Ukrainian Government – Page 4 – Johnson's Russia List

Ways to End the Donbas Conflict. Interview with Serhiy Kudelia.

September 27, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

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

(PONARS Eurasia – Maria Lipman, Serhiy Kudelia – Sept. 24, 2018 – ponarseurasia.org/point-counter/ways-to-end-donbas-conflict-interview-serhiy-kudelia) Sergiy Kudelia is Associate Professor of Political Science at Baylor University. His areas of expertise are Ukraine, Institutions, Civil Society, Conflict Resolution, Political Science, Historical Institutionalism, and Post-Socialist Societies. Political scientist Serhiy Kudelia has studied the conflict in Donbas since its very early stages. In a recently […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “In breakaway Ukraine, those who live by the sword are dying by it; Could an anonymous cull of Donbass’ violently charismatic separatists precede a peaceful solution?” – Asia Times/ Giovanni Pigni

September 26, 2018 JRL Russia List Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“Yet another leader in Ukraine’s breakaway Donbass region has met a kinetic end: … leader of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, Aleksandr Zakharchenko … assassinated by … outdoor bomb blast on August 31. Reaction to his death was predictably mixed. Thousands of supporters gathered in [Donetsk] streets … to honor [his] memory …. [while] in Kiev, Ukrainian nationalists celebrated the […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin’s war is transforming Ukraine” – Washington Post/Anne Applebaum

September 24, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“… [I]ntegration of … Donetsk refugees into schools and communities in the central and western parts of the country is … part of a broader story: the integration of the war into the consciousness of Ukrainians. … the Russian-Ukrainian war continues. One of the Russian-backed separatist leaders was killed in a bomb attack in August. Skirmishes take place most days, […]

RUSSIALINK: “International investigators to study Russia’s new info on MH17 crash – statement” – Interfax

September 17, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Terrorism, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

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

BRUSSELS. Sept 17 (Interfax) – The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) probing the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 (MH17) in Donbas in 2014 has taken note of the information concerning the crash publicized by the Russian Defense Ministry on Monday. “The JIT has requested the Russian Federation to provide all relevant information” since 2014, the JIT said in a statement […]

More Lethal Weaponry Possible For Ukraine, U.S. Envoy Tells RFE/RL

September 15, 2018 JRL Russia List Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of Kurt Volker and W. Bruce Weinrod, adapted from image at defense.gov with photo credit to Senior Airman Nathan Lipscomb

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Christopher Miller – KYIV – Sept. 14, 2018 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/more-lethal-weaponry-possible-for-ukraine-u-s-envoy-says/29489463.html) The United States is considering sending more lethal weaponry to Kyiv to build up its naval and air defenses, Washington’s special envoy for Ukraine said, as concerns mount that Russia may be stepping up operations in coastal […]

NEWSLINK: “Russia is advancing on Ukraine again – and Ukraine isn’t going quietly; President Petro Poroshenko tells the Post how he wants the war to end” – Washington Post/ Lally Weymouth

September 14, 2018 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Military, Newslinks, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“When Ukrainians took to the streets in the 2014 Maidan revolution, they ousted President Viktor Yanukovych and selected Petro Poroshenko as his successor to begin a period of reform. Poroshenko is up for reelection next spring, and polls show that Ukrainians are disappointed with him, particularly for what they see as his failure to clean up corruption. In a rare […]

Sociological Portrait of Ukraine after 27 Years of Independence Extremely Complex, Nikitina Says

August 28, 2018 JRL Russia List Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, August 25, 2018) Since 1992, the Institute of Sociology of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences has conducted an enormous number of surveys and polls which together with the work of various private polling agencies provide a detailed if often ignored portrait of the evolution of Ukrainian society. On the 27th anniversary of […]

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Leave a comment Russia, Russian News, Slider, Ukraine, Ukrainian Government, Ukrainian Politics

RUSSIALINK: “Three fourths of Ukrainians believe military conflict in Donbas most urgent problem for country” – Interfax-Ukraine

August 28, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“… 77 percent of respondents polled by Seetarget believe that the most urgent problem for Ukraine is the military conflict in the eastern part of the country. … half of the respondents believe that corruption and bribes are the main problem facing the country, one third … pointed to the unemployment rate, 19 percent – low salaries and pensions, and […]

Poroshenko Declares Ukraine ‘Has Cut All Ties With Russian Empire’

August 24, 2018 JRL Russia List Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – KYIV, August 24, 2018 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/poroshenko-declares-ukraine-has-cut-all-ties-with-russian-empire-/29451039.html) President Petro Poroshenko has marked Ukraine’s Independence Day by announcing at a military parade in Kyiv that his country “has cut all ties with the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union.” Poroshenko also said during the August 24 event that Ukraine […]

RUSSIALINK: “Poroshenko apologizes to Ukrainians for giving ‘excessive expectations’ in 2014” – Interfax

August 24, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

Petro Poroshenko file photo, with additional men in background, adapted from image at state.gov

KYIV. Aug 23 (Interfax) – Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has apologized for mistakenly forecasting a rapid completion of the military operation in eastern Ukraine in 2014. “I said over four years ago that the ATO [anti-terrorist operation] would take hours instead of months. The context of my statement is irrelevant. […] I am sorry for giving excessive expectations. I sincerely […]

NEWSLINK: “Ukraine should create Mossad-type unit to kidnap Yanukovych from Russia – prosecutor” – UNIAN

August 22, 2018 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Newslinks, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“Law enforcers should do their utmost to make sure the disgraced president is brought to responsibility if the court convicts him, the official said. Prosecutor of the Main Military Prosecutor’s Office, Ruslan Kravchenko, who represents state prosecution in the treason trial of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych, has offered to set up a special unit to kidnap the ex-leader from […]

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Leave a comment Corruption, Law, Newslinks, Russia, Slider, Spies, Ukraine, Ukrainian Government, Ukrainian Politics, Yanukovych

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Four Years After Its Revolution, Ukraine Is Still a Mess; Lingering corruption and a lagging economy contributed to the country’s stalled reforms” – Bloomberg/Leonid Ragozin

August 1, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“… Ukraine has improved its ranking on Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index since 2013 … [but] still shares 130th place (out of 180 …) with Sierra Leone and Myanmar. Many other former Soviet republics, including … authoritarian Belarus, are far ahead … Russia is just one point behind. One of the biggest reform efforts was the creation in 2015 of […]

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Leave a comment Corruption, Russia, Russian News, Ukraine, Ukrainian Economy, Ukrainian Government

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russian Orthodox Church a ‘national security threat’ to Ukraine, says president; Petro Poroshenko said the Russian church was separated from the state ‘only on paper.'” – PoliticoEU/KAIT BOLONGARO

July 30, 2018 JRL Russia List Religion, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“… At a ceremony marking [Ukraine’s] conversion to Christianity 1,030 years ago … [Poroshenko] said that the Russian [Orthodox] [C]hurch’s sway among Ukrainian believers is a ‘direct threat to the national security of Ukraine.’ … ‘this obliges us to act.’ There are two branches of the Orthodox Church active in Ukraine: the Russian church and its Ukrainian cousin. The former, […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Don’t forget Ukraine’s rural Donbas; War has taken its toll on rural areas under Ukrainian government control in Luhansk region. There’s little sign of relief or policy.” [Excerpt] – OpenDemocracy.net/Brian Milakovsky

July 25, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“The armed conflict in Ukraine’s Donbas has divided the region into government- and separatist-controlled areas. In Luhansk Oblast, the frontline for most of its length is the Siversky Donets River, which is also a historical dividing line. To the south is the coal-rich Donets Upland, the ‘true Donbas’ that was largely unsettled before industrial development in the 19th century. Today […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin Tells Diplomats He Made Trump a New Offer on Ukraine at Their Summit” – Bloomberg/Ilya Arkhipov

July 20, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“… Putin told Russian diplomats that he made a proposal to … Trump at their summit … to hold a referendum to help resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine …. White House officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. … Leaders of so-called people’s republics in Donetsk and Luhansk held referendums in May 2014 that declared independence. The votes […]

RUSSIALINK: “Almost half of Ukrainians against land, pension reforms, privatization of state-owned firms – poll” – Interfax

July 11, 2018 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

KYIV. July 10 (Interfax) – Almost every second (49%) Ukrainian respondent is opposed to the land reform, or rather the cancellation of the existing moratorium on the sales of rural land, and does not support the privatization of public enterprises (47%) and the pension reform (46%), a poll conducted by GfK Ukraine and Qand Q Research suggests. According to the […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s army advances slowly at Russian front” – Kyiv Post/Illia Ponomarenko, Volodymyr Petrov

July 10, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“For the Ukrainian military, this heavy strike by Russian-led forces, who hold ground just three kilometers to the south, came as no surprise. Despite dozens of cease-fires having been agreed at the negotiating table in Minsk (the latest one was supposed to start on July 1), the relentless stalemated warfare in the Donbas still drags on, with exchanges of fire […]

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Ukraine’s ‘Creeping Advances’: A Win-Win Tactic? For more than two years Ukraine has been quietly “de-occupying” a grey zone between its troops and Russian-backed separatists. No matter how Russia and the West respond, Ukraine’s leadership stands to benefit.

July 6, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Huseyn Aliyev – July 5, 2018 – https://www.russiamatters.org/blog/ukraines-creeping-advances-win-win-tactic) Soon after the start of Russia’s official military involvement in Syria, another army, hundreds of miles away, ramped up its activity: Ukraine’s armed forces became emboldened in their war with separatists in the east. Under the radar, they have been retaking control of a narrow strip of contested, […]

NEWSLINK: “Savchenko kept in individual cell, has ceased hunger strike” – UNIAN (Kyiv)

July 6, 2018 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Newslinks, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

Nadiya Savchenko file photo, adapted from image at osce.usmission.gov

“Tetiana Protorchenko, the press secretary of Ukrainian Member of Parliament Nadiia Savchenko, who has been arrested on charges of plotting a coup, has said the lawmaker is kept in a single confinement cell of a detention center. ‘Nadiia is in an individual cell, she takes a shower once a week. She ceased her hunger strike two weeks ago for taking […]

RUSSIALINK: “Cessation of hostilities in Donbas Ukrainians’ biggest expectation from next president – poll” – Interfax

June 26, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

KYIV. June 26 (Interfax) – A cessation of fighting in eastern Ukraine is the prevailing requirement of the country’s citizens for the next president of Ukraine, being backed by 63% of respondents in a poll conducted by the Rating sociological group on June 14-24. Forty-nine per cent are expecting more efforts to fight corruption, 40% want a revival of manufacturing, […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “An outrageous penalty; As the World Cup begins, Russia should free Oleg Sentsov; A film-maker locked up for protesting against the annexation of Crimea is on hunger strike” – The Economist Editorial

June 15, 2018 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

Oleg Sentsov file photo, adapated from image at csce.gov

“… Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian film director serving a 20-year sentence … in Siberia. … was jailed for protesting against … Putin’s illegal annexation of Crimea and the war Russia’s president unleashed in eastern Ukraine …. Sentsov started a hunger strike demanding the release of all 64 Ukrainian political prisoners from Russian jails. The … World Cup … June 14th […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Putin says he’s making Russia great again. In reality, it’s crumbling; The country has been bolstered by European disunity but that obscures a multitude of ills” – The Spectator (UK)/Owen Matthews

June 12, 2018 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

“[Despite the World Cup and] … patriotic hype over grand multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects like a new bridge to Crimea and shiny stadiums, Russia is crumbling. … [Russia’s own statistics indicate] 68,100 schools in 2000; 41,100 now. … 10,700 hospitals [when Putin took power, now reduced to] 5,400. … living space declared unfit for habitation has more than doubled … […]

Reporter’s Notebook: After A ‘Death’ And ‘Resurrection’ In Kyiv, Confusion And A Desire For Answers

June 4, 2018 JRL Russia List Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Military, Spies, Spy Allegations, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Christopher Miller – KYIV, June 1, 2018 – article also appeared at rferl.org/a/reporters-notebook-after-death-and-resurrection-in-kyiv-confusion-and-desire-for-answers/29266391.html) The news arrived with a soft ping that hit like a ton of bricks: “Arkady was just killed.” Dozens of members of a Facebook Messenger group for journalists in Ukraine and Russia understood at once it […]

NEWSLINK: “Don’t Be Fooled – Ukraine Is Not a Frozen Conflict. There are signs of escalation in the simmering conflict.” – The National Interest/Lyle Goldstein

June 4, 2018 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

“With the North Korea and Iran pots both simultaneously coming to a boil, it’s naturally hard for national security specialists to take on any more complex and dangerous issues. Yet Syria and Yemen demand major attention as human rights catastrophes. … U.S. troops are still somehow mired in Afghanistan – ‘the forever war’ …. there is the seeming possibility of […]

NEWSLINK: “Who Killed the Kiev Protesters? A 3-D Model Holds the Clues. A team of civilian investigators used cellphone videos, autopsy reports and surveillance footage to reconstruct a virtual crime scene.” – New York Times Magazine/Mattathias Schwartz

May 30, 2018 JRL Russia List Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Human Rights, Military, Newslinks, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“… Most of the deaths occurred within half an hour along a few hundred feet of streetscape. The scene unfolded before dozens of cameramen, smartphones and security cameras. But these recorded fragments from the day were overshadowed by a fight over what they really showed: The claims of grief-stricken activists, who blamed the Ukrainian paramilitary for shooting the protesters, collided […]

NEWSLINK: “Babchenko’s Death and Russia’s Dark Power; Russia has adopted a policy of blessing freelance murders carried out in its name” – Moscow Times/Mark Galeotti

May 30, 2018 JRL Russia List Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Human Rights, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

“Editor’s note: Since the publication of this article, Arkady Babchenko has appeared at a press conference in Kiev, and said his ‘murder’ was part of a sting operation. … Another dead critic of the Kremlin. Another round of knee-jerk accusations and denials. Another funeral. Does the Putin regime murder its enemies as a matter of policy, does it simply create […]

NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine should blow up Putin’s Crimea bridge” – Washington Examiner/Tom Rogan

May 17, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“… Ukraine should now destroy elements of the bridge. While that course of action would be an escalation against Putin and … almost certainly spark Russian retaliation, this bridge is an outrageous affront to Ukraine’s very credibility as a nation. … from Putin’s perspective that’s the whole point. The bridge cost Russia’s near-bankrupt government billions of dollars, but it offers […]

RUSSIALINK: “U.S. magazine’s call for bombing of Crimean Bridge reflects opinion of part of U.S. political elite – Aksyonov” – Interfax

May 17, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

SIMFEROPOL. May 17 (Interfax) – The article published in a U.S. weekly calling for the bombing of the Crimean Bridge is a reflection of the opinion of the U.S. political elite, Sergei Aksyonov, the head of Crimea, said. “Essentially, the U.S. media outlet is disseminating calls for terrorist activities under the guise of freedom of speech. Unfortunately, it is not […]

Putin Hits Out At U.S. In Red Square Parade Speech

May 9, 2018 JRL Russia List History, Soviet Union, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – May 9, 2018 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/russia-marks-end-of-world-war-ii-with-military-parade-on-red-square/29216745.html) Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued veiled criticism of the United States in a speech before a Red Square parade marking the anniversary of Germany’s defeat in World War II, listing “pretentions to exceptionalism” as a factor that drove Nazi aggression and […]

NEWSLINK: “U.S. trains troops for front line in ‘hybrid war’ with Russia” – CBS

May 9, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Newslinks, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“… The U.S. is supporting its ally Ukraine in a war against Russian-backed militants. The rebels have seized swathes of territory in eastern Ukraine since 2014, in a conflict that’s killed 10,000 people by some counts. … Ukraine says thousands of Russians are fighting in the east, alongside the rebels. Moscow has repeatedly denied it’s involved in the conflict ….”

A frontline factory, an embattled oligarch and Ukraine’s industrial drift; For the future of this chemical plant in eastern Ukraine, trade policy with Russia looms large.

May 2, 2018 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

(opendemocracy.net – Brian Milakovsky – May 2, 2018) Brian Milakovsky lives in eastern Ukraine where he works on post-conflict economic recovery. He has worked on ecological and humanitarian issues in Ukraine and Russia since 2009. [Text with links opendemocracy.net/od-russia/brian-milakovsky/a-frontline-factory] The enormous Azot chemical plant looms on the outskirts of Severodonetsk, a factory town of 110,000 in eastern Ukraine. Severodonetsk became […]

NEWSWATCH: “Defying Russia, Trump provides Javelin anti-tank busters to Ukraine” – Financial Times/Roman Olearchyk

May 1, 2018 JRL Russia List Arms Trade, Military Aid, Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of Soldier Firing Javelin Shoulder-Mounted Anti-Tank Missile

“The U.S. has delivered …Javelin anti-tank busters to Ukraine … the first provision of lethal weaponry to Kiev despite warnings from Moscow …. [T]he handheld fire-and-forget precision Javelin systems stand to help Ukraine’s army repel future attacks by Russian-backed militants who seized control over Far Eastern breakaway regions in 2014 after Moscow occupied Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. U.S. and Ukrainian officials […]

A Military Coup Against Putin Although Unlikely Cannot Now be Excluded, Felgengauer Says

April 30, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 28, 2018) Tensions within the Russian political elite are now higher than at any point in years, Pavel Felgengauer says; and as a result, he “does not exclude even a military coup in Russia. This perhaps is an extremely low probability scenario, but one must not exclude it completely.” Felgengauer, one […]

NEWSLINK: “Regaining by force or abandoning Donbas: Experts name four scenarios for east Ukraine developments” – UNIAN (Kyiv)

April 20, 2018 JRL Russia List Newslinks, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“According to experts, the current situation being preserved until 2020 would be the most sustainable scenario. Neither war nor peace; return by peaceful means; return by force; and the abandonment of the occupied territories – these are the key options for Donbas developments for the coming years. Experts of the Ukrainian Institute for the Future (UIF) have been studying the […]

Unsustainable Status Quo or a Costly Stability? The Increasing Risks of the Unresolved Conflict in Donbas.

April 6, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Tetyana Malyarenko, Stefan Wolff – April 3, 2018) Dr. Tetyana Malyarenko is a Professor of International Security and Jean Monnet Professor of European Security at the National University Odesa Law Academy, Ukraine, and Non-resident Fellow at the Uppsala Institute for Russian and Eurasian Studies, Sweden. Stefan Wolff is professor of International Security at the University […]

NEWSLINK: “Lutsenko says Savchenko planned mass murder in the Verkhovna Rada” – Kyiv Post/Veronika Melkozerova

March 16, 2018 JRL Russia List Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“… Lutsenko made his sensational claim the same day Savchenko returned to Ukraine from Strasbourg to give testimony to the Security Service of Ukraine as a witness in a case against Volodymyr Ruban, a Donbas war mediator accused of attempting to assassinate Ukrainian leaders and smuggling weapons. …”

NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s Regime Is Less Stable than It Was Under Yanukovych: A Third Year Comparison [Excerpt]” – PONARS Eurasia/Yuriy Matsiyevsky

March 14, 2018 JRL Russia List Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

Yuriy Matsiyevsky is Associate professor at the National University of Ostroh Academy, Ukraine. [Full text: ponarseurasia.org/memo/ukraine-regime-less-stable-than-under-yanukovych-third-year-comparison] (PONARS Policy Memo) Unfinished reforms, growing social discontent, and ongoing war with Russia deeply destabilize Ukraine. Under such strained conditions, what are the chances of Ukraine’s current government, and specifically the presidency of Petro Poroshenko, to survive until the end of their elected terms? […]

NEWSWATCH: “Poroshenko is afraid” – Kyiv Post Editorial

March 8, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

File photo of Barack Obama and Petro Poroshenko facing one another, with Obama gesturing

“… Poroshenko keeps inventing ruses to prevent the creation of an independent anti-corruption court with respected judges who would, at long last, start delivering justice to this long-suffering nation. His latest line of attack … is that Western donors cannot dictate the composition of the court because that would be an unconstitutional infringement on Ukrainian sovereignty. Easy problem to solve: […]

NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine four years after the Maidan” – Brookings/Steven Pifer

February 24, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“… February 2014, following three months of demonstrations on Kyiv’s Maidan … (Independence Square) … Yanukovych fled … ultimately … to Russia. … February 22, 2014, Ukraine’s parliament appointed an acting president and acting prime minister … announc[ing] … intention[s] to press reforms and bring Ukraine closer to Europe. Four years later, Ukraine [is] in a low-intensity but still very […]

Interfax: Situation in Donbas deteriorating – LPR

February 14, 2018 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

LUHANSK. Feb 14 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian Armed Forces fired almost 80 mortars and grenades at the territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) over the past 24 hours, Andrei Marochko, the spokesman for the LPR militia, said. “The situation in the zone of responsibility of the LPR militia has drastically deteriorated. The enemy attacked positions of our units […]

Ukraine’s blacklists in defence of democracy and national security are doing it no favours; Fresh bans on Russian and Ukrainian cultural production are signs that Ukraine could be losing its hard-won freedom.

February 12, 2018 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

(opendemocracy.net – Kateryna Botanova – February 9, 2018) Kateryna Botanova is a critic and curator. She is founder and chief editor (2010-2015) of korydor, an online journal about contemporary culture, and cultural editor for Ukrainska pravda (2015-2016). She is the co-curator of CULTURESCAPES festival, Switzerland [Text with links opendemocracy.net/od-russia/kateryna-botanova/ukraines-blacklists-in-defence-of-democracy] In recent months, the wave of bans and blacklists in Ukraine’s […]

NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s Top Spy Is Pleased With Trump; The president’s Putin-friendly noises don’t drown out the sounds of military aid and intelligence cooperation” – Bloomberg/Eli Lake

February 9, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Spies, Spy Allegations, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“… Trump reversed Obama[] … approving … sniper rifles [to Ukraine] [and] … Javelin anti-tank missiles. … part of the reason [Vasyl] Hrystak gives Trump high marks. … [Additionally] the Central Intelligence Agency and Hrystak’s service have been cooperating more closely than [under] Obama … [who] was reluctant to get directly involved in Russia’s proxy war with the Ukrainians. … […]

NEWSLINK TRANSCRIPT: “Telephonic Press Briefing with Ambassador Volker, Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations” – U.S. Department of State

February 4, 2018 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

“Special Briefing, Brussels, Belgium, January 29, 2018 … Today we are pleased to be joined from New York by Ambassador Kurt Volker, the U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations. Ambassador Volker has recently returned from a trip to Ukraine and Dubai which included talks with his Russian counterpart Vladislav Surkov, so this is a very timely discussion. We thank you, Ambassador […]

In Ukraine, Ultranationalist Militia Strikes Fear In Some Quarters

February 4, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Race, Ethnic, Extremism, Xenophobia, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Christopher Miller – KYIV, January 30, 2018) [Text with links https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-azov-right-wing-militia-to-patrol-kyiv/29008036.html] The gathering was large and formidable, with hundreds of mostly young men in fatigues keeping tight ranks on Kyiv’s central Independence Square before marching in formation to a torch-lit fortress on a hillside in the Ukrainian capital. There, […]

NEWSWATCH: “The U.S. will send antitank weaponry to Ukraine. Here are 4 big questions” – Washington Post/Andrew S. Bowen

February 2, 2018 JRL Russia List Arms Trade, Military Aid, JRL NewsBlog, Military, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“The Trump administration last week announced updated sanctions on Russian individuals and companies …. Since 2015, the conflict in eastern Ukraine has continued to simmer, with no apparent political solution on the horizon. The seizure of territory has largely ended, leaving both sides vexed at their failure to achieve their objectives. The U.S. decision in late 2017 to provide the […]

NEWSWATCH: Kennan Cable No. 30: Democracy in Ukraine: Are We There Yet? [Excerpt]

January 31, 2018 JRL Russia List Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

Column in Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Matthew Rojansky, Mikhail Minakov – January 30, 2018) Rojansky is director of the Kennan Institute. Mikhail (Mykhailo) Minakov is the editor-in-chief of Focus Ukraine, [the] Kennan Institute’s Ukraine-focused blog. [Full text: wilsoncenter.org/publication/kennan-cable-no-30-democracy-ukraine-are-we-there-yet] Introduction More than a quarter century ago, the Ukrainian people made a historic choice in favor of independence, democracy, and the free market. […]

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Leave a comment Democracy, Russia, Slider, Ukraine, Ukrainian Government, Ukrainian News, Ukrainian Politics

NEWSWATCH: “Russia and Ukraine: More similar than either wants to admit” – bne Intellinews/Anders Åslund

January 29, 2018 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

“… Russians see themselves as economically superior while Ukrainians cherish their freedom. Yet … economically the similarities are greater than the differences. Their current fundamental problem is their absence of real property rights. … Russia experienced an attempt at serious market economic reform from 1991-94 … avoid[ing] Ukraine’s … hyperinflation in 1993. While Russia’s situation was bad, Ukraine’s was far […]

U.S. Envoy: Lack Of Political Will In Moscow Thwarting Ukraine Peace

January 25, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

(Article ©2018 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – KYIV, January 24, 2018 – also appeared at rferl.org/a/ukraine-volker-russia-willingness-end-conflict/28994196.html) The U.S. special envoy for Ukraine said the country’s new law on reintegrating its conflict-torn regions has “regularized” the country’s military operation against Russia-backed separatists, but doesn’t change anything on the ground. In an interview on January 24 with RFE/RL’s Ukrainian […]

RUSSIA & UKRAINE – Johnson’s Russia List table of contents :: JRL 2018-18 :: Thursday, 25 January 2018

January 25, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL Tables of Contents, Russian News

To inquire about a subscription to the full Johnson’s Russia List e-mail newsletter, e-mail David Johnson at davidjohnson@starpower.net [check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List :: JRL 2018-#18 Thursday, 25 January 2018 A project sponsored through the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (IERES) at The George Washington University’s […]

Interfax: OSCE concerned by rise in Donbas shelling after New Year lull

January 24, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine, Russo-Ukrainian War

DONETSK. Jan 23 (Interfax) – The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) has recorded an increase in ceasefire violations in Donbas after some lull over the New Year holiday period, Alexander Hug, Alexander Hug, first deputy head of the OSCe Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (OSCE SMM), said. During the holiday period, the OSCE registered a minor decrease […]

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