On December 29, Franak Vyachorka, the son of the former leader of the Belarusian Popular Front Vintsuk Vyachorka, was transferred from his military unit in Mazyr to a hospital after having discovered scabies. He also suffers from high blood pressure. However, although the hospital doctor... MORE

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has reportedly opened negotiations to purchase unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) in Israel for use within the FSB border guard service. On January 13, Kommersant claimed that the FSB had entered discussions with the Israeli defense company Aeronautics Defense Systems,... MORE

On January 13 the Russian defense ministry confirmed important changes within the military leadership (Interfax, January 12; www.mil.ru, January 13). According to an official account, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces Army-General Vladimir Boldyrev and the Commander of the North Caucasus Military District Colonel-General... MORE

Too often the news surrounding terrorism is dominated by the headline-catching acts of terrorism, such as last summer’s twin suicide bombings in Jakarta, or the take-down of terrorist operatives such as Dr. Azahari bin Hussin or Noordin Mohammad Top. Less is written about success in... MORE

Violence continues unabated in the North Caucasus in the second week of January, with apparent insurgency-related incidents reported in Ingushetia, Dagestan, Chechnya and Kabardino-Balkaria.Unidentified attackers fired automatic weapons at the home of a businessman and his family in Nazran, Ingushetia, early today (January 14). No... MORE

Armenia is due to send a small contingent of troops to Afghanistan next month, in what will be a largely symbolic boost to the NATO-led multinational force fighting the Taliban insurgency. The deployment, approved by the Armenian parliament last month, has a primarily political significance.... MORE

Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has begun with a clear indication that the country intends to prioritize security. Astana will present its initiatives for the year ahead to the OSCE on January 14, amid growing signs of pressure... MORE

In mid-October 2009, Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of the Security Council, used an interview to discuss Russia’s draft military doctrine and highlighted one aspect: the first-use of nuclear weapons in a “preventive nuclear strike against the aggressor” (Izvestiya, October 14). This was not the first... MORE