Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin visited Moldova on September 2–3, in his parallel capacities as President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy “on Transnistria” (“po Pridnestroviyu”) and as Russian co-chairman of the Russia-Moldova Inter-Governmental Economic Cooperation Commission. This visit had no other purpose than to threaten... MORE

On August 19, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on special security arrangements for the city of Sochi when it hosts the Winter Olympics in 2014. The decree’s provisions envisage a complete ban on incoming automobile traffic in Sochi and its surroundings from January 7... MORE

The end of summer has brought Russia to the intersection of several long-brewing crises that the authorities sought to mitigate by applying palliative half-measures and postponing hard decisions. In foreign affairs, the sharp escalation of the civil war in Syria has exposed the difficult consequences... MORE

On August 18, Kumyks clashed with Laks in the Dagestani town of Karaman. An estimated 700 police officers were deployed to separate the warring factions. Fifteen civilians and four police officers were reportedly injured in the clashes and the highway connecting Makhachkala to the northern... MORE

By pursuing the short-term profit goals of Russian oligarchs out of the conviction that this will promote Russia’s interest rather than considering the possible impact of such an approach on Russian national interests, Moscow is alienating Ukraine and Belarus, two Slavic neighbors it has long... MORE

Recent specialist commentaries in the Russian military press indicate deep dissatisfaction with the Aerospace Defense Forces (Vozdushno-Kosmicheskaia Oborona—VKO) created in December 2011. The complexity of the new structure is not only openly criticized, but there are growing calls for its reorganization in addition to brigade... MORE

On August 12, Chechen militants launched a bomb attack targeting the reconnaissance group of the Russian interior ministry’s Sever Battalion, which is primarily manned by residents of the Chechen Republic (www.mk.ru/incident/article/2013/08/13/898403-chechenskie-boeviki-vzorvali-chechenskiy-spetsnaz.html). One officer died and four others were injured in the blast. That same day,... MORE

Among the six countries in the European Union’s Eastern Partnership program, Azerbaijan under its President Ilham Aliyev seems uniquely impervious to Russian forms of leverage and, consequently, unique in receiving respectful treatment from the Kremlin. These two factors are closely connected in Russian President Vladimir... MORE

Six years after Doku Umarov publicly rejected the idea of Ichkerian independence in favor of the Islamic state of the Caucasus Emirate, he continues to justify this change.In a recent video posted on August 8, Umarov responded to questions from people who reside abroad that... MORE

New initiatives supporting Russian economic and political objectives keep emerging in Ukraine as the date of the expected signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union at the November 28–29 EU Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius approaches. On August 9, the leader of the... MORE