In early May, the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) joint-stock company (a subsidiary of Russian RAO UES International) submitted a request to Armenia’s state regulatory commission for a fee increase for retail customers. Currently, there is a two-tier price system, with 42 Armenian dram (about... MORE

In an effort to break free from Pakistan’s influence, two different groups of Afghan Taliban leaders have during the last year reportedly explored the possibility of establishing a Taliban safe haven in Iran, while also seeking Tehran’s support for their insurgency. In October 2014, Abdul... MORE

The story of Moscow State University (MGU) student Varvara Karaulova has caused an outcry in Russia. Earlier this month, to the surprise of her parents and friends, the student unexpectedly disappeared and was later found by Turkish border guards at the Syrian border (RIA Novosti,... MORE

Muslims in the North Caucasus anxiously watched the incident at a mosque in Ingushetia’s Nasyr-Kort (Nazran) municipality on June 5, when several thousand supporters of the republican mufti, Isa Khamkhoev, and the imam of the mosque, Khamzat Chumakov (see EDM, August 1, 2013), clashed with... MORE

On April 27, Turkmenistan launched its first telecommunications satellite into space. The launch was hailed as a breakthrough by President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who watched the ceremony at Cape Canaveral in Florida live from Ashgabat via a conference call. The 4.5-ton satellite called TurkmenAlem52E/Monacosat was carried... MORE

On May 29, the well-known Cossack ataman Yuri Churekov was arrested in Stavropol region. Investigators suspect Churekov of illegal arms operations. Reportedly, on April 28, Churekov and another individual sold two Kalashnikov automatic rifles to undercover government agents in the city of Goryachevodsk, Churekov’s hometown.... MORE

Historically, Russia has treated the Balkans as an area solidly within its sphere of vital interests, and that is still the case today. While individual Balkan countries are not especially important geostrategic players in Europe, their location imparts to them a greater, even possibly exaggerated,... MORE

At the European Union’s Eastern Partnership summit in Riga (May 21–22), the EU’s neighborhood and enlargement policies came to a grinding halt. To some extent this is an effect of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the centerpiece country of the EU’s Eastern Partnership. But, irrespective of... MORE

All eyes are currently on the actions of Moscow-supported units in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. Speculations abound as to when and where these forces will attack next and whether the Ukrainian military will be able to hold back or even repulse them. But an even... MORE

It was hardly surprising that the fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was broken last week by an exchange of artillery and tank fire after weeks of deployment of Russian troops and heavy weapons in the war zone. What was unexpected, however, was the direction of... MORE