The United Nations reports that more than 110,000 Ukrainians have fled for neighboring Russia over the course of the year and thousands more have ben displaced as the government has fought separatist militias in the East. This week has seen a fragile ceasefire in place between the two contenders, enabling UN workers to get an…
Afghanistan’s southwest province of Helmand was home earlier this week to a violent clash between the Taliban and the Afghan military. Taliban forces numbering more than 800 have laid siege to Afghan army checkpoints throughout the region, which is also known as the birthplace of the Taliban and one of the least secure regions in…
Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine are increasingly composed of trained Central Asian militants, according to a new article by RFE/RL. Photographs taken by Reuters on June 22 in Siversk in Donetsk show a native of Uzbekistan as a member of a pro-Russian militia there. On June 24, a spokesman for the “Donetsk People’s Republic” said that…
Rampant allegations of fraud and foul play during Afghanistan’s run-off election have led to the resignation of another prominent figure, top election official Ziaulhaq Amarkhil. Amarkhil, who has been the target of accusations of biased vote counting and the fraudulent placing of over one million additional votes. The resignation of Amarkhil is described as the…
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan announced that they will ratify the Eurasian Economic Union Treat during this coming fall. The four counties have all been the objects of considerable attention from the Kremlin as it seeks to develop a union similar to that of the European Union in its own backyard. Russian President Vladimir Putin has…
Gazprom completed an agreement last month to purchase Kyrgyzstan’s state gas company Krygyzgaz for $1, after Russia wrote off a large portion of Kyrgyz debt in return and Gazprom pledged to invest $570 million in repairing and modernizing gas infrastructure. This will also alleviate some stress on the Krygyzstan-Uzbekistan relationship, from which Kyrygzstan draws about…
Abdullah Abdullah, long considered the frontrunner for the future president of Afghanistan, has suspended his involvement with the Independent Election Commission (IEC), recalling his party monitors from commission offices, on account of what he has described as “industrial-scale fraud,” saying that “the counting process should stop immediately and if that continues, it will have no…
The Chinese government has executed 13 individuals for crimes of terrorism in China’s troubled Xinjiang province. The executions, which were carried out on Monday, were justified by Chinese government officials who claimed the individuals had encouraged terrorist activity and “planned violent terrorist attacks” while killing “police officers, government officials and civilians.” The attacks mentioned were…
New President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said he would introduce a new ceasefire framework that would allow separatist groups and government forces to engage in peaceful negotiation and settlement. Despite the institution of these new rules of engagement, Poroshenko reported to the Ukrainian National Security Council that there was no need to involve the country…
Any semblance of trust that had existed between Ukraine and Russia during this past weekend has quickly evaporated after reports emerged that tanks provisioned by Moscow rolled across Ukraine’s borders, apparently under the command of rebel forces. Ukrainian officials have reported that rebels are now in possession of three Russian tanks and an assortment of…
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