In 2023, regular spring conscription for military service in Russia started on April 1 and will end on July 15. The stated goal for this round of conscription is 147,000 soldiers, higher than the targets of 134,500 soldiers for spring 2022 and 120,000 soldiers for... MORE

The war in Ukraine unleashed by President Vladimir Putin has finally reached Russian territory. This includes not only raids by sabotage groups into border regions (see EDM, May 31) but also the regular shelling of Russian cities. Furthermore, on May 30, the most massive drone... MORE

In recent days, the world has been focusing on Ukrainian-backed incursions into some Russian regions bordering Ukraine. Nevertheless, three developments over the past week strongly suggest that Moscow is also alarmed by growing Ukrainian involvement inside the Russian Federation thousands of miles to the east... MORE

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated,” Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka may soon be repeating these words that are commonly attributed to Mark Twain. Less than two weeks after unsubstantiated rumors about Lukashenka’s health condition subsided (see EDM, May 24), a new rumor captured... MORE

On May 26, during an episode of one of the countless political shows on state-run Russian television, Boris Nadezhdin, a local politician from Dolgoprudny near Moscow and former member of the State Duma, declared that, to restore Russian relations with Europe, it will be necessary... MORE

The role of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) as a major source of precursor chemicals for illicit drug manufacturing, particularly fentanyl and methamphetamine, is increasingly well documented (China Brief, January 19). However, the actual level of illegal drug use within China itself remains murkier.... MORE

On May 26, chairman of the Ukrainian Servant of the People ruling party’s parliamentary faction, David Arakhamia, published a Georgian-language post on his Facebook page regarding Georgia’s Independence Day. In recognizing the South Caucasus country’s independence, Arakhamia wrote, “Compromise at the cost of defeating a... MORE

The noise of jingoist propaganda and anti-Western hysteria emanating from Moscow is not as monotonous as it often seems, and the variations expose significant differences between and within Russian elite groups. Recent military setbacks, such as the destruction of a mixed air group over the... MORE

On May 19, the first flight of a Russian airline landed in Tbilisi officially marking the resumption of air traffic between Georgia and Russia. Yet, this development has produced mixed reactions in Georgia, with Georgian society voicing their displeasure through protests (YouTube, May 19) and... MORE

On May 18, a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization took place in Minsk. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka personally greeted the respective speakers of the member countries’ parliaments and made several statements, one of which was a suggestion that any... MORE