Sovereign Yakutia: Is Independence Possible for the Largest National Republic within the Russian Federation?

“Sakha” is the endonym of the Yakuts, a Turkic people whose ancestors migrated to what is now Yakutia in the 14th-15th centuries, partly displacing, partly assimilating the Evenks, who had moved into the area earlier and who spoke the language of the Tungus-Manchurian group, and the aboriginal Yukagir tribes. In the 17th century Russians entered Yakutia and after decades of armed struggle conquered it. In the 18th century, most Yakuts were nominally Christianized, resulting in the spread of Russian names and surnames among them.

The Influence of Anti-Semitic Ideology on Russia’s Legal Practices

The active synthesis of old communist ideology with far-right nationalist and anti-Semitic views in Russia has been going on for a long time, since Soviet era (for example, through the activities of the so-called unofficial nationalist and conservative “Russian Party” in the late Soviet period). We will consider only three examples of individuals from the Russian security services who played a significant role in promoting anti-Semitic ideology in the post-Soviet period, giving it a pseudo-intellectual character. The analysis of these three consecutive cases shows a gradual increase in the tolerance of the Russian state of open anti-Semitism on the part of influential figures with background in security services. This situation, as we will analyze in the second part of the paper, has also begun to influence legal practice in Russia.

Russian Buddhists and the war in Ukraine

There is no single structure uniting all Buddhist communities in Russia. Each of the three autonomous republics whose indigenous populations are traditionally Buddhist - Kalmykia, Tuva and Buryatia - has its own structure of Buddhist clergy.

Radicalized and Confused? The Russian Factor in the Latvian Electoral Politics

In 2022-2023, the current and future status of those residents of Latvia who hold Russian citizenship was hotly debated. Many residence permits were revoked, and some people who have not declared their intention to obtain a permanent residence permit or who have not passed the Latvian language exam are even getting ready to be forcefully removed from the territory of Latvia. These legislative measures have drawn further attention not only to the Russian citizens living in Latvia, but also to the ethnic Russians (or Russophones) who have Latvian citizenship and can participate directly in the Latvian political process. How has their electoral behaviour changed after February 2022 and which political forces can now claim to represent their interests?

Political Geometry of Armenia: Between Russia, Iran, and the EU

The Eurasian Economic Union declared 2024 the year of IT technologies. This sector has long been well-developed in Armenia, with Armenian IT companies maintaining a close cooperation with Silicon Valley. Thus, Iran will have a unique opportunity to develop its IT technologies, which seemed quite impossible not so long ago.

“The Middle Eastern Front” of the Russian-Ukrainian War: A View from Jerusalem

As the fighting in Gaza develops, Russia's position is becoming increasingly clear: Moscow almost openly supports Hamas as a satellite of Iran, Russia's closest partner in the Middle East. This significantly sets the current situation apart from the relatively balanced approach demonstrated by Moscow during, for instance, the IDF's Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and Russia’s subsequent policy of presenting itself as an “impartial mediator” between all participants in the Middle East conflict.

Anti-Semitiс Conservatives in the Russian Orthodox Church and Their Influence on State Ideology

Currently, Russia is in the process of forming a new state ideology, one that holds conservative values. The Russian Orthodox Church plays a significant role within this ideology. Consequently, the political significance of conservative circles within the Russian Orthodox Church concerning the Jewish question is becoming pronounced.

Sociopolitical Dynamics of the Russians in Kazakhstan: Political Participation and Potential Risks

In the months after 21 September 2022, when the Kremlin announced military mobilization, nearly a million Russian citizens entered Kazakhstan; though, two-thirds had already left the country before January 2023. The reason for the unexpected rise in popularity of migration to the Central Asian state was that Russian citizens do not need a visa or even a “foreign travel” passport to go there.

Very Close Enemies: Russian-Georgian Relations

Georgia is a very important element of Russia's connection with the global South, and in informational terms, working relations with Georgia are an extremely convenient element for Russian propaganda, unlike relations with Ukraine. The main goal of the Russian Federation in its relations with Georgia is to keep Georgia in the ecosystem of Russia's survival under sanctions.

Dagestan and Northern Caucasus – the first Anti-Semitic pogroms in Post-Soviet Russian History

The majority of Russian commentators agree that the events occurred as a result of mounting mass dissatisfaction in the North Caucasus, with the Jews and Israelis as a formal pretext for the events. However, there are also attempts to determine the actions of specific players who may have intentionally organized pogroms in the Northern Caucasus. Some of these hypotheses are of a propagandistic nature, while others require more in-depth analysis if sufficient supporting arguments can be found.

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