Moldova’s presidential election: the Russians were not coming (this time)
Putin, who had practically abandoned incumbent President Igor Dodon ahead of the election (see below), became one of…
Moscow presents US as sinking into chaos
Four years ago, in November 2016, Donald Trump’s victory in the United States presidential election was celebrated in…
Ukraine’s geopolitical successes become Russian defeats
In the first half of October, the Ukrainian leadership concluded a series of important international agreements, with significance…
Donbas without water: The ecology of the east Ukrainian frontline
The military conflict between Ukraine and combined Russian-separatist forces in Donbas (a region encompassing the Donetsk and Luhansk…
Russia’s interests in Belarus, p.2: Shepherding the constitutional reform
Regime change via constitutional reform is Moscow’s chosen avenue toward its goal in Belarus: turning the country into…
Russia’s interests in Belarus, p.1. The termination of the grand bargain
Russia is not pursuing an “Anschluss” with Belarus. Rather, it aims to curtail Belarus’s external and internal sovereignty…
Can the vessel Akademik Cherskiy finish Nord Stream 2 pipeline construction?
At the beginning of October 2020, the Akademik Cherskiy—the only Russian pipe-laying ship capable of completing the construction…
Belarusian government reckons with two months of protests
Yet because the protests have failed to produce regime change, many Belarusians have jumped to compare their effort…
Russian disinformation shadows Ukrainian-British-US Joint Endeavor 2020 exercise
The Russian Armed Forces’ largest military exercise of the year, Kavkaz 2020, was held on September 21–23, in…
Ukraine’s new National Security Strategy: A wide scope with foggy implementation mechanisms
On September 14, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy approved the country’s new National Security Strategy, entitled “Human Security—the State’s…
Conflict conservation in Ukraine’s east follows the Transnistria model
Freeze, moreover, implies a natural or spontaneous process; whereas the post-hostilities situation in Transnistria, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia—and…
Unprecedented drought hits Russian-occupied Crimea, which can’t overcome water shortage without Ukraine
Crimea’s water problem is not a novelty. Due to relatively low annual average precipitation levels and a poor…
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy appoints gerontocrats to negotiate with Russia in Minsk
Kravchuk replaces former president Leonid Kuchma, who has retired from the position of delegation chief, citing fatigue. Kuchma…
The quick way to quasi-recognition of Donetsk-Luhansk’s armed formations: a play-by-play account
Ceasefire deal While the agreement’s full text has been released by all signatory parties, the page reserved for…