Officials yet to agree upon terms of Russian humanitarian aid convoy

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Concorde Capital – August 13, 2014) The Russian government has agreed upon the route of the humanitarian convoy and hopes that the Ukrainian government will ensure its safety on its controlled territory, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in an Aug. 12 statement. The two governments agreed that the humanitarian aid will be delivered to […]

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Russia Beyond the Headlines: Humanitarian convoy to Ukraine: Trojan horse or genuine aid mission?

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Ilya Slastenov, Nikolai Litovkin, RBTH – August 13, 2014) Moscow’s decision to send an aid convoy to eastern Ukraine has been received with mistrust by the U.S. and a number of European countries. RBTH interviewed a number of Russian experts on how the political scenario in relations between Russia and the West will […]

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People from the Donbass seen from other Ukrainians

Ukraine Map and Flag

Subject: People from the Donbass seen from other Ukrainians Date: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 From: Antony Penaud <antonypenaud@yahoo.fr> Below is part of an email from a Ukrainian girl (she is a pretty 30yrs old girl from Zaporizhya and lives in London): “As for Donbass region – if you do some research you might understand a bit more about the population […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#175 table of contents with links :: Tuesday 12 August 2014

St. Basil's file photo

… 7. Wall Street Journal: Russian Aid Convoy Leaves for Ukraine. Kiev Had Demanded Aid be Coordinated Through Red Cross.
8. Business New Europe: Russian and Red Cross convoy leaves Moscow for Ukraine, bearing humanitarian aid.
9. Reuters: Kerry says hopeful Russia and Ukraine can work together. …

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Interfax: Ukraine military scoring successes near Horlivka – Security and Defense Council

Ukraine Map and Flag

KYIV. Aug 12 (Interfax) – Ukrainian forces, pushing towards Donetsk, have seized control of a stretch of the motorway between Horlivka and Donetsk, the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman said. “Forces involved in the counterterrorism operation have captured a stretch of the motorway between Horlivka and Donetsk, cutting Horlivka from the main forces,” Andriy Lysenko said at a […]

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BNE: Russian and Red Cross convoy leaves Moscow for Ukraine, bearing humanitarian aid

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – August 12, 2014) Russia in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will send a humanitarian convoy to Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said in a telephone conversation with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso on Monday. An enormous Russian convoy of about 280 trucks carrying humanitarian aid has left Moscow for […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#174 contents with links :: Monday 11 August 2014

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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#174 :: Monday 11 August 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George  Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist  JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php  Ukraine 1. Moscow Times: Fyodor Lukyanov, Putin Has Stumbled in Ukraine. […]

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Russian Foodies React To Import Ban With Patriotism, Some Gloom

File Photo of U.S. Dairy Cows

(RFE/RL  – rferl.org – Tom Balmforth – MOSCOW, August 7, 2014) Moscow’s upmarket food shoppers are reacting variously with patriotic approval and gloomy resignation at the prospect of going without some of their favorite foreign foods for a year. The Russian government on August 7 approved a lengthy shopping list of foods and produce that cannot be imported from countries that have imposed […]

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West Doesn’t Have a Strategy in Ukraine, Pastukhov Says

World Map Showing Continents, Greens, Browns, Ice

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, August 11, 2014) The notion that the West has a strategy for Ukraine is “a myth of Kremlin propaganda,” Vladimir Pastukhov says. “What is happening in Ukraine is the result not so much of the application of a mistaken strategy by the West as much as it is the sad consequence of […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia to Use All Possible Measures in WTO to Contest Sanctions – Putin’s Press Secretary

WTO Logo

SOCHI, August 11 (RIA Novosti) – Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow has a wide range of possible responses to Western sanctions under the rules of the World Trade Organization that can be used by any member. “There is a whole range of measures and defined tools within the WTO which, of course, each WTO member state has the right […]

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Interfax: Some 250,000 Lugansk residents have no power for two weeks, city has no food, medication, fuel supplies

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Interfax – August 11, 2014) As of Monday morning, the situation in Lugansk remains critical – the city is completely cut off from power, the Lugansk city council press office said in a statement. “About 250,000 Lugansk residents, who stayed in the city, have no power and water for nine days already, cellular and landline service do not operate,” the […]

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Ukraine Urges Mass Evacuation as Army Surrounds Cities

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Kateryna Choursina and Volodymyr Verbyany – August 11, 2014) Ukraine told residents of separatist strongholds in its easternmost regions to flee as government troops close in after dismissing a cease-fire offered by the militants. Inhabitants of Donetsk and Luhansk, cities that were home to 1.5 million people before the pro-Russian insurgency began, can leave via humanitarian […]

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Interfax: Separatist leader in Ukraine sets out terms for peace talks

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Interfax – August 10, 2014) A senior figure in the Donetsk people’s republic has set out terms for a cease-fire with Ukraine, which Kiev has rejected, Interfax news agency reported on 10 August. “The main condition for a cease-fire is the Ukrainian army doing exactly the same. A cease-fire has to be reciprocal,” the self-proclaimed republic’s prime minister, Aleksandr (Oleksandr) […]

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World War on Russia’s Mind When U.S. Duels Over Ukraine

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Olga Tanas – August 8, 2014) From his perch as Vladimir Putin’s adviser for building ties with fellow former Soviet republics, Sergei Glazyev perceives the world shifting to a war footing. There’s a war waged against Russia with economic sanctions and military conflicts roiling Ukraine to Iraq, according to Glazyev, 53, an academician and a native […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#173 contents with links :: Sunday 10 August 2014

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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#173 :: Sunday 10 August 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George  Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist  JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php  1. Handelsblatt (Germany): Gabor Steingart, The West on the wrong path. […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#172 contents with links :: Friday 8 August 2014

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Johnson’s Russia List
JRL 2014-#172 :: Friday 8 August 2014
E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net
A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org
JRL homepage: russialist.org
JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist
JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi
Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php

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Moscow Times: Ukraine Says Rebels Mistook Doomed Flight MH17 for Aeroflot Plane

Ukraine Air Crash Scene with Uniformed Security Personnel, Flames, Smoke

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – August 8, 2014) Ukraine has claimed that pro-Moscow separatists downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 after mistaking it for a Russian Aeroflot plane that they supposedly wanted to shoot down to provide Moscow with a pretext for invading Ukraine. The latest theory in an array of conflicting claims about the possible causes of […]

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RIA Novosti: Ukrainian Transit Not Crucial For Russian Oil Deliveries to Europe – Transneft

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) – Russia has alternative routes to deliver oil to Europe if Ukraine decides to stop transit via its territory, but Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic will sustain losses, a spokesman for Russia’s oil transit monopoly Transneft said Friday. Russia delivers about 14 million tons of oil to European consumers via the Druzhba pipeline laid through […]

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Interfax: Lugansk has no power, water, phone service for six days – mayor

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Interfax – August 8, 2014) As of Friday morning, Lugansk is completely disconnected from power, the city does not have water, landline and cell service for six days already, the Lugansk city council press office said in a statement. “Yesterday gunfire continued on the territory of the regional center, in which 250,000 residents remain. During the armed clashes Lugansk sustained […]

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RIA Novosti: Euromaidan Activists Protesting Kiev’s Operation in Eastern Ukraine

Ukraine Map and Flag

KIEV, August 8 (RIA Novosti) – The activists still occupying Kiev’s Independence Square are protesting the new Kiev authorities and the government’s military operation in eastern Ukraine, a Euromaidan representative said Friday. “Why are factories and plants being closed? Why is the war underway? Nothing has changed under the new government; there is still no work and corruption is flourishing,” […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia’s Food Embargo ‘Smart’ Response to Western Sanctions – U.S. Economist

File Photo of U.S. Dairy Cows

WASHINGTON, August 7 (RIA Novosti), Lyudmila Chernova – Russia’s food embargo is a smart move on Moscow’s part that is set to show the United States and its allies that Russia is not going to give in to Western pressure, an American economist and co-director of a US-based research center told RIA Novosti Thursday. “It is smart of Moscow to […]

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Interfax: Naryshkin hopes Europe will understand risk of unwinding sanctions spiral

Russian State Duma Building file photo

MOSCOW. Aug 8 (Interfax) – Russia’s response to the anti-Russian measures taken by the West was forced and further unwinding of the “sanctions spiral” is absurd and dangerous, Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said. “As to the measures taken by Russia on the countries that initiated or support anti-Russia sanctions, they are a response aimed at protecting our citizens […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#171 contents with links :: Thursday 7 August 2014

St. Basil's file photo

… 33. NBCNews.com: Winging It: Putin Has No Master Plan for Ukraine Crisis, Officials Say.
34. Financial Times: Russia stirs fears of repeat Georgia war in Ukraine.
35. www.foreignpolicy.com: Emile Simpson, Give Putin a Way Out. With Russian troops massing on the Ukrainian border, the talk of war is getting louder. But it doesn’t have to happen.
36. Foreign Policy Journal: Masha Mitaeva, Ukraine Crisis: Ceasefire Anyone? A Memo for Europe.
37. Reuters: Ian Bremmer, Putin’s Ukraine invasion threat is more than a bluff – but not his preference.
38. CNN.com: What is Putin’s endgame in Ukraine? …

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Interfax: Embargoed countries supply over 10% of Russia’s pork, fish and fruit, less of other foods

Truck at Russian Border Crossing

MOSCOW. Aug 7 (Interfax) – The countries from which Russia has just banned food imports supply over 10% Russia’s pork, fish and fruit, Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov told a briefing. Russia consumes 2.345 million tonnes of beef, but the embargoed suppliers, the EU, United States, Australia, Norway and Canada supply 59,000 tonnes of this. The figures for pork are 3.415 […]

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White House Transcript: Remarks by the President at Press Conference After U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit [excerpt re: Russia]

White House

The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release August 06, 2014 Remarks by the President at Press Conference After U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit [excerpt re Russia] Q Thank you, Mr. President. Russia said today that it is going to ban food and agricultural product imports. That was about $1.3 billion last year. At the same time, Defense Secretary […]

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Interfax: Proposal to ban Western airlines from using trans-Siberian routes is “on the table” – Medvedev

Dmitry Medvedev file photo

MOSCOW. Aug 7 (Interfax) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has said that Russia is considering a potential ban on European and U.S. air carriers using trans-Siberian routes as a possible retaliatory step against Western sanctions targeting Russia’s low-cost airline Dobrolet. “The government of the Russian Federation is considering a number of retaliatory steps. But it does not mean that […]

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Russians’ Regard for the West Has Plummeted, Poll Shows

World Map Showing Continents, Greens, Browns, Ice

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Allison Quinn – August 7, 2014) Anti-Western sentiments in Russia have hit a fever pitch amid the ongoing conflict in neighboring Ukraine, a survey conducted by independent pollster the Levada Center revealed Wednesday. A mere 18 percent of respondents harbor favorable attitudes toward the U.S., a significant decrease from January’s 43 percent. The number of […]

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Rising risk of escalation as battle for Donetsk is nearing

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Business New Europe – bne.ru – Teneo Intelligence – August 7, 2014) Ukrainian forces have stepped up their campaign to retake the cities of Luhansk and Donetsk from separatists; Russia will likely respond with increased efforts to help the pro-Russian militias to stay in control. Yet, the new tactics will likely fall short of direct military invasion and instead take […]

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Sanctions Would Ground Russia’s Major Airlines

File Photo of Airplane Approaching Runway About to Land

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – August 7, 2014) The grounding this week of Russia’s low-cost airline, Dobrolyot, by European Union sanctions has exposed the vulnerability of Russia’s airline industry, which relies on aircraft leased from abroad that can be withdrawn at the push of a pen in Brussels or Washington. Russian airlines lease 90 percent of their […]

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RIA Novosti: Poroshenko Thanks Biden for US Consistent Backing of Ukraine

File Photo of Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin in front of U.S. Flag and Russian Flag, adapted from image from RIA Novosti

KIEV, August 7 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko thanked US Vice President Joe Biden for America’s consistentsupport to Ukraine, Ukrainian President’s press service said in a statement following Poroshenko’s phone conversation with Biden. “Petro Poroshenko expressed his gratitude for the United States’ continued backing of Ukraine,” the statement reads. “In his turn, Biden assured that the US would […]

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RIA Novosti: “Russia Hopes Economic Pragmatism to Prevail Over ‘Ridiculous’ Decisions Taken by West”

Dmitry Medvedev file photo

MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow hopes that economic pragmatism will guide political decisions taken by the West, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Thursday after announcing a sweeping ban on food imports from countries that sanctioned Russia. “I sincerely hope that the economic pragmatism of our Western partners will prevail over ridiculous political ideas and they would start […]

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RIA Novosti: Head of Ukraine’s National Security Council Steps Down

Ukraine Map and Flag

KIEV, August 7 (RIA Novosti) – The head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council Andriy Parubiy said Thursday he had tendered his resignation and the country’s president had accepted it. “I consider it inadmissible to comment on my resignation while the war continues. I continue to aid the military, first of all to battalions of volunteers,” Parubiy wrote on […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#170 contents with links :: Wednesday 6 August 2014

St. Basil's file photo

… 33. Carnegie Moscow Center: Akio Kawato, Who Is in Charge of an End Game in Ukraine? A View From Tokyo
34. Moscow Times: Georgy Bovt, Moscow Needs a Plan B in Ukraine.
35. www.chathamhouse.org: John Lough, The West Needs an ‘Off Ramp’ for Putin in Ukraine.
36. Washington Post: Danel Drezner, The most annoying tic in the American foreign policy machine
37. Stars and Stripes: Leaders call for NATO to boost military presence in east. …

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Moscow Times: Who Is Benefiting From West-Russia Sanctions War?

Truck at Russian Border Crossing

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko – August 6, 2014) The recent Western sanctions, the harshest in decades, are meant to stun Russia’s economy. But one person’s loss is another one’s gain – and this is also true for companies and countries in a globalized world. Following the U.S.’s example, the European Union last week imposed broad economic sanctions […]

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Interfax: Russian Defence Ministry ridicules US concerns over Air Force drill

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

(Interfax – August 5, 2014) The concerns voiced by US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki about the Russian military exercise at the Ashuluk range in Astrakhan Region are unfounded, a Russian Defence Ministry official spokesman told journalists on Tuesday [5 August]. “People at the Russian Defence Ministry have relished the latest pronouncements by the official spokesperson for the US foreign […]

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Will Russia limit EU flights via its airspace over sanctions?

File Photo of Airplane Approaching Runway About to Land

(Russia Beyond the Headlines Press Digest – rbth.ru – Sofia Savina, special to RBTH – August 5, 2014) RBTH presents a selection of views from leading Russian media, featuring news of possible restrictions on the use of Russian airspace by European airlines in response to sanctions, U.S. concern over large exercises by Russia’s air force on the Ukrainian border, and […]

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RIA Novosti: Russian Lawmaker [Pushkov] Bashes US Media as ‘State Department Spin-Offs’

Alexei Pushkov file photo

MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – Alexei Pushkov, a senior Russian lawmaker and chairman of the State Duma foreign affairs committee, on Wednesday lambasted American media outlets, saying the fifth pillar of US democracy has devolved into a State Department spin-off. “The US media are dead. Now they are just subdivisions of the US State Department,” Pushkov said in a […]

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RIA Novosti: Kiev Admits Foreigners Take Part in East Ukraine Military Operation

Kremlin and Saint Basil's

KIEV, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – A Ukrainian military spokesman officially confirmed Wednesday that foreigners are taking part in a special operation in eastern Ukraine, but denied that the Kiev government receives military hardware and weapons from abroad. “It is untrue that foreign weapons are being used [in the military operation]. But it is true that representatives of other nations […]

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RIA Novosti: OSCE Spokesman Says Wrong to Call Ukraine’s Independence Supporters ‘Separatists’

Ukraine Map and Flag

MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – Spokesperson for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Michael Bociurkiw said Wednesday he believes it is not correct to refer to the independence supporters in eastern Ukraine fighting against government forces as “separatists.” “Well, usually we use the term ‘rebel groups’ or groups opposed to the government. It’s quite a neutral term. There […]

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RIA Novosti: ICRC Ready to Help Russian Red Cross Set Up Humanitarian Corridor in Ukraine

Maidan Square file photo

MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is ready to help Russian human rights advocates to set up a humanitarian corridor which would allow the safe transit of sick children from Ukraine, Raisa Lukutsova, the head of the Russian Red Cross, said Wednesday. “They said that they are studying this issue and will […]

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Interfax: Russian rights ombudsman urges Kiev to set up humanitarian corridor

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

(Interfax – Moscow, August 5, 2014) Russian human rights ombudsman Ella Pamfilova has recommended to Ukrainian journalists to turn attention to the creation of a humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian servicemen and said she expects Kiev to open corridors to evacuate sick children, who are staying in the zone of the armed conflict in the southeast of the republic. “We can […]

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RIA Novosti: Kiev Uses Uragan Multiple-Launch Rocket Systems, Cruise Missiles Against Militia

Ukraine Map and Flag

MOSCOW, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian Army has used Uragan multiple-launch rocket system and a cruise missile in the country’s east for the first time, RIA Novosti correspondent reported. On Tuesday, self-defense forces in the city of Horlivka in Donetsk Region said they noticed a cruise missile flying in about 40 meters above the ground. Shortly after, the missile […]

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Interfax: Shooting, explosions cease in Donetsk, utility workers restore gas, water supplies – city council

Ukraine Map and Flag

KYIV. Aug 6 (Interfax) – The situation in Donetsk remained tense at 1 p.m. local time (2 p.m. Moscow time) on Wednesday but no more shooting can be heard and critical public services are running as usual, the Donetsk city council said. Specialists from Donetskgorgaz are repairing gas pipelines “damaged as a result of artillery fire in the Petrovsky and […]

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Interfax: Luhansk is without power, water supply, communications – city council

Ukraine Map and Flag

KYIV. Aug 6 (Interfax) – The situation in Luhansk remained critical as of the morning of August 6 as the city remained without power, water supply and landline and mobile communications, the press service for the Luhansk city council has reported. According to the press service, shooting continued in the city in the early hours of Wednesday. The majority of […]

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Moscow Times: Twitter Users Mock West With #BlamePutin Hashtag

File Photo of Vladimir Putin Sitting at Desk

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 4, 2014) With tensions between Russia and many Western countries mounting, some people think that Russian President Vladimir Putin is being unfairly painted in a bad light. In fact, they feel so strongly about this that they have come up with their own Twitter hashtag to make their case. Tagging their tweets with #blameputin, […]

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RIA Novosti: Russia believes West will continue sanctions – top diplomat

Truck at Russian Border Crossing

(RIA Novosti – Moscow, August 4, 2014) Moscow believes that Western countries will continue to exert pressure on Russia by means of sanctions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said. “I think, there is a real threat which one should not underestimate: that the itch of sanctions won’t end with this [i.e. the current sanctions]. They will scratch it […]

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RIA Novosti: Ukrainian Military Getting Ready to Storm Donetsk, Luhansk – Kiev Official

Ukraine Map and Flag

KIEV, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian troops have reached the eastern cities of Donetsk and Luhansk and are getting ready to take them by storm, Ukraine Security Council representative Andriy Lysenko said Tuesday. “The main anti-terrorist operation forces, including territorial battalions, have reached these areas [outskirts of Donetsk and Luhansk]. It doesn’t mean that any storm has already started. […]

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RUSSIA & UKRAINE: JRL 2014-#169 contents with links :: Tuesday 5 August 2014

St. Basil's file photo

[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#169 :: Tuesday 5 August 2014 E-Mail: davidjohnson@starpower.net A project of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George  Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs: www.ieres.org JRL homepage: russialist.org JRL on Facebook: facebook.com/russialist  JRL on Twitter: twitter.com/JohnsonRussiaLi Support JRL: russialist.org/funding.php  1. RIA Novosti: NATO Claims Russia Gathered 20,000 Troops on Ukraine […]

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BNE: Ukraine update

Ukraine Map and Flag

(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Tim Ash, Standard Bank – August 5, 2014) On the front line in the Donbas both sides appear to be squaring up for the final push. Ukrainian forces have reportedly now encircled Donetsk, and all but encircled Luhansk, with the area now controlled by separatists shrinking by at least half since the latest offensive […]

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RIA Novosti: NATO Claims Russia Gathered 20,000 Troops on Ukraine Border

Map of Western CIS/FSU and European Environs

BRUSSELS, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow said Tuesday Russia had beefed up its troops along its border with Ukraine by some 20,000 soldiers. “Russia broke intl law w/ [with] no justification, invaded #Ukraine, backs separatists, now has ±20,000 troops on Ukraine’s E. border,” Vershbow wrote on his Twitter page. NATO has never looked for pretext […]

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