Latest Articles about Russia

Gazprom Sees Window of Opportunity to Keep Poland Dependent

Moscow is exploiting a number of Polish vulnerabilities of both the objective and the subjective variety, all short-term, in the negotiations on a new supply agreement. The proposed draft would perpetuate those vulnerabilities, and cause Polish long-term dependence on Gazprom. For the time being, Poland... MORE

Additional Russian Troops Dispatched To Dagestan

On September 28 in Khasavyurt, Dagestan, Interior Ministry Major-General Viktor Knyazhev announced that a temporary contingent of the ministry’s Internal Troops had been deployed to Dagestan. The general stated the purpose of the deployment was to help the local law enforcement agencies to stabilize the... MORE

European Union Assists Poland to Rectify Agreement With Gazprom

Poland consumes some 14.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas annually (unaffected by the economic recession elsewhere). The country produces some 4.3 bcm per year internally while importing the remainder from Gazprom (Bloomberg, September 18). Most of Gazprom’s deliveries enter Poland through the Yamal-Europe pipeline,... MORE

Warsaw Wavers Between Brussels and Gazprom

Moscow has apparently chosen Poland as a ground for testing the European Union’s common energy policy. In ongoing negotiations for a new supply agreement, Gazprom seeks to pressure Poland to circumvent or breach the EU’s legislation on energy market liberalization (Third Energy Package, 2009). Russia... MORE

Bombings and Shooting Reported in Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria

Insurgency-related violence continued during the last several days in the aftermath of clashes between security forces and rebels in Chechnya’s southern Vedeno district, during which three servicemen and a policeman were killed. During a security sweep in the Dagestani cities of Makhachkala and Kaspiisk, 15... MORE

Putin Stays In The Shadows As Medvedev Ousts Luzhkov

The unceremonious ousting of veteran Moscow Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, by President Dmitry Medvedev seemingly ended an acute political standoff between the city and the Kremlin (EDM, September 15, 21, 28). It was initially reported that Luzhkov may challenge his dismissal in court, but later he... MORE

The Roots and Transformation of the Dagestan Insurgency

In early April, two women from Dagestan were named by the federal authorities as key suspects in the March 29 suicide attacks which targeted the Lubyanka and Park Kultury metro stations near to the interior ministry and the headquarters of the Federal Security Service (FSB)... MORE