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Bucket-wheel excavators mine rare earth materials on Ukrainian soil on February 25, 2025, in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine. (Kostiantyn Liberov via Getty Images)
Russia
Russia
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T-72B3 tanks of the Russian Southern Military District's 150th Rifle Division take part in a military exercise at Kadamovsky Range. (Photo by Erik Romanenko\TASS via Getty Images)
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Azerbaijan flag waving in center of the city on November 28, 2020 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Aziz Karimov/Getty Images)
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Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi delivers a speech in the Imam Khomeini Grand Mosque in downtown Tehran on January 3, 2022. (Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin talks to officers as he attends Russias large-scale Center-2015 military exercises at Donguzsky Range September 19, 2015 in Orenburg, Russia. (Photo by Sasha Mordovets/Getty Images)
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Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden during their meeting in Geneva on June 16, 2021. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
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A Ukrainian Military Forces serviceman watches through spyglass in a trench on the frontline with Russia-backed separatists near to Avdiivka, southeastern Ukraine, on January 9, 2022. (Photo by ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
Experts
Richard Weitz
Senior Fellow and Director, Center for Political-Military Analysis
