On April 26, the parliament of Kabardino-Balkaria addressed Moscow’s envoy to the North Caucasus, Alexander Khloponin to facilitate an increase in the republican police force. Earlier in March at a parliament hearing, the Interior Minister of Kabardino-Balkaria, Sergei Vasiliev, complained about a shortage of manpower... MORE

Russia’s top officials have insisted the country’s plans to develop its Far Eastern regions remain unaffected by the presidential transition. Ahead of the Kremlin changeover, the authorities reiterated pledges to develop the Russian Far East, apparently aiming to turn these remote regions into a link... MORE

Russia’s recently reaffirmed plans to decrease use of the Baikonur Cosmodrome presents Kazakhstan with both a challenge and an opportunity. The joint use of the facility over the past two decades has strengthened Russian-Kazakhstani scientific and technical cooperation as well as a means of elevating... MORE

Preparations are well advanced for the high profile Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) military exercise, Peace Mission 2012. As the NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan by 2014 influences the planning of such exercises, Beijing and Moscow are seeking to use the SCO security apparatus and joint force... MORE

North Caucasus federal district officials anticipate sweeping structural changes by the end of May after Vladimir Putin is inaugurated as the President of Russia. The incoming President’s administration is expected to increase its focus on the North Caucasus. Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported on April 23 that... MORE

Traditional May holidays have arrived to Russia, and while the Victory Day parade will be the usual rumbling of heavy weapons over Red Square, it is Vladimir Putin’s third presidential inauguration that is supposed to make them special. The outgoing President Dmitri Medvedev used the... MORE

The Russian federal agency for CIS affairs, compatriots and international humanitarian cooperation unveiled plans for holding a conference of compatriots in Beirut, Lebanon before the end of this May. The agency’s head, Konstantin Kosachyov, told members of the Russian Federation Council that the agency was... MORE

A police checkpoint in the Dagestani city of Khasavyurt came under fire early today (April 20). One policeman was slightly wounded in the attack. Police fired back at the gunman but he managed to escape in a car (riandagestan.ru, April 20).Yesterday (April 19), three suspected... MORE

To hear Moscow tell it, Russia’s aims in Syria are only motivated by principle. It opposes the use of ambiguous UN resolutions to permit intervention to forcibly democratize a country, an outcome that it believes invariably leads to protracted war. Russia is also against forcing... MORE

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin visited Chisinau and Tiraspol for the first time on April 16-17 in his additional role: as Russia’s presidential envoy “for Transnistria,” and chairman on the Russian side of the Russia-Moldova inter-governmental economic commission. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime... MORE