The son tries to escape his father’s shadow, costly breakdowns in gas exports, and Russia has been playing Turkmenistan for a fool. Our weekly briefing.
Vakhtang (Buba) Kikabidze, a Georgian singer and actor universally loved across the former Soviet Union, has died at the age of 84, drawing the curtain on an era.
The former president ended 2022 in the spotlight: He got a new city named in his honor, his poem set to music by his grandson on state television, and compliments from Russia. Our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.