As the five Caspian littoral states—Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Iran—move toward an agreement on the re-division of the Caspian Sea (see EDM, November 7, 2017), an action made necessary by the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow has strengthened its flotilla there in order... MORE

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman visited Moscow, on May 31, for talks with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and other Russian top brass. Lieberman was accompanied by several of his country’s top military officials, including the Israeli Defense Forces’ (IDF) military intelligence chief, Major General Tamir... MORE

Addressing the Italian parliament, Italy’s new Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said his government, recently formed by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the Eurosceptic and anti-immigrant League party, was in favor of an opening toward Russia (Ansa, June 5). Moscow voiced satisfaction with Conte’s words... MORE

After “neo-Cossacks” brutally whipped anti-Kremlin demonstrators at the May 5 “He Is Not Our Tsar” protests, in downtown Moscow (see EDM, May 14), concerns in Russia have been mounting that the authorities will similarly employ such quasi-paramilitary forces to maintain order at the World Cup,... MORE

On April 9, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev asked his Cabinet for specific measures to alleviate the consequences of the economic sanctions the United States passed (on April 6—see EDM, April 9) against Russian companies and individuals, with metallurgy, the energy sector and the defense industry... MORE

Now that the Moldovan Constitutional Court has annulled the special status the Russian language has enjoyed in that republic since independence, Moscow is hoping to use the Gagauz nation within Moldova to defend the position of Russian there. But this decision to turn to the... MORE

In early April, the minister of defense of Russia, Sergei Shoigu, announced the relocation of the Caspian Flotilla from Astrakhan (Astrakhan oblast, on the northwest coast of the Caspian Sea) to Kaspiysk, a Dagestani city just south of the republican capital of Makhachkala. The first... MORE

In the week since Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko’s staged assassination on May 29 (see EDM, May 31), plenty of smoke and dozens of unanswered questions remain. At this point, Ukrainian law enforcement and the security services have still not provided any clear evidence of the... MORE

Despite wide international condemnation, on May 16 the Russian Federation completed the first phase of construction of a ten-mile bridge across the Kerch Strait, which links Russia proper with the occupied Crimean peninsula (TASS, May 16). The Kerch Bridge will have serious economic, social, demographic... MORE

Gazprom and the Turkish government signed a protocol, on May 26, on building another section of the Turk Stream pipeline that will deliver Russian natural gas to Turkey and Europe (Gazprom.com, May 26). Moreover, the Russian gas giant and the Turkish pipeline company BOTAŞ agreed to establish a joint venture to... MORE