Russian military science contributes in many ways to planning concerning a range of defense and military issues. The political-military leadership attaches primary importance to efforts to research and examine future warfare in order to help the state prepare for and invest in the development of... MORE

In the positional war in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, where enemy trenches are often only a hundred meters away from each other, snipers have a target-rich environment and play a critical tactical role. As elsewhere, snipers in the Donbas war proved to be an... MORE

The Belarusian economy has begun to sustain losses due to the disruption of Russian oil supplies. Whereas the country’s gross domestic product grew 1.2 percent in 2019 (annual growth), in January 2020, it was 1.9 percent lower than in January 2019. The government had predicted... MORE

Given Russia’s lack of a developed highway system (see EDM, October 6, 2015) and its increasing difficulties with the use of rivers for transport (Ritmeurasia.org, October 22, 2019), Moscow not only relies more heavily on the country’s long-haul railway network but counts on it to... MORE

Moscow approved a number of policy decrees on January 30 that de facto establish a foundation for the introduction of a Russian Arctic strategy until 2035 (see EDM, February 11). Russia’s huge expectations for the Arctic region center on the Northern Sea Route (NSR), whose... MORE

A group of people unexpectedly disrupted a large assembly of Balkar activists in Nalchik, the capital of the Northwest Caucasus republic of Kabardino-Balkaria. On February 2, dozens of youths stormed a hall where the congress of the Council of Elders of the Balkar People (CEBP)... MORE

On February 11, Andriy Bohdan—known as the “shadow cardinal” of Ukrainian politics and a former lawyer of oligarch Ihor Kolomoysky (see EDM, October 9, 2019)—left his post as the chief of the presidential administration. He was replaced by Andriy Yermak, heretofore a presidential advisor informally... MORE

Oppressive silence followed the February 7 Russian-Belarusian summit in Sochi, Russia. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka left that North Caucasus resort city without making any public statement. However, it was clear that silence would not last long given the emotional and charismatic personality of the Belarusian leader.... MORE

The United States’ sanctions against Iran and the unwillingness of most Caspian littoral states to challenge them have sent Tehran’s maritime trade in this sea plummeting over the last two years, reducing its non-petroleum component by half (Financial Tribune, May 27, 2019). But that has... MORE

On February 18, President Vladimir Putin signed an ukaz (executive order) dismissing his long-time cohort and political advisor Vladislav Surkov (55). The Kremlin tradition known as nomenklatura requires that someone dismissed from a top job be immediately provided with another one. A couple of weeks... MORE