Maksim covers aerospace developments in Central Asia for Aviation Week. He has worked for Russia's Air Transport Observer magazine and was in charge of several ATO sister aerospace publications after working for the Moscow-based CAST defense think tank.
Maksim has a degree in international relations from MGIMO University, Moscow.
The conflict in Ukraine has increased the visibility of Russia’s military transformation, which Putin began at the start of his first term as president.
Russia is determined to continue to strengthen the military, which it exploits for foreign policy goals and internal propaganda, however shrinking budgets—due to soft oil prices and a slumping national currency—have cast uncertainty on these plans.
