THERE IS NO RUSSIA:

The war in Ukraine has shaken Russia's hold over the South Caucasus, a strategically important post-Soviet region where Moscow has traditionally played a key role, experts told The Moscow Times.

"Russia was already facing challenges in the South Caucasus with Turkey playing an ever greater role, but now it's distracted and could lose ground," said Paul Stronski, a South Caucasus analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank.

None of the region's three post-Soviet republics -- Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia -- backed Russia in a series of United Nations General Assembly votes to condemn the war. "Invading Ukraine is a very alarming precedent to set for all three countries," said Stronski.

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