position to project power into Central Europe... MORE

The Russian authorities and some environmental groups in Poland and Germany have opposed the digging of a canal across the southern, Polish portion of the Vistula Spit since the idea was first proposed in 2004. But now the project, slated to be complete by 2022,... MORE

Despite the global coronavirus pandemic, Moscow is taking steps to modify its combat training and military exercises as well as further strengthen the Western Military District (MD) amid tensions with the Transatlantic alliance. Following a recent online meeting of defense ministers of the North Atlantic... MORE

A May 3 article in the Russian tabloid Izvestia describes a series of military exercises—or rather, what it claims to have been one extended exercise—in Kaliningrad Oblast that took place during the last ten days in April (Izvestia, May 3). According to the piece, the... MORE

Since Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, it has gradually reinforced its military presence in Kaliningrad, frequently portraying these measures as a response to increased North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) activity close to Russia’s borders. A key component in this process has been to boost... MORE

Russia’s Armed Forces have commenced Okeanskiy Shchit (“Ocean Shield”) 2019 naval exercises in the Baltic Sea, under the direction of the commander-in-chief of the Russian Military-Maritime Fleet (Voyenno-Morskoy Flot—VMF), Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov. The exercises, running from August 1 to 9, also involve platforms from the... MORE

The Russian authorities are quite effective at responding to specific and immediate domestic challenges. However, like governments elsewhere, they are less capable of dealing with slower-moving tectonic shifts. And consequently, they often view these as even more disturbing when such developments suddenly take on public... MORE

The Donald Trump administration has moved beyond browbeating the European countries involved in the Nord Stream Two project and threatening sanctions against the natural gas pipeline’s partners; it is now making the same threats against its contractors. But German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her successor... MORE

Commenting on remarks from early December 2018 by Vice Admiral Andrew Lewis, the commander of the United States Second Fleet, that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) knows how to deal with the Russian military posture in Crimea and Kaliningrad, the deputy chair of the... MORE

As Russia’s Armed Forces continue to benefit from the process of military modernization, a growing area of concern for North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) planners is Russia’s continued steps to boost anti-access, area denial (A2/AD) capabilities close to its borders. An important feature of this... MORE