Month: March 2015

RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#61 table of contents with links :: Johnson’s Russia List – Friday 27 March 2015

JRL Tables of Contents, Russia, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#61 :: Friday 27 March 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php  RUSSIA 1. Moscow Times: Putin Urges FSB: Harder, Faster, Stronger. 2. Kremlin.ru: Federal Security Service board meeting. 3. Business New Europe: Ben […]

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Three Russian contributions to theater that changed the world

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts
Anton Chekhov file photo

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alexandra Guryanova, RBTH – March 27, 2015) In honor of World Theater Day on March 27, RBTH presents three of Russia’s greatest contributions to the art of theater, from the plays of Anton Chekhov to the methodologies of Stanislavsky and Vsevolod Meyerhold’s “theater of the grotesque.” The plays of Anton Chekhov Chekhov’s plays […]

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NEWSLINK AFP: Feud on Earth but peace in space for US and Russia

Newslinks, Space, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
International Space Station file photo

Hundreds of kilometres below on Earth, their governments are locked in a standoff over Ukraine — but up in space, Russian cosmonauts and American astronauts are still working together side by side. The International Space Station (ISS) is one of the rare areas of US-Russian cooperation that has not been hit by the Ukraine crisis and in the latest show […]

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Interfax: Russia to take into account threats resulting from new U.S. security strategy

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Military, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Mercator Projection Satellite Image of Earth

(Interfax – March 26, 2015) Russia will react to the adoption of a new U.S. security strategy and will take into account emerging risks and threats in its founding documents related to national security, says Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “Certainly, all threats to Russia’s national security are taken into consideration. They will be analyzed, and if need be, amendments will be […]

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Sanctions and Regime Survival

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Sanctions, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Tower and Building Inside Kremlin

(PONARS Eurasia – ponarseurasia.org – Mark Kramer, Director, Cold War Studies Program, and Senior Fellow, Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Harvard University – March 11, 2015 – article also appeared at ponarseurasia.org/article/sanctions-and-regime-survival) Some debates never die; they just get replayed. After the Soviet Army invaded Afghanistan in late December 1979, the United States imposed economic sanctions against the USSR. The Russian Federation since […]

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Witness can’t recognize suspected Nemtsov assassin – newspaper

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Nemtsov March of Mourning

MOSCOW. March 27 (Interfax) – The confession of Zaur Dadayev, the suspected perpetrator of the killing of opposition activist Boris Nemtsov, is not confirmed by a direct witness to the crime, Kommersant reported on Friday. Kommersant reported, citing a source close to the investigator, that Ukrainian model Hanna Durytska, who was accompanying Nemtsov at the time he was killed, was […]

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Putin Urges FSB: Harder, Faster, Stronger

NATO, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Russia & the West, Spies, Spy Allegations
FSB Building file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – March 27, 2015) Western governments will attempt to discredit and destabilize Russia, but their efforts will be futile, President Vladimir Putin told Russia’s top security officials Thursday. “We have always had and always will have a proper response to all internal and external threats to national security,” Putin told senior officers of the […]

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Soviet-Era ‘Objective Truth’ Bill Would Imperil Presumption of Innocence

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime
Russian Constitutional Court file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-FarberMarch 27, 2015) A freshly introduced draft law proposing to redefine the roles of Russian judges has courted controversy among legal circles who fear that if adopted, the measure would endanger the presumption of innocence by blurring the lines between judges and prosecutors. State Duma Deputy Alexander Remezkov of the ruling United Russia submitted an […]

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Ukraine to speed up Project Stina on Russian border in April

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

KYIV. March 27 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian State Border Service will speed up the construction of a security line along the Russian border, including Crimea, in April to fulfill Project Stina (Wall). “An active phase of engineering works on the border will resume in early April. In all, the project will take three years,” service spokesman Oleh Slobodyan said at […]

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Putin marks 15 years in power with harangue against West

Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, NATO, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Spies, Spy Allegations
Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG: Ben Aris in Moscow – March 27, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 26 marked 15 years since he was elected as Boris Yeltsin’s successor by summoning the heads of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and warning them sternly that there was a western conspiracy to undermine and contain Russia. Putin struck a dark […]

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NEWSLINK Christian Science Monitor: Russia heads to ‘America’s backyard’ to find salve for sanctions

Americas, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Latin America Map

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visited several Latin American nations this week to seek trade opportunities that could offset US efforts to puncture Russia’s economy. Russia took its global charm offensive to Latin America this week, as the Kremlin seeks to counter Western sanctions over its policies in eastern Ukraine and Crimea. … http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2015/0326/Russia-heads-to-America-s-backyard-to-find-salve-for-sanctions  

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NEWSLINK Washington Post: A year into a conflict with Russia, are sanctions working?

Sanctions
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

When it comes to inflicting economic pain on Russia, the Kremlin may be doing a better job than Western sanctions. Just don’t tell that to the Russian people, who overwhelmingly blame the West for a deepening recession that has parts of central Moscow starting to look like a ghost town. Prices are soaring. The ruble is dropping. And Russian living […]

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Russians Increasingly Believe State Planning Better Than Market Economy

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 27, 2015) Russians increasingly believe in an economic system founded on government planning rather than the free market, a poll by the independent Levada Center showed. Fifty-five percent of respondents said that a country’s economic system should be based on “government planning and allocation,” the pollster said in a report this week. On the other […]

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NEWSLINK Hoover Roundtable: Perspectives On Russia’s Hybrid War On Ukraine And US Foreign Policy

Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

On March 10, the Hoover Institution [at Stanford University] held a roundtable discussion on “Perspectives on Russia’s Hybrid War on Ukraine and US Foreign Policy.” Hoover fellow Paul Gregory moderated; presenters were Michael McFaul, director of Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute, Hoover senior fellow, and former ambassador to Russia; Alexander Yarim-Agaev, a professor at Donetsk Technical University; General Jim Mattis, (ret) […]

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NEWSLINK TASS: Russia’s 200,000 employed senior citizens worry they may lose old age pension

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Elders
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/. Russian Labor and Social Protection Ministry’s idea of stripping employed senior citizens whose annual remuneration is one million roubles (about $16,500) or more of their old age security pension has sparked a debate in Russian society. In the context of Russia’s modern realities one million roubles is a sum enough to buy an average class car, […]

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NEWSLINK Forbes: Russian Support For Democracy Just Hit The Lowest Level In More Than 20 Years

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

The invaluable Levada Center, Russia’s only genuinely independent polling agency, regularly conducts a survey about Russians’ attitudes towards the government, the economy, and the proper relationship between the state and its citizens. The 2015 results were just released, and it makes for rather depressing reading. Basically, right across the board, Russians have become substantially more statist and nationalist in their […]

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BNE: Support for Ukrainian government plummets

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – bne IntelliNews – March 26, 2015) Support for Ukraine’s pro-Western government is plummeting, with nearly 70% of Ukrainians believing the country is going in the wrong direction, one year after the change of regime in Kyiv. The plunge in confidence mirrors the economic collapse in the wake of the conflict in East Ukraine and rising tensions with […]

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Russian Government Struggles to Check Surging Cost of Medicine

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
Medical Symbol with Pole, Serpents, Wings, adapted from image at lanl.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Delphine d’Amora – March 27, 2015) The cost of medicine is rising fast in Russia, hitting consumers and challenging a government that has made its reputation as a bulwark of social stability. The ruble’s fall of nearly 40 percent to the U.S. dollar and 22 percent to the euro since the beginning of 2014 has sent […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#60 table of contents with links :: Johnson’s Russia List – Thursday 26 March 2015

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#60 :: Thursday 26 March 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php  RUSSIA 1. Russia Beyond the Headlines: Brighter future beckons for Russians with Down’s syndrome. 2. Russia Beyond the Headlines: HIV is not […]

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The Central Banker Who Saved the Russian Economy From the Abyss

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
File Photo of Elvira Nabiullina at OECD Event, at Podium and On Large Video Screen

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Evgenia Pismennaya and Ilya Arkhipov – March 25, 2015) It was Dec. 16 — the day Russian traders would later christen Black Tuesday — and the ruble was in a freefall. “Intervene! Intervene!” a central bank official shouted. Governor Elvira Nabiullina watched the currency on her tablet screen react to her emergency rate increase. No, she said, […]

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Interview with a murderer

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(opendemocracy.net – Ekaterina Loushnikova – March 25, 2015) Ekaterina Loushnikova is a radio and print journalist based in the city of Kirov. There are currently 59,000 women in Russian penal establishments. For many of them prison is not so much a punishment, more a way of life. According to the International Centre for Prison Studies, there are currently 671,700 Russians […]

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Russia’s economy in 2015 – more resilient than expected

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Mark Adomanis in Philadelphia- March 26, 2015) How is Russia’s economy doing right now? Pretty clearly, the answer is “not very well.” 2014 was the first year since Putin came to power in which, due to a combination of spiking inflation, plummeting oil prices and flat-lining growth, the average real disposable income actually shrank. […]

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Pressure on Kolomoyskyi is U.S. attempt to create centralized Ukraine with strong anti-Russian govt – Duma deputy

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) – The events around Ukrainian governor Ihor Kolomoyskyi attest that he is not among the people the West is planning to build relations with, says Mikhail Yemelyanov, first deputy leader of A Just Russia Party faction. “It is clear that Kolomoyskyi is not the politician with whom the U.S. and Europeans would like to deal, hence […]

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In Shattered Ukraine Town, Residents Rebuild Lives

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Voice of America – voanews.com – Adam Bailes – DEBALTSEVE, UKRAINE – March 25, 2015) Broken tanks sit on the edge of Debaltseve, remnants of retreating Ukrainian government forces. Hundreds of buildings lie in ruin. Heavy shelling and GRAD rockets pounded this strategic eastern Ukraine town for weeks as the military tried to fight off advancing Russian-backed separatists. The separatists […]

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Ruble Panic Recedes as Russians Start Selling Dollars

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 26, 2015) Russians sold more foreign currency than they bought in January for the first time in two years, the Central Bank said Wednesday, in a sign that last year’s panic over the ruble has subsided. The Russian currency went into meltdown in December as a months-long devaluation prompted by Western sanctions and oil […]

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Uproar in Murmansk as Teachers’ Salaries Withheld Amid Economic Crisis

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Education, Academia, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Cash, Calculator, Pen

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber – March 26, 2015) Teachers’ salaries have been withheld en masse in Murmansk as Russia’s economic crisis bears down on the regional budget, news site FlashNord reported Wednesday. The Murmansk branch of Russia’s national teachers’ union filed a complaint with regional governor Marina Kovtun, claiming that a large number of employees of Murmansk’s […]

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New team on the way?

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Tower and Building Inside Kremlin

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG: Ben Aris in Moscow – March 26, 2015) A rumour was doing the rounds in Moscow on March 25: Russian President Vladimir Putin is due to hold a big press conference on March 26 and will sack the entire cabinet – presumably including Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev – and appoint a […]

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Effect of ruble strengthening nearly neutral for Russian budget – Nesterenko

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

MOSCOW. March 25 (Interfax) – Ruble strengthening in excess of that assumed in the 2015 budget would lead to both lower revenue and lower spending, meaning that the net impact on the budget will be neutral, First Deputy Finance Minister Tatyana Nesterenko said. “The ruble exchange rate and the price of oil [assumed in the budget] are forecasts calculated as […]

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Health Care Workers to Hunger-Strike in Protest of Labor Conditions

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Regions, Cities, Municipalities
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – March 24, 2015) Health care workers in central Russia threatened to stage a hunger strike starting Monday to protest what they described as “repercussions” against co-workers who demanded better working conditions and higher salaries at previous protests, media reports said. The hunger strike, planned in Ufa, the capital of Russia’s republic of Bashkortostan, […]

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Brighter future beckons for Russians with Down’s syndrome

Children, Adoptions, Orphans, Disabilities, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
File Photo of Child with Down's Syndrome, adapted from image at cdc.gov

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Maria Fedorishina, special to RBTH – March 25, 2015) There are some 2,500 babies with Down’s syndrome born in Russia every year. Many of them are abandoned by their parents at birth. However – mainly thanks to volunteer movements – society is now developing a more enlightened view of the condition, with some […]

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HIV is not grounds for deportation, says Russia’s Constitutional Court

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse
Microscopic Image of T-Cells Infected by HIV

According to a ruling by the Constitutional Court of Russia, being HIV-positive does not represent an unconditional basis for deportation from the country for foreign nationals. Speaking to RBTH, human rights advocates called the decision an important achievement in protecting of the rights of people in Russia living with HIV. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Darya Lyubinskaya, special to RBTH […]

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Interfax: Russia licenses CNN broadcaster

Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
CNN Screenshot With News About Ukraine and Russia and Air Disaster

MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) – Russia has issued a universal broadcast license to CNN, press secretary of the Federal Service for Supervision in the Sphere of Telecom, Information Technologies and Mass Communications (Roskomnadzor) Vadim Ampelonsky told Interfax. “An order to issue a universal broadcast license to CNN has been signed,” he noted. The newspaper Izvestia said earlier that CNN International […]

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Russia Sets Terms for Capital Amnesty to ‘Correct Past Mistakes’

Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Andrey Biryukov, Anna Andrianova – March 26, 2015) Russia laid out the terms of a draft law to offer amnesty on repatriating capital, promising new incentives and legal protections to aid an economy starved of investment by sanctions over Ukraine. The bill won’t require the return of assets to Russian territory, demanding only their registration in […]

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NEWSLINK Carnegie Moscow: A Chechen Dragon Splits Moscow

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Chechnya, Dagestan, North Caucasus, Newslinks, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Caucasus Map of Chechnya and Caucasus Environs

… In any case, the Chechen connection has split the ruling elite. Putin faces a backlash from those who object to his reliance on Kadyrov. Anti-Chechen racism is only part of it. Kadyrov’s enemies in the FSB and other places suspect, for good reasons, that the loyalty of the Kadyrovtsy to the Russian state is provisional. They recall that many […]

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NEWSWATCH Foreign Policy Magazine: Is Russian Literature Dead? How the land of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy became a book lover’s afterthought

JRL NewsBlog, Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Bookcase file photo, adapted from image at nlm.nih.gov

[“Is Russian Literature Dead? How the land of Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy became a book lover’s afterthought” – Foreign Policy Magazine – Owen Matthews – March 24, 2015] Writing in Foreign Policy Magazine Owen Matthews addresses the lack of attention and celebrity for Russian literature created in recent decades, at least among American readers. The last Russian novel to become a genuine […]

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Interfax: Nearly 20% would vote for Poroshenko in presidential elections – poll

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
File photo of Barack Obama and Petro Poroshenko facing one another, with Obama gesturing

KYIV. March 24 (Interfax) – As many as 19.4% of Ukrainians would vote for Petro Poroshenko in presidential elections in Ukraine if such were held now, as is seen from a public opinion survey conducted by the Razumkov Center sociological service presented at a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday. Another 6.5% would vote for Lviv Mayor and Samopomich party […]

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Interfax: Lavrov: Kyiv may resort to provocation in Donbas to get arms from abroad

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Sergei Lavrov file photo

MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov does not rule out that what he called “the war party” in Kyiv might resort to some provocative acts to open the path to supplies of lethal weapons to Ukrainian government forces from abroad. “Provocateurs in Kyiv and also those who support the war party may try to cook something […]

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NEWSLINK Moscow Times: Is the Worst Over for the Russian Economy?

Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Newslinks
Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

For investors, business owners and everybody else with an interest or involvement in the Russian economy, this is now a period of waiting; waiting to see whether the relatively good start to 2015 for the ruble, investment returns and some segments of the economy mean that we can all breathe a huge sigh of relief that the predictions of doom and gloom in late 2014 have not materialized, or whether this is just the eye of the storm and another battering […]

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Wagner Opera Scandal Reflects Deep Divide in Russian Society

Life in Russia, Culture, Arts, Religion
Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – March 26, 2015) An avant-garde production of a Wagner opera in a Siberian city that has seen conservative Russian Orthodox activists declare war on the liberal intelligentsia is a sign of things to come, some in Russia fear. The production of “Tannhauser” at the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater is accused of […]

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NEWSLINK Kyiv Post: Western defeatism in stopping Russia’s war against Ukraine

JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

Special status within the Ukrainian state for separatist-held territory in the east, envisioned in Minsk II agreement, is an incongruously crude attempt to undermine stability and make turmoil in Ukraine. It was Vladimir Putin’s script, accepted by the shameless Barack Obama-Angela Merkel-Francois Holland trio, even if the U.S. president was not there in person. It was their alternative to offering […]

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NEWSWATCH The Guardian: Fragile truce brings limited respite to war-weary people of eastern Ukraine: The population of eastern Ukraine faces a humanitarian crisis

Health, Epidemics, Substance Abuse, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

[“Fragile truce brings limited respite to war-weary people of eastern Ukraine: The population of eastern Ukraine faces a humanitarian crisis with an acute lack of basic amenities and mental health problems taking a heavy toll” – The Guardian – Clár Ní Chonghaile -March 25, 2015] The Guardian reports on the humanitarian impact of conflict in eastern Ukraine. Just over a month after […]

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NEWSWATCH Reuters: Ultra-nationalist Ukrainian battalion gears up for more fighting

JRL NewsBlog
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

[“Ultra-nationalist Ukrainian battalion gears up for more fighting” – Reuters – Gabriela Baczynska – March 25, 2015] Reuters reports on the conflict in Ukraine, including activities by the far-right Azov battalion in eastern Ukraine. The far-right Azov battalion, whose symbol resembles a black swastika on a yellow background, is preparing to defend the port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine against a […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2015-#59 table of contents with links :: Wednesday 25 March 2015

JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2015-#59 :: Wednesday 25 March 2015 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php  1. CNBC.com: Falkland Islands’ fears for Russia-backed invasion. […]

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NEWSWATCH Christian Science Monitor: Ukraine’s latest challenge: oligarchs with private armies

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

[“Ukraine’s latest challenge: oligarchs with private armies; Gov. Igor Kolomoisky, who was given political power and the right to create a private army last year, last week used that power to seize the state oil company’s headquarters in Kiev” – Christian Science Monitor –  Fred Weir – March 25, 2015] The Christian Science Monitor reports on developments in Ukraine surrounding billionaire […]

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NEWSWATCH CNBC: Falkland Islands’ fears for Russia-backed invasion

Americas, Britain, UK, United Kingdom, Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
South America and Falkland Islands

[“Falkland Islands’ fears for Russia-backed invasion” – CNBC – Catherine Boyle -March 25, 2015] CNBC covers British military reinforcements of Falkland Islands defenses on the heels of remarks by the Russian Ambassador to the UK comparing the comparing the Falklands to Crimea. The U.K. has sent extra military support to one of its overseas colonies at the bottom of the world, the Falkland Islands, […]

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Vladimir Putin: A Reincarnation of Dracula?

Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(©2015 Ukrainian Magazine (Chicago) – ukrainianchi.com – Rev. Myron Panchuk, M.A. – March 24, 2015 – article also appeared at ukrainianchi.com/vladimir-putin-reincarnation-dracula/ – reprinted with permission) In August of 1991 a miracle occurred: Ukraine declared its independence. I remember the joy, the euphoria felt in our Ukrainian-American community in Chicago. People greeted each other in the streets as if it was Easter Day, and on […]

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Two of Russia’s Greatest Misfortunes – Roads and Fools – Once Again Come Together

Far East, Siberia, APEC, Roads, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations
Map of North Polar Region with Real or Hypothetical Rail Lines Across Eurasia, Bering Strait, North America

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, March 24, 2015) Even though the Russian government currently repairs less than one percent of its horrific roads in many regions, Moscow has announced plans to build a superhighway and rail line extending across the Russian north to the Bering Straits and a tunnel to Alaska, a project in which enormous sums will […]

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Moscow Times: Internal Rifts in Ukraine Play in Russia’s Favor – Analysts

Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War
Map of Ukraine, Including Crimea, and Neighbors, Including Russia

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ivan Nechepurenko – March 25, 2015) When the incoming Ukrainian government faced the threat of sweeping separatism in the country’s eastern regions one year ago, pugnacious billionaire Ihor Kolomoisky was the only oligarch to help. As other tycoons hovered on the fence, unsure of how the ongoing fighting between pro-Russian rebels and government troops in the country’s […]

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China will win the war over Ukraine

China
Map of China and Environs, adapted from archived cia.gov image

Over the past year as Russia and the West have faced off over whose integration project Ukraine will join, China has been preparing a third way forward. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Fyodor Lukyanov – March 19, 2015) When a year ago Crimea became part of the Russian Federation, many said that this was the Rubicon not only for Russian […]

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EVENT: March 26 event in Washington: “Major Crisis in U.S.-Russia relations and searching for the way out”

Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
Putin and Obama with U.S. and Russian Flags

Subject: March 26 event in Washington: “Major Crisis in US – Russia relations and searching for the way out” Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2015 10:38:26 -0400 From: Edward Lozansky <lozansky@gmail.com> Please join the discussion with the leading American foreign policy experts on “Major Crisis in US – Russia relations and searching for the way out” on Thursday, March 26 from […]

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