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

The Kazakh-Russian joint working group will soon present a proposal for the construction of the “Eurasia” canal linking the Caspian and Azov seas (www.izvestia.ru, September 28). From expanded trade and transit across Eurasia to new energy projects and maritime access for landlocked Central Asia, the... MORE

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

On September 27, a policeman died and four others were injured in an armed clash with insurgents in Chechnya’s Vedeno district. This was the latest reported incident in the mountainous area of the republic’s south, where Kadyrov’s government forces launched a large scale offensive against... MORE

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

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

On September 9-25, Kazakhstan hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Peace Mission 2010 military exercise, at the Matybulak training range in Zhambyl region, designed to showcase the organization’s capabilities against extremism, separatism and terrorism. Among its member states (China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan)... MORE

Although the retirement of Moscow Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, was widely expected (EDM, September 15, 21), the news that the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, actually signed a decree on his dismissal came as a shock. Entering his office at 7:55 on September 28, the mayor was... MORE

During a visit to Dagestan on September 21, Moscow’s envoy to the North Caucasus, Aleksandr Khloponin, urged the republican leadership to use the opportunities that had been provided by the federal authorities to make advances in economic development. “The time when it was possible to... MORE

Two shifts in Russian foreign policy attracted much international commentary last week: President Dmitry Medvedev’s decree on curbing military cooperation with Iran, and Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, participating in an Arctic conference in Moscow. Both issues, however, are loaded with controversies that muddle the substance... MORE