The ceasefire agreement in Karabakh collapsed again on Sunday (September 27), and full-scale fighting between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces is now in full swing for the fifth straight day, with heavy casualties being reported. The international community, including the United Nations and the European Union,... MORE

This year’s Russian annual strategic command-staff exercise (strategicheskiye komandno-shtabnyye ucheniya—SKShU) was Kavkaz 2020, held during September 21–26 and centered on the Southern Military District (MD). The exercise tested a wide range of military capabilities and took place across a diverse swathe of geographic locations within and beyond... MORE

The decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated again, on September 27, with the second intense military confrontation in three months. According to the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan, at about six o’clock in the morning, the Armenian Armed Forces commenced a large-scale provocation and... MORE

A group of Russian army soldiers from Dagestan cleaned their shoes in a holy spring by a Russian Orthodox church in the country’s westernmost province of Kaliningrad. The case sparked outrage among many ethnic Russians after the video surfaced on YouTube. Early reports suggested that... MORE

Since early September, media in Caspian littoral countries have been filled with stories about the expansion of Chinese rail operations there, a development that represents a double challenge to Moscow (Kaspiyskiy Vestnik, September 17). First, this expanded Chinese presence undermines Russia’s influence over these countries... MORE

On August 25, the Armenian media announced the arrival of two ethnic-Armenian families from Beirut, Lebanon, to the occupied territories of Azerbaijan (Asbarez, August 25). This was declared part of Yerevan’s assistance programs to Lebanon’s Armenian community. The wider initiative specifically includes a plan to... MORE

Russia’s annual strategic command-staff exercise (strategicheskiye komandno-shtabnyye ucheniya—SKShU)—this year, Kavkaz (Caucasus) 2020, held on September 21–26—is being widely advertised by the Ministry of Defense as a truly international event. The culmination of the Russian Armed Forces’ combat training year is always marked by a strategic-level exercise focused... MORE

On September 2, the parliament in Tbilisi approved the Law “On the Rules and Procedures for Georgian Citizens Exiting and Entering Georgia” (Matsne.gov.ge, September 4). This legislation is not related to the pandemic; rather, it addresses Georgia’s long-term relationship with the European Union and introduces... MORE

Armenia has long considered its negative demographic trends a threat. The issue was mentioned in both versions of the country’s National Security Strategy— the first one adopted in 2007 and the second in 2020 (see EDM, July 27). Before that, observed demographic declines already influenced... MORE

The Circassian-Russian conflict over historical monuments has resurfaced again, with the chairperson of the Council of Elders of the Circassian Cultural Diaspora in Moscow, Yuri Agirbov, lodging an official complaint over the public statements of a popular Russian designer, businessman, and blogger, Artemiy Lebedev. According... MORE