On April 21, Georgian company Peri began construction on the Khadori-3 hydroelectric station (HES) with a capacity of 5 megawatts (MW). Construction started near the villages of Birkiani and Dzibakhevi, in Pankisi Gorge (Civil.ge, April 21). This Georgian region (not far from the border with... MORE

The recent series of mass protests in various Russian regions have differed significantly from each other in their goals. For example, residents of the Republic of Ingushetia demanded a referendum on changing the borders of their republic, speaking out against the secretive decisions of the... MORE

One year ago, in April 2018, a quasi-authoritarian regime collapsed as a result of a nationwide protest movement in Armenia labeled the “Velvet Revolution” (see EDM, April 23, 2018). And the following December, the first non-fraudulent election in 20 years secured a comfortable parliamentary majority... MORE

Last week, Belarus’s President Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s visited Turkey (April 16) and, three days later, delivered his annual report to the parliament and the Belarusian people (April 19). Following negotiations with his Turkish counterpart, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Lukashenka pledged to boost bilateral trade from $1... MORE

On March 31, 2019, the authorities released official results for the first-round of the Ukrainian presidential election. The incumbent, President Petro Poroshenko, came in second place with almost 16 percent of the vote, while the frontrunner, popular satirist/comedian/media manager Volodymyr Zelensky, received over 30 percent.... MORE

Introduction In late March, the China Communist Youth League (Gongchan Zhuyi Qingnian Tuan, 共产主义青年团), or CCYL, released an official document that detailed plans to recruit large numbers of young people for work programs in rural areas of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The document,... MORE

Popular comedian Volodymyr Zelensky won the Ukrainian runoff presidential election hands down on April 21. More than 73 percent of those who came to the polling stations cast their ballots for him. For the first time in any post-Soviet state’s history, an individual without any... MORE

The second round of the presidential elections in Ukraine, held last Sunday (April 21), was a rather unconventional democratic exercise. And for millions of keen followers in Russia, who looked at it through the distorting lens of their mainstream media, it was oddly disconcerting. For... MORE

Many have been struck by the fact that Russians have largely not actively protested against President Vladimir Putin’s military actions in Syria, unlike against his war in Ukraine. It has been suggested that, perhaps, this reflects the fact that Russians know far more about Ukraine... MORE

The independent pollster Levada Tsentr regularly tests Russians’ attitudes toward former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, and it recently published a report showing that love, admiration and respect for Stalin is now the highest it has been since 2000. Some 70 percent of Russians currently see... MORE