On the 28th of February 2014, the leaders of Ukraine attended an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) in order to determine how the country should react to Russia’s actions. The participants of the meeting concluded that Russia was ready for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2014. During that time, Russia was carrying out the occupation of Crimea with the use of Special Forces.

Regarding the eastern border of Ukraine, 38,000 Russian servicemen with …

In an open letter to the leaders of PARNAS and the Yabloko Party, prominent Russian public figures, human rights activists, and scholars called on the two parties to unite in the forthcoming State Duma elections. The activists published a second appeal to the general public, calling on them to support such cooperation. Both were published together in Novaya Gazeta on Tuesday, February 23rd.

The authors expressed alarm over the impending chaos in Russia due to the current political …

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili will visit Baku in March. According to the press service of the State Committee for Work with the Diaspora (GKRD) of Azerbaijan, the Georgian President will attend the fourth Global Baku Forum, organized by the Nizami Ganjavi International Center.

The forum, entitled “Towards a Multipolar World”, will take place on March 10th and 11th.  Discussion in Baku will be center around the role of interreligious dialogue in conflict prevention, migration, …

The Governor of Odessa, Mikhail Saakashvili, stated that his ambitions in Ukraine are not limited to the post of Prime Minister.

According to the politician, his goal is “to establish new rules of the game and to involve a new generation of the political elite.” He also noted in an interview with the Rustavi 2 channel in Georgia that Ukraine is now exploring the same path as Georgia had before the Rose Revolution.

Saakashvili also noted that he would begin to be more active and start meeting …

According to intelligence reports, on the 19th of February, nine servicemen of the Gorlovka 3rd separate motorized rifle brigade submitted resignation requests, stating that they would "return to Russia". The Defense Intelligence asserted that with regard to mass resignations, the staffing of personnel in the brigade subdivisions must not exceed 50%.  In addition, in the Novoazovsk 9th separate motorized rifle regiment reported that resignation requests were issued by almost all junior …