Russia’s constellation of GLONASS navigation satellites are part of a dual-use system—available to both civilian users and the military. Moscow began deploying it during the 1980s–1990s, but its initial capabilities were almost fully lost by the year 2000, due to technical and economic shortcomings. However,... MORE

Although Russia had time to prepare for the COVID-19 pandemic—the novel coronavirus arrived to Moscow, now the country’s hardest-hit urban center, only in the last week of March—the authorities were nonetheless caught badly unprepared. New infections are increasing by 4,500–6,000 per day; yet, the official... MORE

On April 15, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia briefed journalists that the government had agreed with international donors to allocate $3 billion to stabilize the economy, assist individuals affected by the developing economic crisis, and stimulate business in the post-crisis period (Interpressnews.ge, April 15). Georgia’s... MORE

In response to mounting cases of COVID-19 in Russia, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree, on April 17, providing a financial reprieve for the majority of the seven million–eight million foreign migrant workers currently believed to still reside in in the country, with little or... MORE

The Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum, held in Sochi on October 23–24, 2019 (see EDM, October 28, 2019), reaffirmed Russia’s growing interest in Central Africa. Among the countries comprising this region, two—the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of the Congo—received the... MORE

For the last two decades, Moscow has counted on Beijing’s regular use of Russian railways to export Chinese goods to Europe. In turn, China’s reliance on Russian rail was based on the presumption that any substitute overland route via Central Asia would be hampered by... MORE

The Belarusian government’s decision to try to fight the COVID-19 pandemic without a nationwide quarantine dominated international coverage of this East European country for several weeks. And yet, that perhaps understandable focus muscled out attention to a number of other key stories related to Belarus.... MORE

The Russian Federation’s North Caucasus republics are now being directly affected by the double crisis connected to the spread of COVID-19 and the slump in global oil prices. The individual republics are facing both crises in profoundly diverse social and economic conditions, however. Most of... MORE

The government of the Russian Federation, like the authorities in most other countries, proved slow to respond and initially mostly downplayed the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic. But as cases of COVID-19 have begun to soar in the densely populated parts of the country,... MORE

On April 19, Georgians celebrated Orthodox Easter. But this year, the date highlighted a confrontation between the national authorities and the governing institution of the Orthodox Church of Georgia (the Patriarchate). As worshippers flocked to attend Easter vigils, virologists expressed concern that the holiday might... MORE