US Vice President Joe Biden’s visit to Moscow has been planned primarily as a promotion of business ties and Western support for President Dmitry Medvedev’s announced modernization efforts. “We see the vice president’s trip as trying to expand into new dimensions of reset with a... MORE

On March 4, Russia’s security services reported they managed to kill one of the leaders of Ingushetia’s insurgency, 30 year old Khamzat Korigov. Initially, the government sources said Korigov had detonated a bomb when the security agents surrounded him in Ingushetia’s principal town, Nazran. Later,... MORE

The Russian defense ministry plans to convene a broad-based meeting on March 14 to discuss the results of military reform and its prospects during the next decade. On March 3, Viktor Ozerov, Chairman of the Federation Council’s Defense and Security Committee confirmed that the full... MORE

On March 1, a blast destroyed the home of a suspect militant, Eduard Ulbashev, in Kabardino-Balkaria’s Chegem district.  One day earlier, on February 28, Ulbashev himself was killed in a shootout with the police.  Government forces reported that two explosive devices equal to 25 kilograms... MORE

Russian history is always open to interpretation but it takes a brave effort to draw from it a lesson that “freedom cannot be postponed until later and we must not be afraid that a free individual may make an inadequate use of a personal freedom.... MORE

Doku Umarov, the “emir” of the rebel Caucasus Emirate, released a video statement that was posted to YouTube on March 2 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNNE28XYSAQ&feature=player_embedded).  A Russian translation of the video was posted on the rebel Kavkaz Center website on March 3.In the video, Umarov extols the virtues... MORE

On March 2 at his Novo-Ogarevo residence, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hosted the signing of a novel type of strategic partnership between Russian and West European energy companies, in this case Total of France.  In Putin’s presence, Total chairman and CEO Christophe de Margerie... MORE

The surprise visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to Vladikavkaz on February 22, 2010 (www.rian.ru/politics/20110222/337349132.html) clearly shows how complicated the situation is in the region. The choice of cities in the North Caucasus where the head of the Russian state can be safely hosted has... MORE

On March 1, Russia’s Gazprom bought the license to develop the giant Kovykta gas field in eastern Siberia from BP’s joint venture in Russia, TNK-BP. Since 2003, the Kremlin had systematically prevented the project’s development, seeking instead to bring it under Russian state control. Now,... MORE

Continued technical mishaps are undermining Russia’s efforts to modernize its military and defense industry. The Russian defense industry is in deep crisis while efforts to import Western technology, spearheaded by First Deputy Defense Minister in charge of rearmament Army-General (retired) Vladimir Popovkin, are bringing mixed... MORE