United Russia: Same Game, New Tactics

Russian State Duma Building file photo

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Ola CichowlasJ – June 16, 2016) By June 19, President Vladimir Putin is expected to sign a decree that will officially kick-start the campaign season. Within a few days, all the parties taking part in the election will host conventions and declare their list of candidates. These State Duma elections will be the first time […]

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Interfax: Attitude to Ukraine improves in Russia over past year although 36% still want closed border, visa regime – poll

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

MOSCOW. June 16 (Interfax) – More than a third of Russians (36%) want closed borders, visas and customs for Ukraine (30% a year ago), the Levada Center told Interfax, adding that was the highest indicator since March 2008. The share of respondents who see Russia and Ukraine as two independent, friendly nations with open borders and without visas or customs […]

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NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine defeated Russia – at Eurovision. Here’s why that matters.” – Washington Post/Robert Seely

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

… [the] Russian regime was musically mugged at the Eurovision Song Contest by Susana Jamaladinova — known as Jamala — a Crimean Tatar who won by singing about Moscow’s oppression of her kin. … About 200 million viewers watched Jamala perform “1944,’ an emotional lament that mixes Turkish-style harmonies with a cool, Western beat and tells how the Soviet Union deported Tatars from their […]

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Putin: We will break any blockade

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

(Interfax – May 11, 2016) Russian President Vladimir Putin said the power blockade of Crimea was broken within a short period of time and any other blockade against Russia will be broken in the same way. “The newest technologies were used here, the work, intensive work was done. As a result, the power blockade of Crimea was broken within a […]

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NEWSLINK Russia Direct: “Divide in the Russian opposition, the return of Alexey Kudrin, and a new controversy in Crimea. Media Roundup: Russia’s journalists covered the comeback of former finance minister Alexey Kudrin and the split within the Russian opposition ahead of the 2016 parliamentary elections.”

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Interfax: Over 80% of Russians against Crimea’s return to Ukraine – poll

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

(Interfax – April 7, 2016) An overwhelming majority of Russians believe that Crimea should stay within Russia: this opinion is maintained by 87 percent of respondents, the same as in November. The percentage has sizably grown since March 2014 (64 percent), the Levada Center told Interfax. The respondents supported their opinion by saying that “Crimea had always been Russian” (64 […]

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NEWSLINK Newsweek.com/Ben Nimmo: “PUTIN’S PARANOIA IS DRIVING HIS FOREIGN ADVENTURES”

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NEWSWATCH: “How Putin Could Make Russia Great Again” – Newsweek.com/William Courtney, Donald Jensen

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

After Russia annexed Crimea … Obama dismissed it as a regional power that acts ‘out of weakness.’ [ ] Russia is more … but a penchant for zero-sum statecraft and coercing neighbors lessens its stature. By cooperating more in the international arena, Russia could become a greater power.  … Putin’s announcement of a military drawdown in Syria hints that Russia […]

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TRANSCRIPT: [Putin at] Meeting on construction of Kerch Strait Bridge and Crimea and Sevastopol’s socioeconomic development

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

(Kremlin.ru – March 18, 2016) Vladimir Putin held a meeting on construction of the Kerch Strait Bridge and on Crimea and Sevastopol’s socioeconomic development results and their integration into the Russian Federation’s economic and legal space. President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues. Let me start by congratulating everyone on the second anniversary of Crimea and Sevastopol’s reunification with […]

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Black Sea Rising: Rebirth of a Russian Fleet

Black Sea Satellite Photo file image

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Matthew Bodner – March 17, 2016) From a military point of view, Russia’s ground operation to annex Crimea in 2014 was an exceptionally clean affair, and gave ample opportunity to demonstrate the fruits of Moscow’s military modernization efforts. But for Russia’s famed Black Sea Fleet, the most tactically relevant action it could take was to […]

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Dreams in Isolation: Crimea 2 Years After Annexation

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

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eva Hartog – March 17, 2016) DZHANKOI, SIMFEROPOL, KERCH, Crimea – The soldiers carry assault rifles and stand guard, some of them wearing black balaclavas to protect their faces. No more than 100 meters and a bridge separate them from the nearest Ukrainian positions. There, against the gray sky, a blue and yellow flag flickers […]

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‘We’re Not Giving Up on Crimea,’ US Defense Official Says

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

(Voice of America – March 2, 2016 – Carla Babb) Nearly two years after Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the territory remains under Russian control, and in the eastern part of Ukraine there has been an uptick in the fighting. VOA Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb discussed the issue with Michael Carpenter, deputy assistant secretary of defense with responsibilities for Russia, Ukraine […]

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TRANSCRIPT: House Hearing on Understanding and Deterring Russia: U.S. Policies and Strategies – Oral remarks of Dr. Fiona Hill

U.S. Capitol in Bright Sunlight

House Armed Services Committee February 10, 2016 Hearing on Understanding and Deterring Russia: U.S. Policies and Strategies Oral remarks of Dr. Fiona Hill Fiona Hill is director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy program at the Brookings Institution. She is also co-author of the second edition of “Mr. Putin: […]

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Why Russia Stopped at Crimea

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

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – February 22, 2016) President Vladimir Putin has boasted that Russia took over Crimea “without a single shot being fired.” There’s even a propaganda movie that presents the operation as the result of brilliant Kremlin planning and seamless execution. A document published on Monday shed new light on why the annexation was bloodless — […]

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Putin Pulls Levers As Russian Patriarch, PM Head Abroad

Patriarch Kirill file photo

(RFE/RL News Analysis – rferl.org – Steve Gutterman – February 11, 2016) With the Russian patriarch and prime minister both holding big meetings abroad, this weekend presents a chance for President Vladimir Putin to soothe a world still stunned by Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine and dismayed by its bombing campaign in Syria. Russian Orthodox Church chief Kirill holds historic talks […]

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What Do Russians Really Think? The Truth Behind the Polls

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Eva Hartog – February 4, 2016) [Charts here http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/what-do-russians-really-think-the-truth-behind-the-polls/558537.html] The champagne corks were already popping for New Year’s Eve celebrations when several thousand Crimeans received an unexpected phone call. The voice on the end of the phone was a pollster from the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM). The pollster had just two questions:”Do you […]

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Four Russias: the new political reality

Map of Russia and Russian Flag adapted from images at state.gov

Uneven modernisation has left its mark on Russia, and the authorities are only too happy to exploit it. What does the future hold for Russia’s regional divide? (opendemocracy.net/American Enterprise Institute – Natalia Zubarevich – February 1, 2016) Natalia Zubarevich is a professor in the Department of Geography at Moscow State University and the director of the regional program at the […]

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2015 in review: From the murder of Nemtsov to blackout in Crimea

Nemtsov March of Mourning

The murder of Boris Nemtsov was arguably the most discussed domestic political issue in Russia this year, along with the bankruptcy of Transaero, the blackout in Crimea and protests by long-haul truckers. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Igor Rozin – December 30, 2015) Nemtsov’s murder shocks the nation A woman holds a portrait of Russian opposition leader Boris […]

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Russia’s Moving Targets

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Maxim Trudolyubov – December 15, 2015) Maxim Trudolyubov is a Senior Fellow at the Kennan Institute and the Editor-at-Large of Vedomosti, an independent Russian daily Measuring the success of Russia’s largest and most recent “cross-border” projects-Ukraine and Syria-is extremely difficult. What could be considered Russia’s ultimate goals there? We often assume that Russia has fixed, clearly […]

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The End Of Russia’s Mass Hallucination

Kremlin and Saint Basil's File Photo

(RFE/RL – Brian Whitmore – December 23, 2015) Fresh barbed-wire fencing around the nation’s main TV tower isn’t exactly a sign of a confident regime. In addition to reinforcing its perimeter, Moscow’s state-run Ostankino television center also upgraded its security detail, replacing regular police officers with elite Interior Ministry forces. “These are normal security measures that are connected to the […]

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Interfax: U.S. to never recognize ‘annexation’ of Crimea – Biden

Joe Biden Speaking in Front of U.S. Flags and Ukrainian Flag

KYIV. Dec 8 (Interfax) – U.S. Vice-President Joseph Biden has reaffirmed the unwavering position of his country and said the United States will never recognize Crimea’s accession to Russia. The United States will never recognize attempts to ‘annex’ Crimea, Biden said in Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada on Tuesday. [featured image is file photo]

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Medvedev: Russia is capable of surviving recession without aid

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

In his annual interview to five of the country’s leading television channels on Dec. 9, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev tackled topics ranging from the economy to defense, corruption, Crimea, and Ukraine’s $3 billion debt. RBTH presents a selection of highlights from the interview. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Igor Rozin – December 9, 2015) On economics “The […]

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Moscow Times: Russians ‘No Longer Ashamed of Country’ – Poll

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – December 7, 2015) Russia has seen a surge in patriotic feelings since the annexation of Crimea in March 2014, with 82 percent of respondents saying that Russian citizenship was preferable to any other, according to a new study by the independent Levada Center pollster, the RBC news site reported Monday. The number of Russians thinking […]

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Will Crimea’s ‘energy bridge’ save it from dependency on Ukraine?

Russian Naval Vessel in Ukrainian Port

Electricity in Crimea has been partially restored: On Dec. 2 an underwater cable linked the peninsula’s electricity system with a Russian electrical grid. RBTH finds out why the Russian authorities were unprepared for the peninsula’s electricity being cut off by Ukrainian activists and asks whether the energy bridge will save Crimean residents from other infrastructure failures in the future. (Russia […]

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Crimeans Putting On Brave Faces, But Frustration Mounting Over Blackout

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

(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Pavel Novikov, Claire Bigg – November 25, 2015) As Russian authorities in Crimea scramble to restore power after a massive blackout over the weekend, residents are learning to live with thawing fridges, pitch-dark highways, and shuttered schools. The outage, caused by attacks that brought down power transmission towers in Ukraine’s Kherson region, near the isthmus linking […]

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NEWSWATCH Deutsche Welle: “Dark days on Crimea: Russia and Ukraine rattle sabers. Electricity cables cut, no trade between Ukraine proper and the Crimean Peninsula, no gas supply: Once again Ukraine and Russia seem headed for confrontation. The US and Europe fear for the future of the Minsk Protocol”

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

Deutsche Welle covers unfolding events in occupied Crimea, including a power outage. Crimea has recently experienced its darkest hours in memory – literally. The peninsula, annexed by Russia in 2014, was left in a state of emergency, deprived since November 22 of electricity from the Ukrainian mainland after persons unknown blew up a number of electricity pylons in southern Ukraine. […]

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NEWSWATCH New York Times: “Months After Russian Annexation, Hopes Start to Dim in Crimea”

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

The New York Times covers unfolding events in occupied Crimea, including a power outage. No one is quite sure how long the blackout might last. The Ukrainian government has said the lines should be fixed but made no move to remove the protesters blocking repair crews. Although the Kremlin has voiced concern, it has not tried to force a solution. […]

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Ukraine Bids for Attention With Crimea Blackout

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

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Leonid Bershidsky – November 23, 2015) Even if Russian President Vladimir Putin wanted to end his country’s conflict with Ukraine so he could build an alliance with Western powers to beat Islamic State — and it’s not clear at all that he does — Ukrainians wouldn’t let him. In the last minutes of Nov. 21, someone […]

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Interfax: Crimeans not to be forced to renounce Ukraine’s citizenship – pro-Kremlin leader

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

(Interfax – October 14, 2015) Simferpol, 14 October: The need to notify the Russian Federal Migration Service [FMS] about second citizenship, which comes into effect for the residents of Crimea and Sevastopol from 1 January 2016, is not aimed at forcing regional residents to renounce the Ukrainian citizenship, the republic’s head Sergey Aksenov [Serhiy Aksyonov] has said. “We know anyway […]

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NEWSWATCH Washington Post/Daniel Treisman: “Searching for the roots of Russia’s aggression”

Balaklava harbour, the cattle pier, Crimea, Ukraine, 1855; adapted from image at loc.gov; Fenton, Roger, 1819-1869, photographer;

Writing in The Washington Post, Daniel Treisman of UCLA, and the Russian Political Insight project, considers the roots and contours of Russian aggression.  In part, he draws upon and reviews several new books, by Marvin Kalb, Walter Laqueur and Steven Lee Myers. A generation after the Cold War ended, Russian fighter jets are again probing NATO’s defenses in the skies […]

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Crimean Tatars blockade border posts over political discrimination

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

For the last several days Crimean Tatar demonstrators have been refusing to allow trucks with Ukrainian goods into Crimea and are putting forward political demands, calling for an end to discrimination by the peninsula’s Russian authorities. (Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Yekaterina Sinelschikova, RBTH – September 24, 2015) The import of Ukrainian goods into Crimea is currently at […]

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TRANSCRIPT: Victoria Nuland at Panel Discussion “Ukraine’s East and Crimea: Solving the Unsolvable”

File Photo of Victoria Nuland Testifying

(Embassy of the United States Kyiv – September 12, 2015) Remarks by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland at a Panel Discussion “Ukraine’s East and Crimea: Solving the Unsolvable” 12th Yalta European Strategy Annual Meeting Kyiv, Ukraine MODERATOR:  Victoria Nuland, if I may just turn to you. Obviously, you work for the State Department.  You […]

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The Logic and Risks Behind Russia’s Statelet Sponsorship

(Stratfor.com – Reva Bhalla – September 15, 2015) Mother Russia can be quite generous when it comes to her collection of statelets. In the early 1990s, when a broken Russia had no choice but to suck in her borders, a severely distracted Kremlin still found the time and money to promote and sponsor the fledgling breakaway territories of South Ossetia […]

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Handing Over Crimea and Donbas to Russia No Solution for Ukraine or the World

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

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, September 2, 2015) Many people, horrified by the actions of pro-Moscow forces in Crimea and the Donbas or unwilling to continue to resist Russian aggression, have concluded that the rest of Ukraine would be better off without those two regions and could move forward by sacrificing them to Vladimir Putin. “If only […]

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Like Stalin, Putin hasn’t Changed the Rules of the Game; He’s Destroyed Them, Portnikov Says

Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, August 28, 2015) The Anschluss of Crimea and the murder of Boris Nemtsov were not continuations of the rules of the game that had existed before, with the first following the 2008 Russian actions in Georgia and the second that of murders like Galina Starovoitova and Anna Politkovskaya, Vitaly Portnikov says. Instead, […]

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Exiled Ukraine Premier Seeks to Regain Power, Though Not Crimea

Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Irina Reznik, Stepan Kravchenko – August 19, 2015) Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, who’s formed a government-in-exile to try to regain power, said his country is ripe for more regime change. Amid economic crisis and conflict in the country’s east, Ukrainians are disillusioned with the pro-European policies of President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy […]

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Interfax: Putin visits Crimea, says Ukraine’s future is “together with Russia”

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

(Interfax – Yalta, August 17, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Russians and Ukrainians one people and expressed confidence that Ukraine will overcome its problems and come out of “external administration”. “I consider Russians and Ukrainians generally to be one people,” he said at a meeting with representatives of ethnic public organizations of the Republic of Crimea. “I am […]

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Interfax: “Putin: ‘Crimeans voted for reunion with Russia. Done. Full stop'”

Vladimir Putin file photo with VOA logo; screen shot from video still

(Interfax – August 18, 2015) Russian President Vladimir Putin has declined to comment on Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s reaction to the Russian leader’s trip to Crimea. Speaking to journalists on Aug. 18, Putin stressed that the Crimeans have put a full stop on the issue of the peninsula’s future. “No, I am not commenting on it, because the future of […]

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NEWSWATCH AFP: Ukraine bid to shut out Russia with border ‘wall’ falters.

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

AFP covers Ukraine’s unfolding efforts to fortify its border with Russia with defensive structures. … the ambitious project to seal up Ukraine’s porous 2,000-kilometre (1,200-mile) frontier with its ex-Soviet neighbour was announced in March 2014 after Moscow seized … Crimea …. … over a year later, only a small fraction of the $250-million (225-million-euro) project that Kiev hopes could help […]

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