After taking a break for several months, Russian President Vladimir Putin has returned to employing nuclear threats. During his speech at the Valdai Club on October 5, Putin promised not to change Russia’s nuclear doctrine nor launch preventive strikes. He made clear, however, that Russia... MORE

On October 17, Russian forces launched a new offensive in the Avdiivka direction (Ukrinform, October 17). Since then, intense fighting has commenced along various sections of the frontlines. On October 23, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced that Russia had launched multiple... MORE

On October 20, the Russian state statistical agency, Rosstat, issued a second report predicting that Russia’s population will continue to decline and be down more than seven million people by 2046. Rosstat’s first report came at the end of September and presented estimates that the... MORE

Moscow’s war against Ukraine has resulted in serious military and economic losses for the Russian Federation. The Kremlin has tried to mitigate the effect of stringent Western sanctions through a combination of non-compliance with the oil price ceiling, evading sanctions via third parties, and high... MORE

While Kremlin leadership is trying to ignore the combat situation in Ukraine with, for example, an unnecessary sports festival in Perm, it has not given up on Russia’s goal to destroy the world order. Moscow seeks to upend the West’s economic, political, and cultural dominance... MORE

Foreign trips are now rare occasions for Russian President Vladimir Putin. As such, it was highly important to him to hold a position above that of the other participants at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing on October 17 and 18. Chinese Communist Party... MORE

On October 2, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG) released a statement alleging that three Serbian trainers are recruiting activists with the intent to orchestrate the violent overthrow of the Georgian government (Civil.ge, October 2). The SSSG’s statement highlights the Georgian Dream government’s growing paranoia... MORE

The Kremlin’s widely reported efforts to conceal combat losses in Ukraine have made estimating these deaths difficult but not impossible. Alternative indicators to Moscow’s official reporting are available, many of which have been widely used, and all of which have generated controversy. The results are... MORE

On October 1, Robert Fico beat out three former prime ministers in Slovakia’s parliamentary elections, and on October 11, he agreed to a coalition that will form Slovakia’s next government (Euractiv, October 1; Euronews, October 11). Fico, a former Slovak prime minister himself, was expected... MORE

The mixed reactions of Belarusians to Hamas’ shocking attack in Israel on October 7 underline the ongoing societal divisions in Belarus. For example, the Belarusian newspaper Minskaya Pravda published a column by RT editor Igor Molotov immediately after the fighting broke out. The propagandist rejoiced... MORE