After Iran tested another missile, on January 29, in violation of several United Nations resolutions, the White House declared that Tehran was “on notice” and imposed new sanctions on the Middle Eastern country. In addition, the Donald Trump administration signaled it would seek to sever... MORE

The arrest of a travel-blogger Alexander Lapshin, a citizen of Russia, Israel and Ukraine, by Belarusian authorities and his extradition to Azerbaijan (1news.az, February 7) is an interesting case for a number of reasons, and particularly in the context of the unresolved Karabakh conflict. His... MORE

Ukrainian forces have prevailed in the defensive battle for Avdiivka (January 28–February 4), preserving the gains on the ground achieved through “crawling advances” prior to this battle (see EDM, February 9). The current lull seems relative as firing goes on intermittently. Six Ukrainian soldiers were... MORE

The annual Munich Security Conference will take place later this week (February 17–19). And it was ten years ago at this forum that President Vladimir Putin delivered an inflammatory speech detailing Russia’s deep dissatisfaction with the world order. A decade hence, Russian official media is... MORE

The discovery of what appears to be a sizeable Islamic State (IS) cell in the Russian city of Khasavyurt, located in the North Caucasian republic of Dagestan, has sparked numerous violent confrontations as long-simmering tensions between Russian authorities and adherents of Salafism in the region... MORE

The assault on the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka (January 28–February 4) was a combined-arms operation by Russia’s proxy forces, aiming to reverse the recent Ukrainian gains on the ground in a sector of key significance (see below) and, more broadly, to seize the initiative... MORE

The Russian State Duma (lower house of parliament) adopted a new set of laws, on January 27, aiming to “protect critical infrastructure of the Russian Federation against hacker attacks” (Rosbalt.ru, Duma.gov.ru, January 27). Dmitry Shalkov, a top-ranking ultra-conservative official of the Federal Security Service (FSB)... MORE

President Vladimir Putin ordered a snap military exercise of the Russian Aerospace Forces (Vozdushno-Kosmicheskye Sily—VKS), on February 7. The VKS was placed at top battle readiness: the missile- and anti-aircraft-defense radar network and interceptor missile batteries, together with the air force, including long-range strategic bombers... MORE

Vladimir Putin has something to be proud of. Only a year and half has passed since the Russian president called for the creation of a broad anti-terrorist coalition of the civilized world, in his last speech at the United Nations General Assembly. The Kremlin apparently... MORE

For the past several weeks, a group of Armenian soldiers have been taking part in a joint exercise with their Georgian counterparts at the Sachkhere Mountain Training School—a training facility in Georgia established with assistance from the United States and France. Since 2010, the school... MORE