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Latest Articles about Russia
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Moscow’s Contract Soldier Plans: Perpetual Dreams
In the aftermath of the military exercise in the Russian Far East on July 13, aimed at testing combat readiness and combat service support, Defense Minister Army-General Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin that the figure for the future numbers of contract soldiers (kontraktniki) must... MORE
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Having Lost Population’s Trust, Dagestan’s Government Finds It Hard to Make a Comeback
On August 7, the acting head of Dagestan, Ramazan Abdulatipov, and other republican officials met a group of residents of the embattled Dagestani village of Gimry. The Dagestani government proposed a deal with the villagers’ leaders that should end the settlement’s suspended status. The authorities... MORE
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Problem-Rich Context for the Obama-Putin Non-Summit
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to Washington last Friday could have repaired some damage from the predictably canceled presidential summit in Moscow, but the meeting failed to produce any substance for bilateral relations, which had deteriorated beyond the point... MORE
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Influence of Chechen Leader of North Caucasian Fighters in Syria Grows
The situation in Syria this past week developed in now typical fashion, with each of the conflicting sides claiming victories. Two events that occurred, however, should be noted. First, the armed Syrian opposition took over the strategically important Minakh military airport in the area of... MORE
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Murder of Leading Dagestani Cleric Signals Deepening Crisis in Sufi Hierarchy
Yet another Sufi sheikh has been added to the list of those killed in Dagestan. On August 3, Sheikh Ilyas-haji Ilyasov, of the branch of Islamic teaching known as the Naqshbandiyya-Khalidiyya, was murdered. The sheikh had an estimated 500–1,000 murids (followers). Ilyasov was an ethnic... MORE
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Obama’s Cancellation of Summit Meeting with Putin Reverberates in Moscow
It is now official: The White House has cancelled President Barack Obama’s visit to Moscow for a summit with his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, planned for September 3. Obama will still come to Russia to attend the G20 summit in St. Petersburg on September... MORE
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Moscow Signals Kanokov’s Term as Head of Kabardino-Balkaria May End
On July 30, the Russian security services reported that four suspected rebels were killed in Stavropol region. A source in the local police said the incident took place on July 29 near the town of Tersky, located in Georgievsky district in the southern part of... MORE
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A Look at Tajikistan’s Jamaat Ansarullah Leader Amriddin Tabarov
General Dzhurakhon Zoirov, head of Tajikistan’s Anti-Organized Crime Division of the Ministry of the Interior, announced on July 19 that Amriddin Tabarov (a.k.a. Dumullo Amriddin) has been placed on Interpol’s international wanted list (Ozodi, July 20). Tabarov is purportedly the leader of Jamaat Ansarullah an... MORE
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Is Latin America a New Frontier for Russian Policy?
Latin America is not generally thought of as a high priority for Russian foreign policy. But as relations with the United States continue to stagnate as they did in 2008, Russia is apparently turning greater attention to that region in order to advance its goals... MORE
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Kazan Exploits Russia’s Nationality Policy in Ways Moscow Never Intended
Just as the Republic of Tatarstan did routinely under its former President Mintimer Shaimiev, Kazan has again taken a Moscow policy and transformed it in a way that is very much at odds with the one articulated by the central Russian leadership. It has cleverly... MORE