Russia

In the thirty-year post-Soviet period, Christmas had split into two, accepting 25 December of the Gregorian calendar, without conflict with 7 January of the Julian calendar of the Orthodox Church. With the war, Christians return to quarelling over the dates of the liturgical calendar, evoking how the first schism in the 2nd century was overcome thanks to Irenaeus, a saint from Asia who went to preach in Gaul, inaugurating the meeting of souls and the great currents of Christian spirituality.

The 'Russia system' seems to have held up in the face of Western restrictions for its invasion of Ukraine. However, problems are expected in the long run. It will be difficult for the Russians to compensate for lost imports. A drop in the population's standard of living is expected. The Russian Bear behind even the emerging Asian countries.

It is Russia's most glorious association for the defence of human rights. Registered only in the capital, the Ministry of Justice challenges its work on a national scale. Human rights dead and buried in Putin's Russia.

Wooed by Moscow and Ankara, the Turkmen want to maintain their traditional neutrality. The passage of Turkmen gas to Europe and South Asia at stake. The Turks aim to become a primary energy hub. The Russians seek alternatives to the European market.

The war in Ukraine shows how propaganda is back with a vengeance, the latest incarnation of a something that goes from Mayakovski’s poems to today's influencers. It reflects a dilemma best embodied by Dostoevsky when he wrote: “Even if someone were to prove to me that the truth lay outside Christ, I should choose to remain with Christ rather than with the truth.”

Tokyo plans to buy new long-range missiles, doubling military spending over the next five years. Critics warn this violates the country’s "pacifist" constitution. For the government, it is a “bare minimum self-defence measure”. China reacts angrily. Putin's Russia is also in the crosshairs.

National Movement presidential candidates chosen. Outgoing leader Melia is favoured. All four contenders call for the release of former president Saakashvili. The pro-Western formation challenges the pro-Kremlin Georgian Dream currently in power.

The Republic of Tatarstan issues manual for learning the UDMURT language. Small signs of the periphery's independence from Moscow emerge. The growing centrality of the Tatars. With the Ukrainian crisis, the suggestion of a Tatar-Bashkian state between the Urals and the Volga returns.

He challenges his Moscow counterpart Kirill on the historical ideology of 'panslavism'. No to nationalist heresy, yes to original apostolic universalism. In the Russian Orthodox world religion is exploited for political and ideological reasons. The help of the Church of Rome is needed to overcome the differences between "Greeks and Russians".

New military agreement between Tajikistan and Beijing. The region's former Soviet republics are increasingly looking to the Chinese in the face of Putin's belligerent Russia. After the growth of economic relations, security relations between Central Asian countries and China are growing.

Convicts are released to fight on Ukrainian soil. Many desert to return to crime. The role of the Wagner mercenary agency. Military weapons used for criminal acts in Russia. The danger of a new war between organised crime cartels.

Composed of life time expatriots and recent fugitives, the Russian diaspora presents a variegated and fractured picture, even if it is rich in leading figures from the world of culture, politics and economics. Moreover, division is a classic characteristic not only of Russian politics abroad, but also of its religiosity and church structures, as revealed by the Russian-Ukrainian war.