Category: Central Asia Monitor

  • Russian Military and Dual-Purpose Sites in Kazakhstan

    Russian military units have been deployed on the territory of modern Kazakhstan since the Russian Empire. Military sites and facilities saw particular growth during the Soviet Union. The Soviet forces operated military training grounds, test facilities and a cosmodrome there, conducting the majority of its nuclear tests on Kazakhstan’s territory. Today, Russia does not have…

  • Russian Military Facilities in Kyrgyzstan

    Introduction On 27 April 2026, Russian Defence Minister Andrey Belousov visited Russia’s 999th Airbase in Kant, Kyrgyzstan. Belousov’s appearance at the airbase was not a routine engagement. On the same day, he held a meeting with Iranian Deputy Defence Minister Reza Talaei-Nik, with whom he discussed the ongoing US-Iran armed conflict. It should be noted that Kyrgyzstan is separated…

  • China’s Growing Influence in Tajikistan

    China’s Growing Influence in Tajikistan

    Introduction Tajikistan has welcomed both Russia and China in wide-ranging and comprehensive partnerships. In 1993, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia signed an agreement with Tajikistan on Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance. Such agreements had been used by the Soviet Union to form alliances that were later adopted by the Russian Federation. China moved…

  • The End of the Border Dispute and Eternal Friendship: What the Central Asian Countries Agreed On

    In the post-Soviet period, one of the main challenges for developing bilateral relations among Central Asian countries was establishing common borders. During the Soviet era, borders served primarily administrative purposes. However, after 1991, when five independent states emerged in Central Asia, the process of defining state borders and addressing mutual claims led to tensions across…