Latest Articles about Russia
The Russian Navy: To deter the US and to Compete With China
The Russian Armed forces are becoming the main element of the government’s “patriotic propaganda.” Currently, the Ministry of Defense is overwhelmingly focused on preparing to celebrate the 320th anniversary of the Russian Naval Fleet. Even the Dmitryi Donskoyi, the last remaining Soviet-era Project 941 nuclear... MORE
Russia Launches ‘Summer Offensive’ in the Domain of Information and Cyber Security
The Russian parliament (Duma) adopted a piece of legislation, on July 21, which virtually outlaws anonymous communication over Internet-based instant messengers (IM) (Rosbalt.ru, July 21). The new law forces all IMs operating in the Russian Federation to: - identify users by their actual telephone number;... MORE
Opposition Party’s Report on Russia’s Syria Campaign Costs Dismissed by Government
In September 2015, embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad officially requested Russian assistance, citing the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation signed by Syria and the USSR in 1980, with Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately agreeing, offering diplomatic, economic and military support that continues to the present... MORE
Putin’s Foreign Policy Non-Options in Response to US Sanctions
It has gradually dawned on the Russian leadership that the legislation approved by the US Congress amounts not just to some more tightening of sanctions, but to the downgrading of Russia’s status on the international arena to that of a “pariah state” on par with... MORE
Moscow Considers Trump Too Weak to Be Useful
The US House of Representatives has with an overwhelming majority passed a bill reinforcing sanctions on Russia, Iran and North Korea, and the Senate seems ready to approve the bill this week. Russian state news agencies report that US President Donald Trump may have no... MORE
Russia Building New Road From Dagestan to Georgia
On July 7, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and Ambassador Zurab Abashidze, the special envoy of the Georgian prime minister for relations with Russia, held a special meeting in Prague. One of the topics of the meeting was further development of transport coordination between... MORE
Armenian Officials Remain Overly Cautious Despite Citizens Being Discriminated Against in Russia
On July 14, Russia’s State Duma (the parliament’s lower chamber) adopted a law, which allows citizens of countries where the Russian language has a constitutionally accepted official status—Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan—to work in Russia as drivers without having to exchange their national driver’s license. Leonid... MORE
Inter-Ethnic Land Conflicts Threaten Borders in North Caucasus
Since the end of the Soviet system, the greatest source of conflicts in the North Caucasus has been neither Islamism nor nationalism but rather property—over who controls this or that piece of land. The collapse of industry in the cities only intensified this problem in... MORE
Zhuravka–Millerovo Rail Bypass: A Threat to Ukraine’s National Security?
Russian media announced, on July 14, that the new (122.5-kilometer) railway connection between the southwestern Russian towns of Zhuravka and Millerovo will be completed by mid-August (Rzdp.ru, July 14). Originally, these two cities were linked by a Soviet-era railroad that, in part, crosses eastern Ukraine.... MORE
Strategic Advances and Economic Hopes of Belarus-China Relations
Belarus hosted a joint counter-terrorism exercise with China called United Shield 2017, on July 11–18 (Belta, July 18). It took place at a training field bear Barysau and brought together a rapid response unit of the Interior Troops of the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs... MORE