RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS

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CIS Essential Politics: October 16-31

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 31 Oct 2025

- Russian strikes on Ukraine cause nationwide blackouts as winter looms. - Russia successfully tests Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered cruise missile with potentially unlimited range. - Failure to agree to a summit in Budapest leads the US to impose sanctions on Rosneft and Luko...

CIS Essential Politics: October 1-15

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 15 Oct 2025

- Ukrainian strikes force halt of operations at four major Russian refineries. - Ukraine has a USD 20.5 bn repair backlog after years of strikes against its energy infrastructure. - Putin apologizes to Aliyev as part of détente, signaling end of the diplomatic crisis. - Rus...

Essential CIS Politics: October 2025

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 30 Sep 2025

- Trump U-turns on Ukraine war, announces support for Ukraine’s 1991 borders. - Russia and China sign agreement on massive new gas pipeline after Putin’s visit to Beijing, the Power of Siberia-2. - Zelensky announces that he will not run again after the war, tries to address inte...

Essential CIS Politics: September 2025

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 02 Sep 2025

- Putin and Trump meet in Anchorage for a friendly but inconclusive summit. - Crises in Russian petroleum, agriculture and space industries; strikes on Russian refineries seek impact on population rather than armed forces. - Relations between Russia and Azerbaijan continue to crater. - Aze...

Essential CIS Politics: August 2025

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 01 Aug 2025

- Aeroflot grounded by massive cyberattack; Ukrainian group claims responsibility. - Russia—the first country in the world to recognize Taliban Afghanistan. - Russian armed forces drive a wedge between Pokrovsk and Kostyantynivka. - Ukraine experiences unrest related to Zel...

Special report: Moscow-Baku diplomatic row in perspective—destabilization of the South Caucasus?

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 18 Jul 2025

- Russian police launched raids on the Azerbaijani diaspora in Russia, citing its involvement in organized crime. - Azerbaijan retaliated by arresting and beating Russian nationals and closing Russian media outlets. - Aliyev maintains a stable equilibrium in his country's relatio...

Essential CIS Politics: July 2025

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 30 Jun 2025

- Impact on Russia and Ukraine of the Iran-Israel conflict: an analysis. - Ukraine launches a daring attack on Russian strategic bombers. - Russia’s Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov alerts of risk of recession. - Armenia in political crisis as Pashinyan squares off agains...

Poland and Ukraine spar over historiography: Ukraine’s WW II narratives trigger preventive Polish veto of EU and NATO accession

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · Report · 23 Jun 2025

• Poland is one of Ukraine’s strongest allies and highly opposed to Russia, but relations between Poland and Ukraine have been blighted by key issues. • Ukraine and Poland disagree over the commemoration of Ukrainian nationalists, who killed up to 100,000 Poles during WW II and afterwards. • Po...

Ukraine’s "Spiderweb" embarrasses Russia ahead of peace talks, could trigger a ballistic "Oreshnik" response

RUSSIA / FSU POLITICS · In Brief · 07 Jun 2025

Report: Ukraine’s "Spiderweb" embarrasses Russia ahead of peace talks, could trigger a ballistic "Oreshnik" response Ukraine strikes Russian bombers, allegedly causing up to USD 7 bn in damage Russian domestic military commentators criticize security and intelligence failsPeace talks in Istanbul ...