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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… 4. Wall Street Journal: Conflict in East Ukraine Claims Civilian Lives in Rebel-Held Cities. Warfare Spreading into Rebel-Controlled Cities Risks Alienating Residents.
5. Reuters: Ukrainian city stocks up as a long siege looms. …
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Nataliya Kovalenko, Oleksiy Arunyan – August 02, 2014) Although the raging fighting and heated rhetoric in eastern Ukraine still command the headlines, the dispute between Kyiv and Moscow over Crimea simmers on and seems as intractable as ever. Russia annexed the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula in March, a move that Ukraine and most of the rest […]
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… 29. Defense News: After White House Meeting, Lawmakers Say Obama Won’t Send Lethal Arms to Ukraine.
30. Washington Post: Fareed Zakaria, The Rise of Putinism.
31. Financial Times: US diplomat Victoria Nuland faces questions over strategy.
32. Politico.com: Ben Judah, The End of Vladimir Putin. Could the war in Ukraine bring down the Kremlin?
33. Anders Aslund: RE: 2014-#166-Johnson’s Russia List/Patrick Armstrong.
34. Patrick Armstrong: DEADLY QUOTATIONS PART 2. …
(opendemocracy.net – Svetlana Bolotnikova – July 30, 2014) Svetlana Bolotnikova is a Russian journalist and correspondent for KavPolit, an online publication specialising in political developments in the Caucasus. Brother against brother The civil war in the south-east of Ukraine is in so many ways a repeat of the civil war in the region in the 1920s. But will there come […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – August 1, 2014) The United Nations has not received any hard evidence that Russia supplied pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine with weapons, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said Thursday. “We were unable to get hard evidence of the supply of weapons,” Pillay said in comments carried by ITAR-Tass. Washington and Kiev have […]
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MOSCOW. Aug 1 (Interfax) – Metropolitan of Chernivtsi and Bukovina Onufry, the locum of the Kyiv Metropolia, has accused the Ukrainian military of pressuring Orthodox Christians in Donbas. “I have to state violations of the rights and freedoms of believers and interference in the work of parishes of the Donetsk diocese of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the militant contingent […]
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… 15. Reuters: Some Ukrainian rebels vent frustration with Putin.
16. Financial Times: Guy Chazan, A surreal week with the Donetsk rebels.
17. Moscow Times editorial: Separatists’ Faults May Give Putin a Way Out.
18. RFE/RL: Brian Whitmore, The Kremlin Floats An Exit Strategy. …
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Charles Recknagel – July 30, 2014) The latest round of EU and U.S. sanctions over Ukraine will restrict Moscow’s access to what Russia arguably needs most: Western financing and new technology. Here are five things to know about the sanctions and their impact. How much could the sanctions hurt Russia? This batch of sanctions comes at […]
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(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – July 30, 2014) Sometimes it’s a good idea to pay attention to what Andrei Kolesnikov writes. The “Kommersant” columnist is one of the Kremlin’s anointed court scribes and is often described as President Vladimir Putin’s favorite journalist. Ben Judah, author of “Fragile Empire: How Russia Fell Out Of Love With Vladimir Putin,” recently […]
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(Moscow Times editorial – themoscowtimes.com – July 31, 2014) Russia may finally have a pretext for bailing out on Ukrainian separatists. But the pretext is not sanctions – it’s ethics. Still, the idea will be highly difficult for President Vladimir Putin to transmit, as there are few people who can take the moral high ground in the Russian establishment. Putin, […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Kira Egorova, RBTH – July 30, 2014) A new survey shows that the number of Russians concerned about economic restrictions imposed by the West is steadily decreasing A new poll from the Levada Center has revealed that Russians are becoming less afraid of sanctions. The most recent survey, conducted between July 18-21 after […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Anna Dolgov – July 31, 2014) As rhetorical sallies between Russia and Ukraine get increasingly bitter, the Ukrainian media watchdog agency has urged citizens to refrain from comments to Russian journalists, whom it accused of circulating brazen lies and distortions. “Every day, informational provocations by Russian journalists are becoming more impudent,” the Ukrainian Television & […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#165 :: Wednesday 30 July 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. Interfax-Ukraine: Klimkin: Conflict in Ukraine the most serious since Cuban […]
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… 31. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Russians Scrambling to Explain Why People in Eastern Ukraine Haven’t Flocked to Secessionist Banners.
32. Jamestown Foundation Eurasia Daily Monitor: Ukrainian Ruling Coalition Breaks up, Early Elections Loom.
33. Moscow Times: Ukraine Bans Russian Films for Distorting Historical Facts.
34. Reuters: Wall Street struggles to comply with new US sanctions on Russia.
35. Center for Strategic and International Studies: Anthony H. Cordesman, The Downing of the Malaysian Airliner: Avoid Rushing to Judgment. …
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, July 29, 2014) As the Ukrainian military closes in on Moscow-backed forces in southeastern Ukraine, Russian commentators are scrambling to explain why the Russian-speaking population in that region have not flocked to the banners of the secessionists in Donetsk and Luhansk. Not surprisingly, these commentators have not focused on the facts that […]
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(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 11, Issue 137 – Oleg Varfolomeyev – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – July 28, 2014) The majority coalition in Ukraine’s unicameral parliament has formally dissolved. This should make it possible for President Petro Poroshenko, who was himself elected (on May 25) in early elections, to call early parliamentary elections. His party may win, according to opinion polls, while the […]
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(Voice of America – Catherine Maddux – July 25, 2014) Just hours after reports that Malaysian Airlines flight 17 had been shot down over eastern Ukraine, the stark reality that 298 civilians from nearly a dozen nations had just become the latest victims in a Russian-backed separatist movement came as somewhat of a jolt. All were dead. Locals reported bodies […]
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MOSCOW. July 29 (Interfax) – Defense Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Igor Strelkov has banned to shoot at Ukrainian servicemen willing to surrender, the DPR official mission in Russia said. “Following ideas of humanity for the sake of ceasing bloodshed and saving lives of Ukrainian servicemen sent forcibly to the area of fratricidal slaughter, I order all […]
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KYIV. July 29 (Interfax) – The issue of granting Ukraine a special partner status is currently being discussed in the United States, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said. Readiness to provide further assistance to Ukraine exists in the Congress and Senate and the U.S. already provides such help, Klimkin said in an interview with Voice of America during his working […]
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… 4. Reuters: In Ukraine’s east, Soviet-style economy withers under onslaught.
5. Bloomberg: Stepan Kravchenko, My Captivity in Ukraine Shows Amateurs Succumb to Hatred.
6. CBSNews.com: Interview with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. (re Putin) ….
(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Concorde Capital – July 28, 2014) If Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko launches a loyal political party to compete in the early parliamentary elections expected in October, it would finish in fifth place, according to a poll conducted of 2,040 respondents between July 16 and 23 by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology. The most […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Gorlivka, Ukraine – July 28, 2014) In the evening of July 27, Gorlivka, an industrial town of around 250,000 about an hour’s drive from the city of Donetsk, was shuddering as Ukrainian government forces launched an attempt to recapture it from Russian-backed separatist rebels, who had seized control of key administrative […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexey Eremenko – July 28, 2014) If President Vladimir Putin is facing the biggest international backlash of his 14-year reign, it is because he has – in the eyes of the West – violated the one great taboo of the post-9/11 world: supporting terrorism. The problem is, viewed from a Russian perspective, Putin has done […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Stepan Kravchenko – July 27, 2014) In eastern Ukraine, one text message can turn you into an enemy. In my case, it was sent to my father. “Talked to Borodai at night,” it said about an interview I had with a rebel leader. “So, you are Borodai’s little friend,” concluded the camouflaged man reading my Nokia. […]
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(Interfax – July 25, 2014) The sanctions introduced by the European Union against Russia will not force Moscow to change its policy on the situation in Ukraine, Russia’s permanent representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov has said, privately-owned Interfax news agency reported on 25 July. “This is incorrect logic, to think that sanctions can force, in this case Russia, […]
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1. Wall Street Journal: After Flight 17 Crash, Agony, Debris and Heartbreak in Ukraine Villages. Villagers Near Malaysia Airlines Crash Site Feel Abandoned and Overwhelmed.
2. News Corp Australia Network: Face to face with the Russian-backed rebels in Eastern Ukraine.
3. The National Interest: Thomas Graham, America Needs a Real Russia Policy. …
(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Alastair Gill, RBTH – July 21, 2014) RBTH asked Russians of various ages and backgrounds, living both in Russia and abroad, for their opinions on the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 disaster, including who they thought was responsible for the crash and how the events are being reported in the media. Mikhail, 80 – […]
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(RIA Novosti – Ekaterina Blinova – July 25, 2014) Praising the ruthless military operation by Kiev against both armed rebels and unarmed civilians, American neocons have also been inciting Washington to launch wide-raging economic warfare against Russia in recent months. Thus, unsurprisingly, when the Ukrainian government released information on the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 catastrophe, the US media hastened to […]
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[check back for updates, including more links; links also posted to facebook and twitter] Johnson’s Russia List JRL 2014-#161 :: Thursday 24 July 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. Valdai Discussion Club/Gazeta.ru: Fyodor Lukyanov, Going It Alone 2. RIA Novosti: Donetsk Commander […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Concorde Capital – July 24, 2014) EU Energy Commissioner GYnther Oettinger opposes sanctions on Russian natural gas and oil but doesn’t rule out sanctions on energy technology and equipment, he told a July 23 press conference in Brussels, as reported by the UNIAN news agency. “I always spoke against including energy supplies of Russian […]
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(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, July 24, 2014) Tsar Aleksandr III famously said that Russia has only two allies – its army and its fleet – but now, according to Rashit Akhmetov, the editor of “Zvezda Povolzhya,” Vladimir Putin is down to only one – Moscow television with its ability to shape and direct Russian opinion. In […]
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KIEV, July 24 (RIA Novosti) – The speaker of Ukraine’s parliament, Oleksandr Turchynov, dissolved the country’s Communist Party during Thursday’s session. “As of July 1, 2014, this parliamentary party was down to 23 members [from the previous number of 33], which is significantly less than the minimum requirement for parliamentary parties. In this regard and pursuant to Part 4 of […]
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KIEV, July 24 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s Svoboda and UDAR parties announced Thursdaytheir factions in the Ukrainian parliament were quitting the majority coalition, paving the way for the dissolution of parliament. The majority coalition in the Ukrainian parliament, created after the February coup, had 256 members, the vast majority of them representing the erstwhile opposition parties of Batkyvshchina, UDAR and […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Tim Ash, Standard Bank – July 24, 2014) What is now clear on the ground is that Ukraine is at war, and with significant casualties suffered now by both sides on a daily basis – tens of lives lost almost daily now. The conflict is also causing very significant disruption and costs to the […]
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MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Defense Ministry has labeled Ukraine’s claim that two Su-25 attack aircraft were shot down in eastern Ukraine from Russia as “hogwash.” On Wednesday, independence forces in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region said they downed two Su-25s. Later in the day, a spokesman from Ukraine’s National Security information center, Andriy Lysenko, said during a […]
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DONETSK. July 24 (Interfax) – Explosions and volley fire are audible in Donetsk and smoke can be seen above north-western suburbs of the city, the Interfax correspondent reported on Thursday. According to the information of the press office of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) information ministry, a fight between militia and the Ukrainian army continues near the village of […]
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KYIV. July 24 (Interfax) – Ukraine has not accused Russia of shooting down Ukrainian military planes in the military operation area in the eastern part of the country but only suggested it as one of the theories of the Wednesday incident, Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said. “We haven’t accused anyone yet,” Lysenko said at a […]
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MOSCOW, July 24 (RIA Novosti) – A leader of the independence supporters in the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, Commander of the Vostok Battalion Alexander Khodakovsky, denied having told Reuters that militia forces possessed Buk missiles when the Malaysia airliner crashed in the region, RT television channel reported Thursday. “We were discussing theories but one simple phrase was cutting throughout […]
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… 39. Reuters: Putin ally warns Russia risks isolation over Ukraine rhetoric. (Kudrin)
40. The National Interest: Nikolas Gvosdev, Can Russia Avoid Being Hit with More Sanctions? Four indicators to consider.
41. Business New Europe: Clifford G. Gaddy and Barry W. Ickes, Can Sanctions Stop Putin? ….
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 23, 2014) Ukraine’s Interior Ministry on Tuesday accused the pro-Russian insurgency of attempting to procure white phosphorus ammunition, whose use is limited by international agreements. The ministry cited intercepted conversations between the insurgents, who allegedly spoke about obtaining phosphorus missiles for Grad missile launchers at their disposal. The rebels wanted to use the phosphorus […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Aliaksandr Kudrytski – July 22, 2014) The grass is being trimmed, the flowers tended and the potholes on roads filled. Jazz plays out from a cafe, and a few people are out enjoying the sunshine. Yet puncturing the scene of a European summer is the distant boom, boom, boom of artillery fire and emptiness. This is […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – Graham Stack in Luhansk – July 23, 2014) Luhansk falls quiet as its citizens flee the city. The train station is the town’s last populated place as residents queue for any ride out of town – and not by coincidence it is also one of the rebels’ favourite artillery locations. With cars and taxis […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Nikolai Litovkin, RBTH – July 23, 2014) The business newspaper Kommersant has reported the findings of a special working group of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), which has quantified the costs of ceased collaboration with Ukrainian military-industrial enterprises. Russia will need to spend $938 million (33 billion rubles) to mitigate the negative […]
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(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Margaret Talev – July 23, 2014) The downing of a Malaysian passenger aircraft in Ukraine may stiffen Obama administration resistance to providing heavy armaments to rebels — or even besieged governments — seeking U.S. help in hotspots around the world. In the wake of the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) disaster, President Barack Obama has raised the risk […]
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KIEV, July 23 (RIA Novosti) – Ukrainian parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchynov announced that the Communist Party, who occupy 23 seats in the Verkhovna Rada, would be dissolved on Thursday. On Tuesday, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, made changes to its rules that would allow the speaker of the house to dissolve the Communist party. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a […]
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KYIV. July 23 (Interfax) – Petro Symonenko, leader of the Ukrainian Communist Party faction, was attacked by parliamentarians during the Wednesday morning parliament session. After a proposal was made to remove Symonenko from the hall, deputies from the Svoboda faction began pushing him from the hall for his statements “on the killing by Ukrainian military of the country’s citizens for […]
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… 38. Russian Military Reform: Dmitry Gorenburg, Who shot down MH 17?
39. CNN.com: Andrew Kuchins, Act now, or face war in Ukraine.
40. Paul Goble: Window on Eurasia: Convinced of His Own Exceptionalism, Putin is Both ‘a Pragmatist and a Fool,’ Milshtein Says.
41. Stratfor.com: George Friedman, Can Putin Survive?
42. Moscow Times editorial: Moscow Won’t Back Down on Ukraine. …
(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, July 22, 2014) In a commentary entitled “Forewarned and Armed,” Ilya Milshtein argues that tragically “there are no particular reasons to hope that Putin will change his approach” in Ukraine. Instead, the Moscow analyst says, he will proceed in ways that reflect his beliefs in his own exceptionalism and in his ability […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Marina Starodubtseva, Nikolai Litovkin, RBTH – July 22, 2014) The Boeing 777 tragedy, which claimed the lives of 298 people, has seriously changed the course of the political game surrounding Ukraine. We asked the leading Russian experts to assess how the political situation changed after the events of July 17 and how relations […]
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