Ukraine – 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 […]

Public Opinion Paradoxes? Russians Are Increasingly Dubious About the Costs of Putin’s Foreign Policies

May 28, 2019 JRL Russia List Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, Military, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Syria, Ukraine

Map of Commonwealth of Independent States, European Portion

(PONARS Eurasia – Harley Balzer – May 20, 2019) Harley Balzer is Professor Emeritus of Government and International Affairs, and founding Director, Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, at Georgetown University. (PONARS Eurasia Policy Memo) Recent survey and focus group data indicate that Russians increasingly are questioning whether some of President Vladimir Putin’s policies are worth the price […]

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Leave a comment Foreign Policy, Government, Military, Politics, Polls, Putin, Russia, Russian News

RUSSIALINK: “Zelensky’s party seeking one-party majority in future Rada – election campaign head” – Interfax

May 28, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

KYIV. May 27 (Interfax) – The Servant of the People party has set itself the task of obtaining a one-party majority in the future Verkhovna Rada on the basis of an early parliamentary election. “We would not like to turn to other parties to form a coalition. Our ultimate goal is to form a coalition from one political force,” the […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine oligarch urges Volodymyr Zelensky to default on debt; Concern grows over Igor Kolomoisky’s influence on the novice president” – Financial Times/ Max Seddon

May 28, 2019 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“… Zelensky should … reject[] the [IMF] austerity programme and default[] on … external debt, according to his contentious oligarch supporter[] Igor Kolomoisky … [a suggestion that] will ring alarm bells with … western backers even though … Zelensky … said he would stick to the terms of Ukraine’s $3.9bn bailout. Concern among Ukrainians and western officials about … Kolomoisky’s […]

JRL RUSSIALINK: “Zelensky should prove readiness to settle Donbas conflict by complying with Minsk agreements – Slutsky” – Interfax

May 20, 2019 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine

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

MOSCOW. May 20 (Interfax) – Russian State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Leonid Slutsky has said he is counting on the new Ukrainian parliament’s ability to pass legislation ensuring the implementation of the Minsk agreements. “In assuming office [Ukraine’s new President Volodymyr] Zelensky was saying the right things about the need to cease fire in Donbas. […] If that is […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “President Zelenskiy’s inauguration speech (Complete English Translation)” – Kyiv Post

May 20, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“[note from JRL web editor: first full paragraph from source’s version of transcript follows:] Dear Ukrainians, After (my) victory at this election, my six-year-old son said, ‘Daddy, I was watching TV, they say Zelenskiy is the president. So it means I’m the president too, right?’ At the moment it sounded like a child’s joke. But later I understood that it […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s parliamentary coalition collapses, making snap elections impossible” – bne Intellinews

May 17, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“The ruling coalition in the Ukrainian parliament … Verkhovna Rada[] collapsed … May 17 … [with] the withdrawal of the People’s Front faction, headed by former prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk. According to Ukrainian legislation, the Verkhovna Rada should now keep working until the next parliamentary election … October 27, meaning president-elect … Zelenskiy will not be able to call a […]

Zelensky’s Victory and Poroshenko’s Defeat Offer Three Unwelcome Lessons for Ukraine, Tsipko Says

May 17, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

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

(Paul Goble – Window on Eurasia – Staunton, May 15, 2019) Aleksandr Tsipko, one of the most senior and thoughtful Soviet-Russian commentators, argues that the victory of Vladimir Zelensky and even more the defeat of Petro Poroshenko in the recent Ukrainian presidential elections offers three important but unwelcome lessons about and for Ukraine. The first, he writes in Nezavisimaya gazeta, […]

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

May 15, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(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 […]

Fighting to be seen: how Ukrainian and Russian professional women are securing their place in public

May 13, 2019 JRL Russia List Economy, Business, Investment, Trade, Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine, Women

In Ukraine and Russia, civil society and professional associations are helping women experts to raise their profile in the public arena. (opendemocracy.net – Olena Strelnyk – May 13, 2019 – opendemocracy.net/en/odr/female-experts-in-russia-and-ukraine-en/) Olena Strelnyk is a writer and researcher on gender issues. She is a doctor of sociology, and lives and works in Ukraine. “A 32-year-old blonde woman is now acting […]

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Leave a comment Business, Gender, Government, Russia, Russian News, Ukraine, Ukrainian News, Women

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 […]

Ukraine’s New Language Law ‘Best Gift to Putin’ Since Russian Invasion Began, Pastukhov Says

May 1, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(Window on Eurasia – Paul Goble – Staunton, April 29, 2019) Not because of its goal but because of its methods, Kyiv’s new language law does not serve Ukrainian national interests in unifying society or integrating with Europe, Vladimir Pastukhov says. Instead, it represents “the best gift to Putin” he has received since he launched his invasion of Ukraine in […]

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Leave a comment Language, Russia, Russian News, Ukainian News, Ukraine

‘Look at Us: Everything is Possible’ – Zelensky’s Existential Challenge to Putinism

April 29, 2019 JRL Russia List Politics, Government, Protests, Elections, Ukraine

“… Zelensky has so challenged … Putin’s vision of the world that he already has turned the Kremlin leader into his mortal enemy … According to … Russian sociologist [Eidman], Putin’s autocracy rests on the conviction … that there is no possibility of change. … But if what Zelensky has achieved in Ukraine is possible, then change is possible not only there but in Russia and … other post-Soviet states. …”

Back In Parliament After Abrupt Release From Jail, Savchenko Praises Zelenskiy

April 29, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – KYIV – April 23, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/back-in-parliament-after-abrupt-release-from-jail-savchenko-praises-zelenskiy/29898734.html) Ukrainian lawmaker Nadia Savchenko has returned to parliament a week after she was unexpectedly released from jail, where she had been held for more than a year over allegations that she plotted a terrorist attack on […]

RUSSIALINK: “Center for issuing Russian passports to LPR residents starts working in test mode in Rostov region” – Interfax

April 29, 2019 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine

NOVOSHAKHTINSK. April 29 (Interfax) – A center for issuing Russian passports to residents of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) has opened in Novoshakhtinsk, Rostov region. “The center begins operation in test mode today. We are now accepting documents from authorized persons of the LPR. We will increase the number of such points as the number of applications increases,” Kirill […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “How the Obama White House engaged Ukraine to give Russia collusion narrative an early boost” – The Hill/ John Solomon

April 28, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of Susan Rice and Barack Hussein Obama in St. Petersburg Russia, with Mural of St. Petersburg Scene in Background, adapted from image at whitehouse.gov

“As … Trump began his meteoric rise … the Obama White House summoned Ukrainian authorities to Washington …. Ukrainian participants said it didn’t take long … to realize the Americans’ objectives included two politically hot investigations: one that touched … Biden’s family and one that involved a lobbying firm linked closely to then-candidate Trump. … [O]ne of the earliest documented […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “It’s Time to Rethink Russia’s Foreign Policy Strategy” – Carnegie Moscow/ Dmitri Trenin

April 26, 2019 JRL Russia List China, Europe, EU, Foreign Policy, Security, Visas, JRL NewsBlog, Russia & the West, Ukraine, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

Mercator Projection Satellite Image of Earth

“A broad public discussion on Moscow’s foreign policy goals and objectives is long overdue. International issues are affecting the interests of Russian society as a whole more and more, making it necessary for private citizens to take a greater interest in their country’s conduct abroad, especially in the single continental space that is Greater Eurasia.” “It has been just over […]

RUSSIALINK: “Ukraine President-Elect Zelenskiy’s Positions on Russia, Explained” – Moscow Times

April 24, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(Moscow Times – April 22, 2019 – themoscowtimes.com/2019/04/22/ukraine-president-elect-zelenskiys-positions-on-russia-explained-a65341) Volodymyr Zelenskiy will be inaugurated as Ukraine’s new president in about a month with questions still swirling about his true policy positions toward neighboring Russia. A native Russian speaker with no political experience, Zelenskiy has been accused by critics of having adopted a soft stance toward Russian aggression – including the annexation […]

RUSSIALINK: “Helping Ukraine to Help Ourselves; Russia and the international community should take advantage of this window of opportunity.” – Moscow Times/ Igor Ivanov

April 23, 2019 JRL Russia List Europe, EU, JRL NewsBlog, Military, Ukraine, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

File Photo of Igor Ivanov, adapted from image at defense.gov by Steven C. Welsh, www.stevencwelsh.info and www.stevencwelsh.com

“It is common knowledge that Russia and the leading Western states have wildly different assessments of the Ukrainian crisis with regard to its causes, nature and driving forces. Some of these differences will be very hard to overcome, particularly in the short term. … notwithstanding, it is absolutely clear that both Russia and the West should be extremely interested in […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “President Zelenskiy is the wind of change” – bne Intellinews/ Ben Aris

April 23, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“… Now the hard part starts. Zelenskiy has swept a deeply unpopular oligarch from the presidency not because he has something special to offer voters but because they were deeply disappointed with Poroshenko’s failure to deliver on the promises implicit in the Euromaidan uprising in 2014. Poroshenko, a minister in the regime of ousted president Viktor Yanukovych, was still a […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s TV President Is Dangerously Pro-Russian” – Foreign Policy/ Alexander J. Motyl

April 23, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“Volodymyr Zelensky could become the country’s next real-life leader. If his show is any guide, Ukrainians should be worried. …” Alexander J. Motyl is a professor of political science at Rutgers University-Newark. Click here for: “Ukraine’s TV President Is Dangerously Pro-Russian” – Foreign Policy/ Alexander J. Motyl

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Leave a comment JRL NewsBlog, Newswatch, Russia, Russian News, Ukraine, Ukrainian Elections, Volodymyr Zelensky

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: “Zelensky describes return of all Ukrainian POWs home as No. 1 task” – Interfax

April 22, 2019 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine

KYIV. April 22 (Interfax) – Volodymyr Zelensky, who is winning the Ukrainian runoff presidential election according to exit polls, has described the liberation of Ukrainian prisoners-of-war and captives as No. 1 task of his team. “In my opinion, our task No. 1 is to bring back all captives, all prisoners of war, and our sailors. I have been talking with […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Frolov: Zelenskiy’s presidency won’t be a picnic for Moscow” – Meduza

April 22, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“… columnist and former diplomat Vladimir Frolov argues [in a separate op-ed] that … Zelenskiy’s likely presidency in Ukraine is a mixed bag for Moscow. … [that] the Kremlin initially hoped only that … Poroshenko’s re-election would leave him battered and pave the way to future success for a Russia-friendly parliamentary opposition …. [republic.ru/posts/93574] Zelenskiy comes without Poroshenko’s toxicity in […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Comic Who Vowed to Unite Ukraine Wins Votes in East and West” – AP

April 22, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“… With nearly all ballots counted, Zelenskiy had 73% … compared … Poroshenko’s 24%. [OSCE m]onitors … said the election … respect[ed] … ‘fundamental freedoms’ and set the stage for a ‘democratic and orderly transfer of power.’ The first-time candidate, who stars in a TV sitcom about a high school teacher who becomes president almost by accident, appeared to have […]

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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

(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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RUSSIALINK: “Voter turnout in 2nd round of election in Ukraine reaches 61.37% – CEC” – Interfax

April 22, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

KYIV. April 22 (Interfax) – The voter turnout in the second round of the Ukrainian presidential election on Sunday reached 61.37%, which is less than in the first round of March 31, Ukrainian Central Elections Commission (CEC) Chairperson Tetiana Slipachuk said. “It turned out that the turnout in the second round was lower than on March 31. According to tentative […]

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 […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Why frustrated Ukrainians may elect a comedian as president” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

April 22, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

Whom do voters turn to when elected leaders disappoint? Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko looks set to be trounced in elections Sunday, but not because of approval for his opponent, a TV comedian. “… Ukrainians seem ready to overwhelmingly elect a political novice, a comedian whose main claim to fame is that he played a president on TV …. Many in […]

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 […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Hacked Emails Appear To Reveal Russia Is Backing Comedian Likely To Be Ukraine’s Next President” – Newsweek/ Cristina Maza

April 18, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Spy Allegations, Spies, Security Agencies, Ukraine

“… hacked emails suggest … Zelenskiy may have a powerful patron of his own: the Kremlin. … Ukraine’s security services … are investigating whether Zelenskiy’s campaign received financing from members of the Russian security service … supporting the leadership of the Donetsk People’s Republic … self-proclaimed, pro-Russian separatist proto-state in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region. … [A] Ukrainian hacking group associated […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Maybe We’ll Be Better Off With a Clown as President; Ukraine’s absurd election may turn out well for its people” – New York Times/ Alisa Sopova

April 18, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“Branding himself ‘Ze,’ he campaigned mostly via social media postings and … touring the country with his comedy shows. Instead of substantive messages, he offered banter and mockery. … accused of being a clown instead of a serious candidate … Zelensky proudly agreed, posting a video selfie … with a round red nose …. asked to share his plans for […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Militaristic and anti-democratic, Ukraine’s far-right bides its time.” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

April 17, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

There are few countries in Europe that don’t have a problem with the far-right. But for Ukraine, where political stability is tenuous, the defiance and impunity of ultra-nationalist groups pose an acute concern. “… few in number … far-right groups operate with a high degree of impunity in Ukrainian society, allowing them to harass and attack minorities and human rights […]

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Could a Zelensky Presidency Prove a Breakthrough for Conflict Resolution in the Donbas?

April 16, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(Kennan Institute – wilsoncenter.org/program/kennan-institute – Serhiy Kudelia – April 11, 2019 – wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/could-zelensky-presidency-prove-breakthrough-for-conflict-resolution-the-donbas) Serhiy Kudelia is an associate professor of political science at Baylor University, where he teaches courses on ethnopolitical conflicts, terrorism, political regimes, and post-Soviet politics. Five years since the start of the armed conflict in Donbas, its resolution remains the top concern of most Ukrainian voters, with […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Is Russia Safe? U.S. Adds to New Kidnapping Threat List Along With Iran, Venezuela and These Other Countries” – Newsweek/ Tom O’Connor

April 12, 2019 JRL Russia List Corruption, Law, Police, Courts, Crime, Terrorism, Ukraine, United States, U.S.-Russian Relations

“The United States has named Russia in a list of nearly three dozen countries where it warned its citizens risk being kidnapped …. State Department’s travel advisories for 35 nations featured a ‘K’ that signifies ‘the risks of kidnapping and hostage taking by criminal and terrorist actors …’ The department said that the use of a new indicator … was […]

Will Ukraine’s Fractured Electorate Create Another Power Turnover?

April 11, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(PONARS Eurasia – Sergiy Kudelia, Associate Professor of Political Science, Baylor University – April 8, 2019) [Text with charts ponarseurasia.org/article/will-ukraines-fractured-electorate-create-another-power-turnover] (PONARS Eurasia) The first round of the presidential election in Ukraine on March 31 produced two frontrunners who will face each other in the run-off on April 21: challenger Volodymyr Zelensky (30.24 percent) and incumbent Petro Poroshenko (15.95 percent). Only […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Will a Comic Actor Become Ukraine’s Next President? Why Volodymyr Zelenskiy Won the First Round of Elections” – Foreign Affairs/ Melinda Haring

April 3, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“… Front-runner Volodymyr Zelenskiy, an inexperienced 41-year-old comic television actor, came out on top, with even higher numbers than predicted. … 30 percent …. Incumbent … Poroshenko came in second with just under 16 percent. … fac[ing] off in a second-round runoff on April 21. … Poroshenko gets solid marks as a wartime president, but the economy is barely growing. […]

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Leave a comment Ukraine, Ukrainian Elections

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 […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “5 ways that Poroshenko can still win” – Kyiv Post/ Brian Bonner

April 2, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“… Most Ukrainian voters, however, see … [Poroshenko] as someone who squandered the clear mantle of leadership handed to him with a resounding 54 percent of the vote in 2014, securing a first-round knockout victory over ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, whose third presidential bid ended in failure on March 31. Voters say they see him as no better than all […]

RUSSIALINK: “Ukrainian voters tired of atmosphere of hatred in country – Center for Current Politics director on outcome of first round of election” – Interfax

April 2, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

MOSCOW. April 1 (Interfax) – The outcome of the first round of the presidential election in Ukraine shows that voters are tired of the atmosphere of hatred and have a demand for a solution to vital internal problems, Alexei Chesnakov, Director of the Center for Current Politics, said. “The results received are a call on the political elite to stop […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine election turns ugly as president and comic reach run-off” – Financial Times/ Roman Olearchyk, Ben Hall

April 1, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

Column in Maidan Square in Kiev, Ukraine

“Poroshenko expected to launch onslaught on Zelensky in bid to make up ground” “… exit polls indicated [that Volodymyr Zelensky] … convincingly won the first round of Ukraine’s presidential election …. The 41-year-old actor and comic[‘s] political experience is limited to playing an honest teacher elected president in a popular TV series …. [T]here was already anxiety … that the […]

Russian State Media Highlights The Negative In Ukrainian Presidential Vote

April 1, 2019 JRL Russia List Media, Internet, Social Media, Television, Ukraine

“As Ukrainians voted for a new president, Russians keeping track of the election on state TV were bombarded with coverage of Ukraine’s failures as an independent state and reports of alleged electoral fraud. … Incumbent President Petro Poroshenko, who has consistently played on the threat from Russia to rally his supporters, was not a popular choice in Moscow. …”

RUSSIALINK: “War in Donbas will end ‘when last piece of Ukrainian land is liberated'” – Interfax

April 1, 2019 JRL Russia List Military, Ukraine

KYIV. March 30 (Interfax) – Peace in Donbas will come after “the last piece of Ukrainian land and the last prisoner-of-war” are liberated, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Ukraine television on Friday. “Write down and remember: the war will be over the day the last piece of Ukrainian land is liberated, the day the last prisoner-of-war is freed,” Poroshenko […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “The Revolution That Wasn’t: Disillusioned Ukrainians Head to Polls” – Wall Street Journal/ Georgi Kantchev

March 30, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“Frustrated with graft, their inability to join NATO and the EU and a conflict with Russia, voters make a politically inexperienced comedian their top candidate” “Five years ago, Ukrainians staged a revolution that sought to throw off a Russia-backed government and sweep away a corrupt ruling class. Europe and the West would pull the country into their orbit, reviving a […]

How To Watch (And Understand) Ukraine’s Presidential Election

March 29, 2019 JRL Russia List Ukraine

(Article text ©2019 RFE/RL, Inc., Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty – rferl.org – Christopher Miller – KYIV – March 29, 2019 – article text also appeared at rferl.org/a/how-to-watch-(and-understand)-ukraine-presidential-election/29849578.html) The choice is stark. Stay the slow and not-quite-steady course with a deeply unpopular but seasoned leader who knows the ropes and has taken Ukraine westward despite foot-dragging on reforms and a failure […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine’s leading presidential candidate Zelenskiy denies dependence on oligarch Kolomoisky” – bne Intellinews/ Sergei Kuznetsov

March 29, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“Ukrainian comic and presidential candidate Volodymyr Zelenskiy has denied any dependence on controversial oligarch Ihor Kolomoisky. … some experts and journalists in Kyiv are speculating that Zelenskiy is ready to de-nationalise … PrivatBank, co-owned by Kolomoisky …. Zelenskiy has strengthened his lead in the presidential elections, and now has nearly double the ratings of his rivals, according to the latest […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “What’s at Stake in Ukraine’s Presidential Election” – AP

March 29, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“Awash in corruption, plagued by a war with Russia-backed separatists, reliant on international institutions for billions of dollars in aid, Ukraine presents stern challenges for its next president. Sunday’s election, which will require a second round if none of the 39 candidates wins an absolute majority, comes five years after mass protests drove the pro-Russia president to flee the country. […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Kharkiv’s pro-Russian protesters still mistrustful of Kiev; Some in Kharkiv see Ukrainian government as ‘illegitimate’ and will not vote in Sunday’s presidential elections” – Aljazeera/ Tamila Varshalomidze

March 29, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

Kharkiv at Sunset, file photo adapted from image at ua.usembassy.gov

“… Pro-European demonstrations born in 2013 on Kiev’s Independence Square – known as the Maidan protests – were copied in the country’s second-largest city, but … crowds were never more than about 300 people. … [A] sprawling pro-Russian protest camp occupied the central square in 2014 with Russian flags on display. … The differences that led to the split in […]

JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukraine votes: The incumbent, the populist, or the comedian?” – Christian Science Monitor/ Fred Weir

March 29, 2019 JRL Russia List JRL NewsBlog, Ukraine

“Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution brought hope and enthusiasm to Kiev, but now much of that energy has sapped away. Sunday’s presidential election has a chance to reinvigorate Ukrainian reform.” “Ukraine’s presidential election, set for this Sunday, looks to almost everyone like a chaotic 39-way horse race. … featur[ing] … allegations of skulduggery, including fraud, bribery and … Russian meddling. … [T]he […]

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