Since the turn of the millennium, the shift towards renewable energy sources has been increasingly encouraged by the likes of international organizations and global powers collectively. Alongside the rise of new sustainable resources, the 21st century has experienced a vast growth rate in technology, creating nascent challenges for governments whilst coping with the continuously adjusting conditions of global dynamics.

Amid a somewhat favorable new offensive in northern Ukraine, Vladimir Putin appears emboldened to engage in domestic political maneuvering — even against those seen as his loyalists. Accordingly, Putin’s fifth presidential term has commenced with a historic reshuffling of senior defense personnel.

The implementation of sanctions following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has widely been seen as ineffective, particularly as the Russian economy continues not to collapse. The resilience of the Russian economy shows that it has been able to partially work around the limitations imposed by sanctions, but perhaps worse than this are the failures on the part of Western countries, including the UK, to make sanctions as effective as possible.

In the latest episode about the relationship of Russia and its most intimate EU-ally. We are in Hungary, in March 2022: a few weeks after Russia launched its full-scale attack on Ukraine, and only a few weeks before the Hungarian parliamentary elections

This month we want to draw attention to a case of Russian political prisoner Nataliya Filonova, who chose personal convictions over presidential pardon. The featured article by Holod Media is translated for KRI newsletter from Russian, by Eliza Ugodnikova.

Discussion of sanctions has in large part been hampered by both legislative problems and misunderstandings over the actual purpose of imposing sanctions on Russia – the continued resilience of the Russian economy has led some to describe the sanctions as a failure. However, this criticism ignores the multiple intentions behind implementing sanctions – as described in the new UK sanctions strategy “Deter, Disrupt, and Demonstrate”.

Atomic Steppe provides a background to Kazakhstan’s antipathy towards nuclear power as a result of Soviet nuclear tests mentioned in this editions’ article ‘Central Asia: The nexus between Environmental and Energy Concerns’.

My attention for studies this term has shifted towards contemporary issues in Central Asia, focusing on subjects such as human and energy security in the region. Therefore, in my article for the month of May, I have decided to research nuclear developments in Central Asia, focusing on the geographical position of post-Soviet nations and the effect this has on their acquisition of nuclear technology.