Beijing is using its financial might to expand its influence, eroding centuries of Russian dominance in a vast, resource-rich region.
Author: ANDREW HIGGINS
As Putin Pushes a Merger, Belarus Resists With Language, Culture and History
With President Vladimir Putin of Russia looking to accelerate moves toward a “union state,” Belarusians are promoting a stronger sense of their own national identity.
Georgia Stages Protests While Its Relations With Russia Are in a Tailspin
The latest demonstrations followed a decision by President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to cancel all flights from Russia to Georgia starting on July 8.
Paul Whelan, American Held in Russia, Pleads for Help from Trump
A corporate security officer and former Marine, charged with espionage in Russia, called on President Trump and other leaders to free him from a “political kidnapping.”
Kazakhstan Gets New Leader, but Old System’s Grip on Power Remains
After quashing protests, the government said that President Nazarbayev’s handpicked successor had won a lopsided vote. Observers cast doubt on the official count.
belarus dispatch: Want to Relax? Try the Spa in a Salt Mine in Belarus
To some, the suggestion of a visit to the salt mines evokes grim memories of prison camps. But allergy sufferers swear by the health benefits.
The Saturday Profile: Putin’s Toughest Online Critic Brings His Name, and Wheelchair, Into the Light
Recently revealed as the creator of the online persona StalinGulag, Aleksandr Gorbunov has attracted a huge following for his scathing commentary.
Kyrgyzstan Dispatch: A Mennonite Town in Muslim Central Asia Holds On Against the Odds
A community of Mennonites in Kyrgyzstan is one of Christendom’s most remote and oddest outposts in the Muslim world, as ethnic Germans cling to their faith even as emigration shrinks their numbers.
Belarus Building Site Yields the Bones of 1,214 Holocaust Victims
Activists, who say the city knew about the mass grave for slaughtered Jews, ask why a permit was issued.
Ukraine’s Newly Elected President Is Jewish. So Is Its Prime Minister. Not All Jews There Are Pleased.
Anti-Semitism is not the scourge it once was in Ukraine, but some Jews fear becoming targets as their prominence grows.