Last week, in a clear signal to its neighbors, Moscow assertively demonstrated two key attributes of Russia’s state power. In particular, on October 30, Russian strategic forces conducted a large-scale exercise with launches of ballistic missiles from silos and submarines, patrol flights by Tu-95MC bombers,... MORE

Soon after outlawing the Russian version of the Koran translated by the well-known scholar Elmir Kuliev (https://kavpolit.com/zapret-kulieva-ne-zapret-perevoda-a-zapret-korana/), it became apparent that the Russian authorities had opted for the most uncompromising plan to push back the onslaught of Islamization in the country. The process of Islamization,... MORE

Tensions are high in Russia over the upcoming “Russian March,” which has taken place annually on November 4—“Unity Day”—since 2005, when it was first instigated by nationalists and neo-Nazis. The November 4 holiday was reinstituted by the government eight years ago to celebrate national unity.... MORE

Having failed to achieve tangible success in combating the armed jihadi resistance in the North Caucasus, Russia has opted for the path of Joseph Stalin. Interestingly enough, the proposal did not come from any sort of Bolshevik party in the Russian State Duma—indeed, President Vladimir... MORE

Russian pollsters say that the Russian public has changed its attitude toward the North Caucasus over the years. The authoritative Moscow-based polling organization, the Levada-Center, polled Russians about the North Caucasus throughout the 1990s and 2000s. “When the war was still ongoing in the North... MORE

The Central Electoral Commission of Georgia has finalized the vote count after last Sunday’s (October 27) presidential election (https://www.results.cec.gov.ge). The candidate of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) coalition, Giorgi Margvelashvili, received 62.11 percent of votes cast; the leader of the opposition United National Movement (UNM)... MORE

The October 21 suicide bombing of a Volgograd passenger bus was carried out, apparently, by a woman originally from the North Caucasian republic of Dagestan (see EDM, October 25). Nevertheless, a Russian website has recently asserted that the country’s Islamist groups would like to recruit... MORE

On October 22, government forces deployed in Dagestan’s mountains were significantly reinforced when at least 500 servicemen arrived in the district of Untsukul. Government forces will reportedly also be sent to other districts in Dagestan’s mountainous region to improve the deteriorating security situation in the... MORE

On October 25, members of the Congress of Russian Communities and the Union of the Orthodox Citizens of Crimea picketed in front of the Russian Consulate in Simferopol, the regional capital of Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea. The protesters waved Russian and Crimean flags as... MORE

During the crisis of defense reform associated with Anatoly Serdyukov’s (Russian minister of defense in 2007–2012) so-called “New Look” approach, there appeared a defense expert armed with mighty tools to unmask corruption and incompetence within the defense ministry and to lead Russian defense industries back... MORE