Belarus refused to attend the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Moscow on June 14. The summit made decisions to enlarge the size of collective rapid deployment forces, the scope of their missions, and the legal basis of their operations.President Alyaksandr Lukashenka cancelled the... MORE

Russia is running the countdown to zero on the OSCE and U.N. observer missions in Georgia. The mandates of both are due to expire before the end of this month, their re-negotiation subject to a Russian veto. Moscow threatens to kill both missions imminently by... MORE

According to an interview with Ukraine's Ambassador to Russia Konstantyn Hryshchenko, the country's bilateral relationship with Russia has sunk to its lowest level since the disintegration of the Soviet Union, testimony to the Russian state control of the media and its ideological crusade against Ukraine... MORE

On June 5 the Russian Chief of the General Staff and First Deputy Defense Minister Army-General Nikolai Makarov gave an important press conference. Makarov began with a two hour statement on military reform, followed by a slide show involving almost 30 slides, dazzling journalists with... MORE

*Note to readers: the M:Communications company advises that Mr. Gennady Timchenko owned less than 0.1 percent of Surgut shares as of June 11 The Kremlin-connected oil company Surgut Neftegaz has launched judicial proceedings in Budapest's metropolitan court against Hungarian MOL, the most successful private oil... MORE

Dagestani Interior Minister Adilgerei Magomedtagirov was killed in broad daylight at the entrance to restaurant in Makhachkala on June 5. Even though Dagestan is known for political murders - and specifically the murders of top law-enforcement officials - it was the first time that an... MORE

On June 3 the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) defense ministers met to consider intensifying military cooperation and formalizing the new rapid reaction forces. They are currently finalizing preparations to hold a CSTO military exercise in Belarus to "test" the new formation. Leanid Maltsaw, the... MORE

A mass riot induced by the developing economic crisis, served to confirm the identity of the real boss and decision maker in Russia. While Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was speaking to the World Economic Forum in St. Petersburg on June 4, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin... MORE

On June 2 the long-awaited trial began in Moscow's Tushinsky District Court of Vladimir Nekrasov, the reputed owner of Arbat Prestige, the largest chain of cosmetics stores in Russia and the CIS and his co-defendant, Semyon Mogilevich, (alias Sergei Shneider), a person wanted by the... MORE

On June 6-7 the Economic Forum in St. Petersburg had a far more somber atmosphere and a greatly reduced entertainment program than last year, when Russia was still portrayed as an "island of stability" in the sea of troubles. The central event was again the... MORE