Politics

Writing off debts: Russia’s new army recruitment strategy Members Public

Vladimir Putin has signed a new law to write off the loans of fresh recruits to the war. This latest preferential credit scheme is clearly intended to lure as many people as possible to the front line. * According to the newly-signed law, military personnel who sign up after Dec. 1,

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Politics

Putin’s missile escalation Members Public

The war in Ukraine ratched up dramatically this week, with tensions running at arguably their highest level in the near three-year conflict. Kyiv, with the support of its Western allies, used US-supplied ATACMS and British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles against targets inside Russian territory for the first time. Russia responded with

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Politics

Russia’s reaction to the prospect of ATACMS strikes Members Public

The news that the United States will allow Ukraine to use its missiles to hit targets inside Russian territory was an unpleasant surprise for Russia’s leaders on Sunday evening. It is by no means certain that it will hand Ukrainian forces a significant advantage on the battlefield, but Vladimir

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Narrow victory for Moldova’s pro-European president Members Public

A week after Georgia held crunch parliamentary elections, another former Soviet republic with EU ambitions went to the polls, as Moldovans voted in a presidential contest. The situation in Moldova, which was recently granted EU candidate states, was the reverse of that in Georgia — pro-EU president Maia Sandu was looking

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Putin puts on a BRICS spectacle Members Public

Last week’s BRICS summit in Kazan was probably the most successful international event staged by Vladimir Putin since the start of the war. It was the largest diplomatic forum, with the most world leaders, since at least 2022. Despite the show that Putin managed to put on and the

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Politics

Georgia’s ruling party wins key election, triggering opposition protests Members Public

Moscow has followed Georgia’s parliamentary elections almost as closely as the upcoming US presidential contest. Oligarch Bidzina Ivanishvili’s ruling “Georgian Dream” party has been pursuing increasingly pro-Russian policies since the start of the war in Ukraine, triggering a falling out with the West and accusations of democratic backsliding.

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Politics

Russia proposes confiscating exiles’ property Members Public

A bill that would allow authorities to seize property from Russians that have left the country has been introduced to Russia’s parliament. Although it had an unusual path to the floor of the Duma, it has every chance of being voted into law and could have been ordered by

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Politics

Russia boosts army sign-up bonuses amid escalating frontline losses Members Public

After the unpleasant experience with forcibly calling up army reservists in the 2022 “partial mobilization” drive, the Kremlin has since gone into overdrive to convince people to sign-up as contract soldiers for the invasion of Ukraine. The recruitment of “volunteers” (those who sign-up specifically to take part in the war

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Politics

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