President Dalia Grybauskaite.

Russia's Zapad-2017 war games explained Protests in Belarus Politicians are not the only ones voicing concern over Zapad-2017. One week ahead of the maneuvers' start, around 200 Belarusians hit the streets of the capital, Minsk, to protest the military drills. Some 7,200 Belarusian troops will participate, Russia has said, and military exercises will be concentrated in the nation with close ties to Russia. A protest banner reads "For peaceful Belarus." Author: Cristina Burack



The US-Belarus rapprochement comes as Russia has increased pressure on Lukashenko to deepen ties between Minsk and Moscow.

There has also been speculation that Putin may consider reviving the Union State of Russia and Belarus project as a means to extend his presidency. He is currently constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term inContents

News Archive - Aug 2008

Yuri Nosenko Dead at 81

August 28, 2008: Soviet defector Yuri Nosenko, who arrived in the U.S. in February 1964 with the message that Lee Harvey Oswald was not a Soviet agent, died on August 23 at the age of 81, according to the Washington Post. Imprisoned by the CIA in solitary confinement for more than three years and subjected to harsh conditions, Nosenko was eventually freed and given a new identity.

Nosenko, code-named AEDONOR, became the focus of battles within the Agency over his "bona fides," and his status became wrapped up in CounterIntelligence head James Angleton's search for a Soviet mole in the CIA. Nosenko provided some valuable information to the U.S., including the location of hidden microphones in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.