Strategy. The Fund formerly sought to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Russia Small-Cap Index. MarketVector Indexes GmbH (the Former Index Provider) has discontinued the Russia Small-Cap Index on July 31, 2023. The Fund is currently prevented by Russian law and U.S. economic sanctions from selling its portfolio securities and from repatriating the proceeds of any such sale in U.S. dollars. On September 29, 2022, the Board of Trustees of the Trust unanimously voted to approve a Plan of Liquidation and Termination of the Fund, contingent on receiving any necessary relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission. On December 28, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission granted exemptive relief to the … Show more… The Fund formerly sought to replicate as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Russia Small-Cap Index. MarketVector Indexes GmbH (the Former Index Provider) has discontinued the Russia Small-Cap Index on July 31, 2023. The Fund is currently prevented by Russian law and U.S. economic sanctions from selling its portfolio securities and from repatriating the proceeds of any such sale in U.S. dollars. On September 29, 2022, the Board of Trustees of the Trust unanimously voted to approve a Plan of Liquidation and Termination of the Fund, contingent on receiving any necessary relief from the Securities and Exchange Commission. On December 28, 2022, the Securities and Exchange Commission granted exemptive relief to the Fund permitting the Fund to suspend the right of redemption with respect to shares of the Fund and, if necessary, postpone the date of payment of redemption proceeds with respect to redemption orders received on or after December 23, 2022 but not yet paid as of December 28, 2022 until the Fund completes the liquidation of its portfolio and distributes all its assets to remaining shareholders. On January 12, 2023, an initial distribution was sent to shareholders. The Fund is currently operating pursuant to a plan of liquidation filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which provides that, pending liquidating distributions, the Fund will invest proceeds of cash dispositions of portfolio securities solely in U.S. government securities, money market funds that are registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the Investment Company Act of 1940), and comply with the requirements of Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, cash equivalents, securities eligible for purchase by a registered money market fund meeting the requirements of Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act of 1940 with legal maturities not in excess of 90 days and, if determined to be necessary to protect the value of a portfolio position in a rights offering or other dilutive transaction, additional securities of the affected issuer. Furthermore, because the Fund has been delisted by Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. in connection with the liquidation of the Fund, the Fund is no longer an exchange-traded fund and we do not anticipate that there will be a trading market for your shares. Upon payment of the final liquidating distribution, the Fund will be terminated. The Fund is classified as a non-diversified fund under the Investment Company Act of 1940, and, therefore, may invest a greater percentage of its assets in a particular issuer. The Funds stated concentration policy is that the Fund may concentrate its investments in a particular industry or group of industries to the extent that the Russia Small-Cap Index concentrates in an industry or group of industries. However, due to the discontinuation of the Russia Small-Cap Index and ongoing restrictions relating to Russian securities, the Fund will be unable to follow its industry concentration policy. Please consult the Funds website for future updates about the Fund and the status of its liquidation. If you have any questions, please call VanEck at 800.826.2333. Show less