Latest news, headlines and top stories you need to know RIGHT NOW about Russia, the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.
Image by Clay Gilliland The country Nikolai Klimkin serves does not officially exist and has remained trapped in a limbo of impoverished stagnation for decades. The 32-year-old is a solider in the army of the self-proclaimed state of Transnistria — a tiny sliver of land that claimed independence from Moldova…
Image by Rei-artur The Baltic nation of Estonia, one of the NATO members in the region concerned about perceived Russian aggression, expelled two Russian diplomats on Friday. Estonian Foreign Ministry declared that Russia’s Consul General in the city of Narva Dmitry Kazennov and Consul Andrei Surgayev would be expelled from…
Russia is building a military research and testing center in the Arctic region, furthering its already strong hold to land claims in the region, at the expense of other world powers. Lt. Gen. Igor Makushev, head of the Military-Scientific Committee of the Russian Armed Forces, said the center will be…
Kozeta Cika contributed to this article Image by Helmandsare Montenegro is expected to be the next NATO member, bringing the total number of member countries to 29. “Montenegro will become a NATO member in June”, NATO General Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, stated a few days ago. He specified that all Alliance…
Ukrainian law enforcement agents detained 23 former high-ranking tax-administration official suspected of helping the government of ex-President Viktor Yanukovich to defraud 96 billion Hryvnas (approximately 4 billion dollars) in what authorities call the largest operation of its kind in the history of Ukraine. Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and…
Bialowieza Forest, an ancient, primeval woods on the border between Poland and Belarus, is the subject of environmental protests as activists try to stop logging in the area. Multiple demonstrators climbed trees, hung signs, and chained themselves to logging equipment to bring attention to the issue in the world press….
Lawyers for a Russian tech mogul suing online news site BuzzFeed for defamation will seek within the next two weeks to take sworn testimony from its editor and several reporters. The suit stems from BuzzFeed’s decision to become the first news operation to post online a former British spy’s dossier…
Railway industry officials say that Russian Railways (RZhD), which has a monopoly in Russia, is refusing to accept rail shipments into the Baltic nation of Latvia. Deliveries are down 90% from recent months. Speculation is rampant that Russia is punishing Latvia over its refusal to allow Moscow to use its…
The Ukrainian parliament approved a measure to force Ukrainian Television broadcasters to speak Ukrainian on at least 75% of their broadcasts, in a bid to further limit the influence of Russia on Ukrainian society. The bill was passed 269-15. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko backed the bill and vowed to sign…