Politics, Government, Protests, Elections
(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Dec. 5, 2022) While rightly helping Ukraine to defend itself, the Pentagon and weapons contractors should not be allowed to exploit the crisis to expand the U.S. arms industry “in ways that go far beyond what is needed to help Ukraine in its current conflict,” according to William Hartung of the Quincy Institute for Responsible […]
» Read more
“The Kremlin’s crackdown on dissent has gone from being focused on particular targets to broadly criminalizing any criticism of the government or its war – and it is casting a pall over Russian society.” “… Mikhail Lobanov, a local political activist in the Moscow suburb of Ramenki, put a little sign on his balcony that said ‘No War.’ … [O]ne […]
» Read more
“The head of U.S. intelligence says fighting in Russia’s war in Ukraine is running at a ‘reduced tempo’ and suggests Ukrainian forces could have brighter prospects in coming months. … [T]he British Ministry of Defense … pointed to … public support in Russia for the military campaign … ‘falling significantly.’ Meduza said it obtained a recent confidential opinion survey conducted […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – Nov. 29, 2022) A longtime ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Alexei Kudrin, stepped down Tuesday as the head of the country’s Audit Chamber amid reports he will oversee the reconstruction of tech giant Yandex following sanctions over Ukraine. Kudrin, a former finance minister who has a reputation of being an economic liberal in Moscow, has been […]
» Read more
“Russia’s current condition — militarized, isolated, corrupt, dominated by the security services and hemorrhaging talent as hundreds of thousands flee abroad to escape service in a horrific war — is bleak. In hopes of an end to this grim reality, some wait expectantly for … Putin to leave office. To change the country, however, it is not enough for [] […]
» Read more
“An argument on Russian state television is a ‘good sign’ that the country’s leadership is cracking, according to [] former U.S. [A]mbassador [McFaul]. Russia [reportedly] has threatened to nationalize assets of Western companies … pull[ing] resources from the country following its [Ukraine] invasion …. Hundreds of companies have already left Russia after expressing dissatisfaction with the war … [I]f the […]
» Read more
“… The cultural weight of the past is heavy, and the habits of autocracy — especially the habit of living in fear — persist. The attraction of power is also strong. … and the next government of Russia might well be even more repressive …. Countries evolve, sometimes creating better governments … sometimes worse …. Empires fall: The Russian empire […]
» Read more
“It’s difficult to discern any real growth in the influence of the hardliners. They are trying to push Putin down a narrow corridor of escalation, but there are no signs that the president is actually listening to them.” “The longer Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, the more prominent the party of war becomes …. Hardly a day goes by without […]
» Read more
“Can … Putin lose the war in Ukraine and retain power? As Ukraine’s driving counteroffensive erodes Russia’s position on the battlefield, that question is getting increasing attention. Discussion has focused on the possibility of a coup, whether an armed insurrection by disgruntled Russian generals or a mutiny by Kremlin insiders. Although not impossible, neither … is … very likely. … […]
» Read more
“… In one fundamental sense little has changed in this war since the end of February. Ukraine is determined to resist the Russian invasion and is both confident in its ability to do so and fearful of the dire consequences should it fail. For the war to end Russia must accept that it cannot subjugate Ukraine and must give up […]
» Read more
“While loyal to the Kremlin, a rising number of nationalist critics are taking aim at military commanders as they chart the Ukraine conflict on social media.” “… [There is] a burgeoning group of ‘patriotic’ critics in Russia who support the war, but are concerned by Moscow’s handling of it. They generally avoid criticising Putin directly and instead frequently take aim […]
» Read more
“Russia’s chaotic mobilization of troops has ended, its goals largely met. But the public is still coming to grips with the psychological stresses of the process – and of the ongoing war in Ukraine.” “Under Russia’s Constitution, men have the right to seek alternative service if their health or personal beliefs preclude being drafted into the army. … [T]he Movement […]
» Read more
1. Washington should convey to Moscow that the U.S. doesn’t seek Russia’s destruction and wants to avoid direct military conflict, according to David Ignatius. Furthermore, the U.S. should resume discussion of Putin’s 2021 calls for security assurances from NATO as the time has come “for urgent talks about how to keep this terrible war from becoming something vastly worse,” Ignatius […]
» Read more
(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – Paul Saunders – Oct. 26, 2022) Paul Saunders is the president of the Energy Innovation Reform Project and a senior fellow in U.S. foreign policy at the Center for the National Interest. BOOK REVIEW“Putin” By Philip Short Henry Holt and Co., July 2022 As Russia continues its devastating war in Ukraine, those inside and outside […]
» Read more
(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, Oct. 23, 2022) Almost everything in Russia has changed since February 24 when Moscow began its expanded invasion of Ukraine, but one thing has not, the editors of Nezavisimaya gazeta say, and that is Putin’s confidence that he is doing everything right and the overwhelming support he has from the population in […]
» Read more
“… [O]ne of the invasion’s central lessons had to do with something I had witnessed over the preceding two decades: what happens when a government is slowly warped by its own propaganda. … Russian diplomats were made to confront Washington and defend the country’s meddling abroad with lies and non sequiturs. … embrac[ing] bombastic rhetoric and … uncritically parrot … […]
» Read more
“… Putin’s hail of missiles against civilian targets in Ukraine is both reprehensible and a desperate move in an unjust war he is losing. The question raised by … Navalny in a recent essay …: What will come when it is over? How Russia emerges from this disaster could shape the world for a long time. In addition to Russia’s […]
» Read more
“… When the Russian Ministry of Education rolled out classroom discussions of current events, some parents and teachers pushed back. They worry the state is trying to impose its values on students. …” “… [I]ts detractors view it as another giant step on the road back to totalitarianism. The announcement of the new classes led to considerable pushback from parents’ […]
» Read more
“In the system of Russian state administration, excessive reflection and compunction are, if anything, a distraction from focusing on the result, and therefore a disadvantage. Efficiency and loyalty are the two main criteria for success.” “Ever since their country invaded Ukraine, there has been a deafening silence from the group of Western-educated technocrats … in charge of running Russia’s economy. […]
» Read more
(Article text Copyright © 2022 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036. – rferl.org – Robert Coalson – Oct. 6, 2022 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/russia-putin-70th-birthday-mobilization-popularity/32068714.html) Russian President Vladimir Putin marks his 70th birthday on October 7. The jubilee comes at a time when the […]
» Read more
An unnamed member of President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle has directly confronted him over mistakes and mismanagement of the war in Ukraine, The Washington Post reported Friday, citing U.S. intelligence. [washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/10/07/putin-inner-circle-dissent/] The insider’s confrontation and identity were reportedly included in U.S. President Joe Biden’s daily intelligence briefing and shared with other U.S. officials. The individual’s identity could not be confirmed, […]
» Read more
“… Putin … has doubled back on his word, sparking outrage across Russia. Declaring that 300,000 ‘reservists’ — nominally those with previous military service — would be mobilized, the deadly combination of unrest at home and an ever more limited military apparatus facing down an increasingly better-armed Ukrainian army means that even if Moscow can meet its recruitment goals, Putin’s […]
» Read more
“The longer the conflict rages and the more resources the Russian regime throws into the furnace of war, the more isolated Putin may become in his bid for nuclear escalation.” “… [A] fragile faith [held by the Russian elites] has been rocked by the humiliating Russian retreat from Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the … partial mobilization that looks likely to become […]
» Read more
“…. Putin is rapidly losing legitimacy …. The secret police are angry over being] blam[ed] … for the military fiasco. The generals are angry that the war is destroying the armed forces. The pro-war faction … blames him …. The pro-peace faction blames him …. Russia’s foreign allies are … losing … respect … for Putin. … [I]nitial enthusiasm for […]
» Read more
“Vladimir Putin’s mobilisation of reservists has provoked widespread protests across Russia and many are seeking to leave the country. Further discontent is likely as economic hardships grow.” “… The government had some success in managing popular expectations so as to avoid pressure on the Kremlin to get quick results. …. This allowed the Russian public to develop some immunity to […]
» Read more
(Russia Matters – russiamatters.org – RM Staff – Sept. 21, 2022) Vladimir Putin on Sept. 21 has done what hardliners inside and outside of the Russian government have repeatedly called for, calls that intensified after Russia’s military setbacks in eastern Ukraine: announced a mobilization of Russian reservists (though partial, not full) and officially blessed the annexation of occupied Ukrainian territories […]
» Read more
“After Russia’s defeat in Kharkiv, the pressure was on Vladimir Putin to respond. Today he did, by announcing the escalation of the war in Ukraine through the mobilization of 300,000 Russian troops.” “… Putin has been hearing … from a chorus of Russian nationalist hawks that the … 200,000-strong expeditionary force in Ukraine is too small to achieve victory. … […]
» Read more
“The president successfully preserved the status quo for two decades. Suddenly, he’s turned into a destroyer.” “Ukraine’s successful counterattack means that for the first time ever in … Putin’s 22 years in power, he has to deal with elites who disagree with him — on strategic decisions over Russia’s war in Ukraine and how the war may end. Having launched […]
» Read more
“Having radicalized Russian ultra-patriots with imperialist slogans and actions, the Kremlin now risks its most vitriolic supporters turning against it.” “… Active Russian supporters of the war … blame their country’s military leadership …. demanding … Putin take decisive action … even questioning how serious his intentions in Ukraine really are. … [Invading] Ukraine, Putin won over … ultra-patriots and […]
» Read more
(PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo No. 794 – Henry Hale – Sept. 12, 2022) Beginning in 2011-12, the Kremlin and the media it controls embarked on what analysts have widely called “the Conservative Turn.” With support slipping and the largest protests of the Putin era gaining momentum over that winter, the regime’s allies began politicizing certain issues related to sexuality and […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – Yanina Sorokina – Sept. 4, 2022) Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is often called “Putin’s war,” based on the assumption that Russia’s authoritarian leader has a firm grip on power and virtually single-handedly influences Russian politics. And as the only country to wage a war in Europe in the 21st century, Russia is viewed as an exceptional state […]
» Read more
“Mikhail Gorbachev … [reportedly] was shocked and bewildered by the Ukraine conflict in the months before he died and psychologically crushed in recent years by Moscow’s worsening ties with Kyiv …. [Interpreter] Pavel Palazhchenko, who worked with [him] for 37 years … at his side at numerous U.S.-Soviet summits, spoke to Gorbachev a few weeks ago by phone and said […]
» Read more
“From post-Soviet freedoms to resurgent autocracy: a historian reflects on the plight of Russia’s beleaguered intelligentsia.” “… When I think of the situation of my friends in Russia, of the future they have been denied by Putin’s war, I feel shame, frustration, anger and most of all sadness on their behalf. They all, I’m sure, abhor this war — even […]
» Read more
“Mikhail Gorbachev helped end the Cold War and oversaw the demise of the totalitarian Soviet Union, offering freedom and hope. But his dream of a ‘common European homeland’ has died.” “… Gorbachev … lived long enough to witness his greatest legacy, the peaceful unwinding of the USSR into 15 sovereign nation states, being destroyed. The current war in Ukraine is […]
» Read more
“Western officials are puzzled by the Russian leader’s decision to avoid mass conscription. But analysts say he is intent on maintaining a sense of normalcy to prevent any public backlash.” “… Putin says Russia is fighting for its very existence … [b]ut … Russia continues to wage [its war in Ukraine] with a military … essentially at peacetime strength …. […]
» Read more
“Russian officials and lawmakers treaded carefully … reacting to Mikhail Gorbachev’s death, praising … his role in ending the Cold War but deploring his failure to avert the collapse of the Soviet Union. … [S]tate television broadcasts … paid tributes to Gorbachev as a historic figure but described his reforms as poorly planned and held him responsible for failing to […]
» Read more
“… Dugina’s death rocked … Russian TV anchors, journalists and other commentators … serv[ing] up propaganda justifying … Putin’s invasion …. The killing immediately heightened a sense of vulnerability among Russia’s most elite and visible promoters of the war in Ukraine, who now realize that they might be targets and that the government is potentially unable to protect them. … […]
» Read more
“What’s easier to imagine … Putin suddenly declaring an end to the war on Ukraine and withdrawing his troops or a Russia without [] Putin that revises his policies, ends the war and begins to build relations with Ukraine and the West on a peaceful new foundation? … [P]rotests against the war have been completely choked off …. Critical public […]
» Read more
(Russia Matters – Simon Saradzhyan – russiamatters.org – Aug. 12, 2022) Simon Saradzhyan is the founding director of the Russia Matters Project. To Vladimir Putin, the war in Ukraine is obviously not an end in itself. Rather, it is one of multiple means by which he’d like to attain multiple aims. Of these, one appears to be somewhat overlooked and undeservedly […]
» Read more
(Paul Goble – Staunton, July 15, 2022) It is widely but incorrectly believed that the Kremlin keeps two sets of books, one that is more or less accurate on which it relies and a second that is fundamentally distorted in order to make things look better to the population than they in fact are, Dmitry Nekrasov says. According to the […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – Aug. 3, 2022) The head of one of Russia’s leading universities for civil servants was released from house arrest Wednesday in exchange for staying in the country during the course of a high-profile fraud investigation. Vladimir Mau, 62, was detained in late June in connection with a 21-million-ruble ($350,000) fraud investigation targeting a former senior education official. […]
» Read more
“PUTIN, by Philip Short | Illustrated | 864 pp. | Henry Holt & Company | $40 … Short’s account is both perfectly and unfortunately timed, arriving just when we most need to understand Putin, yet missing the chapter that may yet define his place in history. … Short’s version nonetheless offers a compelling, impressive and methodically researched account of Putin’s […]
» Read more
“… A decade ago [when][] Putin’s popularity began to wane[] [h]e … [started] drawing on … fascist thinking … caught up in a cycle of grievance and resentment that has left reason far behind. … culminat[ing] in a ruinous war that … defied the weighing of risks and rewards. … Without the rhetoric of victimhood and the use of violence, […]
» Read more
“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reignited debate over the role of NATO expansion …. Robert Person and Michael McFaul dismiss Russian President Vladimir Putin’s NATO concerns as a ‘fiction,’ arguing that it was actually the expansion of democracy that threatened his autocratic regime. … Democracy and NATO expansion were not separate issues for Putin and the Russian elite, but mutually […]
» Read more
“[Anatoly Chubais,] … former senior aide to … Putin is … hospital[ized] in Italy … diagnosed with a rare neurological disorder …. A central architect of Russia’s post-communist privatisation, Chubais, 69, is the most senior [Kremlin] official to resign … [since] the [February] invasion of Ukraine …. Shortly before Chubais’s resignation, Putin said Russia needed to ‘purify itself’ by ‘distinguishing […]
» Read more
“To understand Russia today, it is necessary to reach back to Stalin’s Great Terror …. Everyone was scared[,] even Communist Party theorists … ‘frightened out of their wits like rabbits’ [as described by one commentator.] … [Similarly, today] Russian security services are grabbing people arbitrarily and imprisoning them for criticism of … Putin or his barbaric war against Ukraine. [According […]
» Read more
“News outlets forced to close since Russia invaded Ukraine are soldiering on in exile.” “… [Following] Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin adopted legislation punishing the dissemination of false information about [Russian military activities] with up to 15 years in prison. [The] Kremlin … said … the law was needed because of ‘the absolutely unprecedented information war … against our […]
» Read more
“… This war is an act of imperialism, a colonial war meant to destroy another nation’s right to exist and to subjugate it. But it is not empire building … [as] a coldly considered plan for territorial gain and economic resources; it is the next act of … Putin’s empire of humiliation. [Putin] would have the world believe [Russia] … […]
» Read more
“Western intelligence officials, as well as the Kremlin, this week dismissed longstanding rumors that … Putin, the 69-year-old Russian president, is unwell. … ‘There are lots of rumors about … Putin’s health and as far as we can tell he’s entirely too healthy,’ [CIA Director] William J. Burns … said … Wednesday. Richard Moore, … head of MI6, … said […]
» Read more
(Moscow Times – June 30, 2022) The head of one of Russia’s leading universities was detained Thursday in connection with a fraud investigation targeting a former senior education official. Vladimir Mau, head of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), was detained as a suspect in a 21-million-ruble ($399,810) embezzlement case, Russia’s Interior Ministry said. Investigators […]
» Read more