Occupied Crimea – Johnson's Russia List

VIDEO: Ukraine’s President Promises NATO Referendum As Part Of Path To West

June 5, 2019 JRL Russia List Europe, EU, NATO, Ukraine

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – BRUSSELS, June 5, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/ukraine-president-promises-nato-referendum-as-part-of-path-to-west/29982943.html) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has promised to hold a referendum on NATO membership — a move strongly opposed by Moscow — as the country embarks on a path of European and Euro-Atlantic integration. Speaking in an interview […]

RUSSIALINK: “Zelensky calls for tightening anti-Russian sanctions at meeting with U.S. delegation” – Interfax

May 22, 2019 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

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

KYIV. May 20 (Interfax) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has received representatives of the Administration and Congress of the United States who came to Kyiv to attend an official presidential inauguration ceremony. Zelensky thanked the U.S. for its leading role in regaining Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and for the assistance in promoting domestic reforms, according to the official presidential […]

Expectations for Kyiv-Moscow Relations After Ukraine’s Presidential Election

May 15, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

Mariyinsky Palace file photo, adapted from image at cia.gov

(PONARS Eurasia – Emmanuel Dreyfus – May 13, 2019 – ponarseurasia.org/memo/expectations-kyiv-moscow-relations-after-ukraines-presidential-election) Emmanuel Dreyfus is a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at the George Washington University. (PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo) At first glance, Ukraine’s recent presidential election further confirmed the dramatic decrease of Russian influence in Ukraine. Not a single candidate based his or her […]

Ukraine and NATO: Disconnect Between State Policy and Public Opinion Is Less Dangerous Than Russia

May 13, 2019 JRL Russia List NATO, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“… Zelenskiy has repeatedly reaffirmed his predecessor’s policy of bringing Ukraine ever closer to Europe and has said that, as a citizen, he supports … accession to NATO. However, unlike … Poroshenko, Zelenskiy insists the question of joining the Western military alliance should be decided by a popular referendum. …”

Key to Putin’s Passport Offers to Ukrainians? Russia’s Shrinking Labor Force

May 1, 2019 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Population Disaster, Demographics, Ukraine

(Russia Matters – Simon Saradzhyan – April 30, 2019 – russiamatters.org/blog/key-putins-passport-offers-ukrainians-russias-shrinking-labor-force) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent decree to make it easier for residents of some separatist-controlled parts of Ukraine to get Russian citizenship has drawn criticism not only from Kiev but from key partners of the Ukrainian government, such as the U.S., EU and individual EU states. His subsequent statement […]

A Partial To Do List For Ukraine’s President-Elect

April 23, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

Corruption … Economy … Energy Independence … Conflict In The East …

Poroshenko has Suffered Fate of Winston Churchill, Khandurin Says

April 23, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

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

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, April 22, 2019) Just as British voters rejected Winston Churchill after he had led the country to victory in World War II because they wanted a new leadership for peacetime, so too Ukrainian voters have rejected Petro Poroshenko after he led his country in standing up to Russian aggression over the last […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Ukraine’s Election Result Pleases Both Russia’s Opposition and the Kremlin; The two sides have for once found something they agree on – for different reasons” – Moscow Times

April 22, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Moscow Times – Evan Gershkovich – April 11, 2019 – themoscowtimes.com/2019/04/22/ukraines-election-result-pleases-both-russias-opposition-and-the-kremlin-a65325) Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian and actor with no political experience, swept to victory on Sunday in the second round of Ukraine’s presidential election, in a race that has fascinated the country’s looming neighbor to the north. The victory triggered speculation in Russia on Sunday that relations between the neighboring […]

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JRL NEWSWATCH: “A Shadow over Ukraine’s Presidential Election” – International Crisis Group/ Katharine Quinn-Judge

April 22, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

File photo of statue of St. Volodymyr in Kyiv overlooking the Dnieper River, adapted from image at cia.gov

“With Ukraine’s establishment forecasting doom after the presidential runoff, the far right’s influence on politics is impossible to ignore. Its resurgence is both a symptom and a cause of the country’s ills: there is less daylight between it and the political mainstream than either admits.” “… Zelensky’s campaign has hinged on shying away from policy specifics …. appealing to voters […]

RUSSIALINK: “Russia hopes Ukraine’s administration is ‘negotiable’ after election” – Interfax

April 22, 2019 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine

(Interfax – April 21, 2019) Moscow is most hopeful that the winner in Ukraine’s presidential election will possess an ability to negotiate and a willingness to implement ceasefire commitments in Donbass, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. Speaking in the lead-up to the second round of voting, Lavrov suggested Russia gave little weight to campaign statements made by either […]

Interview: U.S. Ambassador Reaffirms Support For Ukraine’s Integrity, Calls On Russia To Talk

April 16, 2019 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

File Photo of John Huntsman, Men in Military Uniforms and Others, adapted from image at army.mil

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – April 13, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russia-u-s-ambassador-huntsman-reaffirms-support-ukraine-s-integrity-talks/29878614.html) The U.S. ambassador to Russia said Washington was committed to defending Ukraine’s territorial integrity, saying the issue of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine was “a core part of our estrangement with Russia.” In […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s TV President Is Dangerously Pro-Russian; Volodymyr Zelensky could become the country’s next real-life leader. If his show is any guide, Ukrainians should be worried.” – Foreign Policy/ Alexander J. Motyl

April 3, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“… Unforgivable is the absence from [Zelensky’s television] show of Russia or … Putin. In its alternate universe, Crimea and Donbass are not occupied. There is no war. … no deaths. … no mention of Russian attempts to quash Ukrainian independence …. suggest[ing] either … Zelensky, who serves as the show’s executive producer, has no idea how to deal with […]

RUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “[Putin at] Meeting with Government members [Re: Crimea]” – KremlinRu

March 21, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(Kremlin.ru – March 20, 2019 – en.kremlin.ru/events/president/transcripts/60116) The President held a regular meeting with Government members. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues. I have something to tell you before we begin. We are aware of the political events that are unfolding in a neighboring country, which is our closest ally. They are about changes in the political leadership. […]

Russia’s Missed Opportunity: Five Years Since Crimea’s Annexation

March 19, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Maxim Trudolyubov – March 18, 2019 – wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/russias-missed-opportunity-five-years-crimeas-annexation) Maxim Trudolyubov is a Senior Fellow at the Kennan Institute and the Editor-at-Large of Vedomosti, an independent Russian daily. The logic of Russian politicians who made an unexpected decision five years ago to annex the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea was not economic or political. It was a […]

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RUSSIALINK: “Russians Conflicted Over Crimea Annexation’s Value” – Moscow TimesTimes

March 15, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – March 15, 2019) Despite still approving of their country’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, fewer Russians view it as beneficial on the fifth anniversary of the annexation, a state-run survey has found. Independent polls have shown a yearly uptick in the percentage of Russians who believe that their country benefited from “the return of […]

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Leave a comment Crimea, Military, Occupied Crimea, Ukraine

From ‘Not Us’ To ‘Why Hide It?’: How Russia Denied Its Crimea Invasion, Then Admitted It

February 27, 2019 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Carl Schreck – February 26, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/from-not-us-to-why-hide-it-how-russia-denied-its-crimea-invasion-then-admitted-it/29791806.html) In the darkness of the morning on February 27, 2014, heavily armed men wearing green uniforms with no identifying insignia stormed the regional parliament in Simferopol, the capital of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, and raised the […]

RUSSIALINK: “Russia and Ukraine: A Lethal Codependency” – Carnegie Moscow/ Gleb Pavolvsky

February 14, 2019 JRL Russia List Newslinks, Ukraine

“The Russia-Ukraine conflict has moved from cozy mutual exploitation to lethal hostility. Neither side is prepared to admit its deep dependence on the other. Five years after the Ukraine crisis began, and as the presidential campaign gets under way in that country, it is conventional to see Russia’s intervention there and Ukraine’s response as a modern example of interstate power […]

RUSSIALINK: “Some 70% of Ukrainians approve possible compromises with Russia, DPR, LPR for sake of peace – poll” – Interfax

February 14, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

KYIV. Feb 13 (Interfax) – Seventy-two percent of Ukrainians believe that there is a war between Ukraine and Russia, while 15% disagree, according to a nationwide opinion poll conducted by the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation and the Razumkov Center and a regional survey conducted in the districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by Kyiv. Thirty-nine percent of […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s Civil War: Would Accepting This Terminology Help Resolve the Conflict? [Excerpt]” – PONARS Eurasia

February 12, 2019 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine

(PONARS Eurasia – Jesse Driscoll – February 2019) Associate Professor, Political Science; Chair, Global Leadership Institute, University of California San Diego [Full text: ponarseurasia.org/memo/ukraines-civil-war-would-accepting-terminology-help-resolve-conflict] (PONARS Policy Memo) Since Ukraine is the site of both an invasion (Crimea) and a civil war (in the Donbas), there is no academic consensus on what to call the crisis in Ukraine. Russians usually call […]

Desperately Seeking A Postwar President In Ukraine

January 27, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Christopher Miller – KYIV, Jan. 25, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/desperately-seeking-a-postwar-president-in-ukraine/29730680.html) Ukrainians say the biggest problem facing their country ahead of a crucial presidential election in March is the same one that ushered in the current head of state in the first place: war. It’s been […]

Diminishing Returns: How Effective Are Sanctions Against Russia?

January 24, 2019 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Sanctions, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

(PONARS Eurasia – Stacy Closson – January 2019 – ponarseurasia.org/memo/diminishing-returns-how-effective-are-sanctions-against-russia) Stacy Closson is a Global Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute and a Senior Adjunct Professional Lecturer at American University’s School of International Service. (PONARS Policy Memo) In November 2018, the Trump administration announced another set of sanctions on Russian individuals and entities for supporting Russia’s economic integration […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “State Duma refuses to resume cooperation with PACE, increasing chances that Russia could leave the Council of Europe ” – Meduza

January 18, 2019 JRL Russia List Europe, EU, Human Rights, JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“Federal lawmakers in Russia say they are opposed to sending a delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) …. a plenary session of the State Duma … endorsed an announcement refusing to resume cooperation with PACE until Russia’s voting rights are restored …. According to the Duma[] … more than half the judges now working in […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine Says Will Send Naval Ships Through Kerch Strait Soon” – AP

December 7, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine

“Ukraine’s defense ministry warned Russia on Friday that it will soon send navy ships through the Kerch Strait where Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian vessels two weeks ago. The announcement sets up another possible flashpoint in the long-simmering conflict between Russia and Ukraine that erupted in 2014 with Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula … [O]n Nov. 25 […]

RM Picks: What to Read on the Kerch Strait Crisis

December 4, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine

(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – RM Staff – November 30, 2018) [Article also appeared, with different images, at russiamatters.org/blog/rm-picks-what-read-kerch-strait-crisis] Looking to make sense of the events between Russia and Ukraine in the Sea of Azov and their implications? RM recommends the following articles: “Why Putin Is Pressuring Ukraine. The United States needs to decide how much of a threat Moscow’s […]

RUSSIALINK: “Peskov says Russia not obstructing Ukrainian ships’ passage through Kerch Strait” – Interfax

December 3, 2018 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Dmitry Peskov file photo adapted from image at kremlin.ru/wikimedia commons

MOSCOW. Dec 3 (Interfax) – Russia has not been obstructing the passage of Ukrainian ships through the Kerch Strait, but traffic gets suspended from time to time, mostly for weather reasons, according to presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov. “They [the allegations of Kyiv’s representatives that Russia is hindering the passage of Ukrainian ships through the Kerch Strait] are not true. […]

NEWSLINK: “Putin Will Understand Only One Response: Escalation; Russia’s president cannot be allowed to attack another country to solve his own domestic problems” – Bloomberg/ Eli Lake

November 27, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Newslinks, Ukraine

NEWSLINK: “Trump’s weakness begets Russian aggression” – Washington Post/ Jennifer Rubin

November 27, 2018 JRL Russia List Newslinks, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of Kremlin Tower, St. Basil's, Red Square at Night

NEWSLINK: “Russia’s latest attack on the Ukrainians is a warning to the West; Moscow is counting on our passivity” – Washington Post/ Anne Applebaum

November 27, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Newslinks, Ukraine

RUSSIALINK: “Poroshenko fails to make speech on martial law after several factions block Rada rostrum” – Interfax

November 26, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine

KYIV. Nov 26 (Interfax) – Several factions in Ukrainian parliament blocked its plenary session on Monday, preventing President Petro Poroshenko from explaining his proposal to impose nationwide martial law, the Petro Poroshenko Bloc faction said. “A number of factions decided to block the rostrum without even allowing the president to reveal what exactly is happening in the Sea of Azov […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia-Ukraine Standoff Intensifies Over Captured Vessels; Kiev has troops on military alert and demands Moscow releases the ships and crew members” – Wall Street Journal/ Thomas Grove, Ann M. Simmons, Emre Peker, Georgi Kantchev

November 26, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Military, Ukraine

“Ukraine’s defense ministry put its troops on military alert … a day after Russian forces fired on and detained three Ukrainian naval vessels near the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, a move that threatened to reignite tensions between Moscow and Kiev. … Poroshenko has called for martial law – that could last for 60 days after being enacted and give […]

RUSSIALINK: “Ukrainian Security Council proposes martial law until Jan 25, 2019” – Interfax

November 26, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine

KYIV. Nov 26 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council proposes in its resolution of November 26 that President Petro Poroshenko declare martial law for 60 days, until January 25, 2019. The Council resolved “to propose that the president of Ukraine declare martial law in Ukraine for 60 days, from 2:00 p.m. November 26, 2018 until 2:00 p.m. […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Poll: 63% of Ukrainians see Russia as aggressor” – UNIAN (Kyiv)

November 14, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“Almost two-thirds of the citizens of Ukraine, or 63%, consider the Russian Federation to be an aggressor country vis-à-vis Ukraine, according to a nationwide poll conducted by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, the Oleksandr Razumkov Ukrainian Centre for Economic and Political Studies and the Rating sociological group …. ‘We asked … “Is Russia seen as an aggressor country vis-à-vis […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “‘Crimea’s Columbine’: Massacre Draws Comparisons to U.S. Shootings; Death toll from college attack rises to 20, as authorities try to determine the attacker’s motive” – Wall Street Journal/ Ann M. Simmons

October 19, 2018 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Education, JRL NewsBlog, Terrorism, Ukraine

“… Authorities said 18-year-old student Vladislav Roslyakov detonated explosives and opened fire Wednesday at [Crimea’s] Kerch Polytechnic College before taking his own life. Initially thought to be a terrorist attack, the massacre was later classified by officials as mass murder. … Kerch is a city in the east of Crimea, a Black Sea peninsula … annexed by Russia from Ukraine […]

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

September 24, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“… [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, […]

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

September 15, 2018 JRL Russia List Ukraine, 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

“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 […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Levada poll: Russians’ worries close to home” – Bear Market Brief/BMD Russia

September 10, 2018 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, JRL NewsBlog, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections

Diverse Paper Currency, Coins, Line Graph

“… [poll numbers indicate that] Russians are concerned about rising prices (72%), poverty (52%), and unemployment (48%). … the highest August figures since 2013. … a Bank of Russia survey finds … ordinary Russians are expecting higher inflation …. lean years have rendered adventures abroad relatively less important to Russians. … inflationary expectations raise the specter of a key rate […]

Is Russia Really “Fascist”? A Comment on Timothy Snyder

September 10, 2018 JRL Russia List History, Soviet Union, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine

(PONARS Eurasia – PONARS Policy Memo – Marlene Laruelle – September 5, 2018 – ponarseurasia.org/memo/russia-really-fascist-reply-timothy-snyder) Marlene Laruelle is Research Professor, Associate Director of IERES, Director of the Central Asia Program, and Co-Director of PONARS Eurasia at The George Washington University. Over the past decade, and even more overtly since the annexation of Crimea, there has been a growing tendency to […]

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

August 24, 2018 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(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 […]

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

“… 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 […]

JRL NEWSWATCH VIDEO: “National Security Adviser John Bolton on ‘Face the Nation,’ July 1, 2018” – CBS

July 2, 2018 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Europe, EU, Iran, Mideast, North Africa, Syria, Egypt, Libya, NATO, Syria, Ukraine, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations, Videos

File Photo of John Bolton Raising Hand at United Nations, with United States Nameplate on Desktop in Front, adapted from image at state.gov

“… There are possibilities for … a larger negotiation on … get[ting] Iranian forces out [of Syria] …. * * * [T]he Russians are always saying to us they want to cooperate on international terrorism …. * * * I had meetings … with … Putin and his foreign minister … defense minister and … diplomatic adviser … the [U.S.] […]

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

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 […]

NEWSLINK: “World Cup dream is ‘sportswashing’ Russia’s appalling record” – Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)

June 14, 2018 JRL Russia List Assassinations, Beatings, Threats, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Sports, Olympics, World Cup, Terrorism, Ukraine

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

“In 2010 when this tournament was awarded, no one thought Russia would suddenly become a bastion of human and civil rights, though it’s worth reflecting on all that’s happened since then. There’s not just the annexation of Crimea, the war in Ukraine and the concerns about US election meddling. Or just the controversy surrounding the nerve agent attack on the […]

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Leave a comment Assassinations, Crimea, Football, MH17, Newslinks, Occupied Crimea, Russia, Russian News, Soccer, Terrorism, Ukraine, World Cup

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 … […]

NEWSLINK: “A political prisoner in Russia is starving. The world should take notice” – Washington Post Editorial

June 8, 2018 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Human Rights, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine

“Four years after Russia invaded and illegally annexed the Crimea region of Ukraine … a courageous activist and filmmaker named Oleg Sentsov … imprisoned in a Siberian penal colony above the Arctic Circle, embarked on a hunger strike to demand the release of 64 Ukrainian political prisoners held by Russia … his health has seriously deteriorated … he has lost […]

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 […]

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

May 17, 2018 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Military, Ukraine

“… 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, 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 […]

RUSSIALINK TRANSCRIPT: “[Putin at] Opening of Crimean Bridge motorway section” – KremlinRu

May 16, 2018 JRL Russia List Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine

(Kremlin.ru – May 15, 2018) Vladimir Putin took part in the opening ceremony of the Crimean Bridge motorway section and drove the lead vehicle of the construction equipment convoy. Vladimir Putin visited the Consolidated Traffic Management Centre and heard reports on the readiness of utility teams to operate the transport route across the Kerch Strait. The head of state also […]

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 […]

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