A serious conflict has arisen between Moscow and Minsk over a proposed joint military defense strategy document. The Russian side declares that it will treat any attack on Belarus as an attack on itself (see EDM, October 23) and thus needs to have a Russian... MORE

On October 10, Russian diplomat and a key middleman between Russia and post-2011 Libya, Lev Dengov, officially dismissed accusations by several Western information outlets that Moscow was militarily involved in the most recent outbreak of violence in this war-torn North African country. Specifically, reports pointed... MORE

News about the United States’ decision to withdraw from the 1988 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty produced the predictable explosion of propaganda commentary in Moscow. But by the end of last week, the feigned outrage had expired, and some sober second thoughts emerged. The Russian... MORE

The United States’ National Security Advisor John Bolton arrived in Moscow on October 22, shortly after President Donald Trump announced Washington would withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty. Bolton met Russia’s main national security and defense figures, including National Security Council Secretary... MORE

On August 16, the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs shut down the “Zlatibor” youth camp, where 44 adolescents (aged 14–23) had been learning a wide range of paramilitary skills, including wilderness survival techniques, first aid, martial arts, and basic handling of various weapons and explosives.... MORE

Mikhail Babich, Vladimir Putin’s newly installed ambassador to Minsk (see Commentaries, July 20; EDM, August 2, September 7), went on Belarusian television, on Sunday, October 21, where he declared that Moscow will view any attack on Belarus as an attack on Russia and will respond... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Uzbekistan, on October 19, resulted in more signed agreements, worth larger sums of money, than any other bilateral meeting the Central Asian republic’s President Shavkat Mirziyaev had held to date. A number of long-term and short-term strategic projects,... MORE

Major General Igor Kirillov, the commander of Russia’s Radiological, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops, stated, on October 4, that renewed construction is occurring at a series of alleged biological laboratories in Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, purportedly being financed by the United States. Most likely, Kirillov... MORE

Tajikistan’s isolated Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, which adjoins Afghanistan, is rapidly descending into chaos. Dushanbe has demanded that the population turn in its weapons, leading to clashes between locals and the estimated 7,500 Tajikistani soldiers stationed there. Remarkably, and in an unprecedented step, residents have launched... MORE

The massive strategic-operational war game Vostok 2018, held last September in the Russian Far East, officially involved up to 300,000 personnel and thousands of tanks and other heavy military equipment. Russian forces were joined by a mechanized brigade from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).... MORE