Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a high-level meeting of security officials immediately following the recent anti-Israeli riots in Dagestan and elsewhere in the North Caucasus. Putin’s move is one of only a few indications that Moscow is concerned with the unrest (MR7.ru, November 5).... MORE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ended a debate that he himself had helped spark. Zelenskyy told the nation on November 6 that Ukraine cannot hold elections while fighting a war for survival: “This is a time for cohesion, not division and wrangling. … Not for... MORE

At the end of August, forces from the so-called “Libyan National Army” conducted a combined air-raid and airborne assault on Umm al-Araneb, Murzug District in Libya’s southern region of Fezzan. The operation targeted rebels from the Chadian Front for Change and Concord (Front pour l’alternance... MORE

From May to July, Maulvi Abdul Kabir served as acting prime minister pro tempore of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan for Mullah Muhammad Hassan Akhund, who had been suffering from health problems (Etemaad, May 18; EFE, July 17). Abdul Kabir has served in key positions in the previous and... MORE

On July 21, clashes between Shafiq Mengal’s “death squad” and fighters loyal to Baloch nationalist leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal left four people dead in Wadh, Khuzdar District in Balochistan. Sardar Akhtar Mengal claimed that state-sponsored militias in Balochistan, namely Shafiq Mengal’s death squad, were formed... MORE

Russia is going to great lengths to maintain its war effort in Ukraine without having to resort to another wave of mass mobilization (see EDM, October 10, 31). Military-adjacent structures, such as the Registered Cossacks, are becoming increasingly important as a source of recruits for... MORE

The Kremlin has broadened the recruitment of prisoners by the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) and National Guard (Rosgvardia) in an effort to avoid launching a second wave of mass mobilization. This comes after Moscow denied the Wagner Group the right to recruit convicts in... MORE

On November 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the bill officially withdrawing Russia’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Putin’s move is designed to restore parity in nuclear arms control commitments with the United States, which has never ratified the treaty. The document signed... MORE

As Russian military and financial resources are being ground down in Avdiivka and Kupyansk, Moscow has struggled to maintain progress in some of its wider foreign policy objectives (Ukrinform, November 2). Some of these are a revival of Soviet-era goals, including a greater military, political,... MORE

In September, Azerbaijan carried out a swift military operation to reclaim full control over the Karabakh region (see EDM, September 20). Since then, Armenia has begun searching for new partners, as Yerevan has become deeply distrustful of Moscow (see EDM, February 9). On October 3,... MORE