In September, Moscow announced its plans to dramatically increase defense spending by the end of the year, with some estimating a 70-percent increase for that budget (see EDM, October 5). Russia’s national defense budget has reportedly been growing quickly ever since, but this has not... MORE

On October 8, the Balticconnector natural gas underwater pipeline running between Finland and Estonia was shut down due to significant damage on the portion of the pipeline within Finland’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). According to preliminary findings from the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation, the... MORE

Bulgaria has finally taken decisive measures to cease its dependence on Russian energy and undercut Moscow’s positions in the Balkan and Central European energy markets. On September 28, the Bulgarian National Assembly voted to introduce a new excise tax on the import and transit of... MORE

Beijing is increasing its political influence in Siberia and the Russian Far East to better support its expanding economic activities. These efforts are directed at the political and business elites who are the major stakeholders in deciding which firms can operate in their respective regions... MORE

At the end of last year, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that 300,000 military-age men had been drafted into the Russian army following President Vladimir Putin’s declaration of a “partial mobilization” (RBC, October 28, 2022). Official data on how many of these recruits have... MORE

On October 4, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev canceled a meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, European Council President Charles Michel, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that was meant to take place at the European Political Community summit in Granada, Spain,... MORE

A new electoral season has kicked off in Belarus as the country prepares for parliamentary elections in February 2024. The elections are coming at a time when two parallel worlds in Belarus are increasingly diverging, writes Alexander Klaskovsky, a veteran political commentator now in exile... MORE

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