On March 18, the pro-presidential social movement “Belaya (White) Rus” became a political party. This decision was made by the organization’s inaugural congress in its new capacity. The respective aspirations have been repeatedly voiced since 2008—that is, almost from the very foundation of Belaya Rus.... MORE

Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Vladimir Putin regime has been increasingly compared to Hitler’s Nazi Germany. At the end of last year, the Russian television channel Dozhd (now based in the Netherlands and known as “TV Rain”) released a long... MORE

*Read Part One. Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, launched on February 24, 2022, has elevated the public image and even popularity of the notorious Wagner Group and its sponsor Yevgeny Prigozhin in Russia. A combination of factors—a more sophisticated recruiting approach, an expanded... MORE

*Read Part One. Moldovan President Maia Sandu’s March 17 speech represents the official launch of Moldova’s reconstructed policy toward Russia. The lengthy address was delivered in Parliament but was explicitly intended for the country at large. Some of its line items had been voiced by... MORE

Moldovan President Maia Sandu and her Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS), in power since 2020 and 2021, respectively, are executing a full reversal of their erstwhile policy toward Russia. That policy had sought a modus vivendiwith Moscow and, by extension, to broaden the party’s... MORE

On March 22, Russian Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu declared that Russia will complete the modernization of the missile defense system around Moscow by the end of 2023. He also announced the upcoming deployment of new units: one air defense division, one air defense brigade,... MORE

The Cossacks present broader and more serious challenges to the Kremlin than perhaps any other ethnic or regional group in the Russian Federation, challenges that increasingly affect the country as a whole. The Vladimir Putin regime recognizes this reality and has been taking various steps... MORE

On March 1, the Azerbaijani authorities held a meeting with the representatives of the Armenian community of Karabakh at the headquarters of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in Khojaly district in Azerbaijan. Russian Major General Andrey Volkov, commander of the peacekeeping unit, mediated the session (Trend.az,... MORE

In Belarus, a hunt for “extremists” has suddenly intensified. Primarily, both the audacious attack on the Russian A-50 aircraft (see EDM, March 8) and the simultaneous finale of two lengthy court proceedings are to blame. The defendants in one of the proceedings were Marina Zolotova... MORE

Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine has caused a proliferation in the “privatization of force” in Russia (see EDM, February 27; February 28), with Yevgeny Prigozhin, the sponsor and founder of the notorious Wagner Group, enjoying unprecedented publicity. While some commentators and experts (both in... MORE