Staunton, July 13 – Speaking in Kremenchug this week, Andrey Illarionov said that Ukraine should continue to negotiate in its quest for peace but that it should reject the documents known as Minsk-2 because “the essence of this document is that the Ukrainian authorities are rejecting their sovereignty over the Ukrainian-Russian border.” Moreover, the Russian […]
Staunton, July 12 – Given how many problems Russia’s invasion has caused and how often Moscow has covertly undermined Ukraine in other ways, it is perhaps not surprising that many Ukrainians are inclined to blame everything that has gone wrong on Moscow, Kseniya Kirillova says. But that is dangerous not only because it allows some […]
Staunton, July 11 – Several dozen contract soldiers in a Russian motorized rifle brigade based in Maikop have deserted in order to avoid being sent to fight in Ukraine. They now face up to ten years in prison, are being kept in “inhuman” conditions, and are constantly urged to agree to go to Ukraine as […]
Staunton, July 12 – One of Moscow’s greatest propaganda successes has been its ability to convince even its opponents in Kyiv and Western capitals to speak of what Russia is doing in Ukraine as “a hybrid war,” as if by adding that adjective Vladimir Putin’s actions were somehow less appalling and illegal, Yury Feltshtinsky says. […]
Staunton, July 12 – After 15 months of uncertainty, the West has resolved to stand up to Moscow on Ukraine and demand a return to the status quo ante before relations between the West and Russia can be restored, according to Andrey Illarionov. And that resolve, he says, has “seriously upset” the Kremlin. This represents […]
Staunton, July 10 – With all the other problems Russia faces from demographic collapse to the economic crisis, it may seem that the accelerating closure of libraries for children is not high on the list, but Viktor Barakov, a commentator for Russkaya Narodnaya Liniya says that it means “we are losing our youth and that […]
Staunton, July 10 – Given both Vladimir Putin’s moves to centralize almost all decisions and the sensitivity of many Russians to the possibility that the eastern portions of the Russian Federation will fall under Chinese domination, the statement of Moscow’s top official in the Russian Far East is striking. Yury Trutnyev, deputy prime minister and […]
Staunton, July 8 – “Unfortunately, Russia is different from present-day Ukraine in many ways,” Lilya Shevtsova says; and consequently, if a Maidan does occur there, it is likely to be different as well, violent rather peaceful, destructive rather than constructive, and divisive rather than unifying. In the course of an interview this week with Artyom […]
