
Latest Articles about Russia

COVID-19 and the Russian Military: Internal Cases and Role in the State’s Response
The government of the Russian Federation, like the authorities in most other countries, proved slow to respond and initially mostly downplayed the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic. But as cases of COVID-19 have begun to soar in the densely populated parts of the country,... MORE

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Russian Armed Forces
Russia has been invaded once again. But this time, the intruder is the novel coronavirus responsible for the global COVID-19 pandemic, which has already resulted in the deaths of 361 Russians, as of April 19 (StopKoronavirus.rf, April 19). As in past invasions, the country’s Armed... MORE

Pandemic has Changed Russians, But Can It Change Russia?
The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has changed Russians more fundamentally than any past revolution. In particular, the government’s response and the changes in day-to-day life for the average Russian has destroyed traditional widespread faith in society that Russia’s authorities are omnipotent while the people lack political... MORE

Coronavirus Cases Hit Russian Oil Rig Workers, Putting Additional Pressure on Domestic Energy Industry
The COVID-19 coronavirus has dealt the Russian crude oil industry a two-pronged blow: first, decimating global demand, and now, disrupting output by infecting hundreds of oil-field workers. It has similarly hit natural gas–production operations, another Russian economic mainstay. The blame rests squarely with the Russian... MORE

Russia Accepts and Emulates China’s Coronavirus Propaganda
After a delayed start, Russia is now being hit by the COVID-19 outbreak with devastating force; yet, it has only praise for China’s policy of containing the disease, despite the obvious fact that this containment failed to prevent a local outbreak in Wuhan from becoming... MORE

Russian Special Services Employ Cossacks, Ukrainian Religious Institutions Against Kyiv
For as long as official cases of COVID-19 have remained manageable inside the Russian Federation, Moscow was able to exploit the global coronavirus pandemic to try to pursue various foreign policy goals (see EDM, April 13). This activism, combined with most international governments’ strong preoccupation... MORE

Domestic and Foreign Challenges Prompt Moscow to Announce Unrealistically Ambitious Railway Plan
Russia’s enormous size and central continental location—coupled with the inherent problems associated with Russian road, water and air networks (see EDM, October 6, 2015, September 17, 2019, April 2, 2020)—have meant that the country has traditionally devoted much more attention to its railways than most... MORE

This Year’s May 9 Victory Day Parade Threatened by COVID-19
The anniversary celebrations of victory over Nazi Germany in May 1945, which ended World War II in Europe, have become the main yearly public relations event in President Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Annual May 9 military parades began in 1995, when then-president Boris Yeltsin used the... MORE

Authorities Alarmed by Reported Spread of Islamic Extremism in Russian Prisons
On April 3, Russian news agencies reported that the country's security services killed one and detained another member of an Islamic State (IS) cell in Stavropol Oblast. Russian officials alleged that members of the extremist group were preparing terrorist attacks in Stavropol as well as... MORE

Russia’s Arctic Agenda and the Role of Canada
New research (which includes two articles written by Russian experts) published by the prominent think tank the Canadian Global Affairs Institute has spurred interest and hopes in Russia’s expert community about the possibility of normalizing ties between Russia and Canada through cooperation in the Arctic... MORE