The international response to the clashes – the worst since 2016 – has tended to treat both sides equally, while each side insists that the other is to blame.
Putin’s aims with his recent article are abundantly clear: He wants to focus global attention on the Soviet Union’s role in ending World War II, not in starting it.
While the country’s volatile politics went to the back burner during the coronavirus pandemic, the opposition is getting into action again with a new unity slate and a planned weekend protest.
The two presidents spoke following the violent breakup of a protest by Azerbaijani labor migrants in Dagestan. Details of a possible diplomatic resolution of the situation have been scant, however.
Last year, the TV host insulted Vladimir Putin in an obscene rant. Now, he says, Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov is trying to kill him, and Georgian authorities seem to agree.
The labor migrants are trying to return home after losing their jobs in the coronavirus pandemic. Tensions are rising, and a protest on the border has been violently broken up by Russian police.