Vladimir Rozanskij

In six months of war Beijing has not shown itself to be a reliable partner for Moscow. Chinese people have little interest in what is happening in Ukraine, except for their opposition to the West. Chinese industries and banks fear secondary sanctions from the US and Europe.

The authorities want new land for residential districts and urban facilities. The 'capital of the north' has similar problems to Venice. Environmentalists protest. Experts: build new neighbourhoods and residential areas modelling them on the city's environmental reality.

More than two billion euros have been allocated to the military sphere. The turning point came after the internal uprisings in January and Russia's war in Ukraine. Nur-Sultan could be the next target of Putin's imperial aims. The meagre earnings, however, are not enticing young Kazakhs to enlist.

In an open letter to Serdar Berdymuhamedov published in the local press, industry and trade representatives denounce an untenable climate. "Only close relatives of your family can work freely." The manat exchange has been blocked since 2018. Taxes to support state events and festivals also under scrutiny.

The Russian painter who died this week in Berlin had spoken of how the image with Brezhnev and Honecker reproduced on the remains of the Wall was born in his Moscow art workshop in the 1980s, at the time of clandestine exhibitions of samizdat authors. And back in 2014, he explained that it was not only a symbol of a bygone world, but was coming back into sharp focus.

The first ever gathering with young people from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Siberian Russia was held in Issyk-Kul. They set up six service projects for the elderly and the most abandoned, for children and underprivileged families of the "Warm Lake" mountains.

City Duma member Aleksandr Shishlov, from the Yabloko party, has been arrested, allegedly for discrediting Russia’s military currently fighting in Ukraine. Many scholars have taken his side. He is an example of those who are still fighting for freedom of expression in Russia.

Concerned about the growth of certain religious groups, like the Jehovah's Witnesses, government and Muslim clerical leaders are working together to stop the trend. Officially, there is no persecution.

Although independence is not on the agenda of the Moscow-controlled World Congress of Tatars, interest in Mirsaid Sultan-Galiev, one of the fathers of modern Tatarstan purged by Stalin, is reviving. Many Tatars are tilting against Putin's neo-imperialist ideology.

Poland is building up its defences with US$ 14.5 billion in South Korean weapons, some of which could go to Ukraine. Germany’s seeming failure to help Ukraine against Russia’s aggression is proving controversial in bilateral relations. Warsaw wants a strong military deterrent against Moscow’s threats.

Ukraine and Syria will be the main points of discussion. The Turkey-mediated grain deal between Ukraine and Russia still reverberates. Turkey’s “sultan” defends Russia’s “tsar” from Western criticism. Both want to keep their hold on power.

An agreement signed in Kyrgyzstan. Shared concerns over problems generated by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, Russia's war in Ukraine. Concerns also over internal separatist thrusts. Attention also on ecological issues.