Ukraine At War

Commentator: Unless West Sets ‘Clear Limits,’ Putin Will Expand Russia Up to NATO’s Borders

April 30, 2014

Staunton, April 30 – Vladimir Putin will seek to expand Russia’s influence and control right up to the borders of NATO because the West has shown that it is not ready to interfere in any serious way to defend countries that have not been able to get into the Western alliance up to now, according […]

The Battle For Truth In Eastern Ukraine: Interpreter Podcast

This week, Boston College Professor Matt Sienkiewicz and Interpreter Magazine’s managing editor James Miller discuss the latest news from eastern Ukraine, and how media narratives play a role in what happens next. How does The Interpreter work to sort truth from fiction and help combat Russia’s disinformation campaigns? See our Ukraine front page for the […]

Ukraine Liveblog Day 72: Russian-Backed Separatists Make Gains in Gorlovka

As Russian-backed fighters seize the city council building in Gorlovka, consolidating their gains yesterday in Lugansk, Oleksandr Turchynov, President of Ukraine, has announced that the Ukrainian armed forces are on “full combat alert”. Yesterday’s liveblog can be found here. For an overview and analysis of this developing story see our latest podcast. Please help The […]

Dugin Says Putin Being Undermined by Insiders Who Don’t Back Him All the Way

April 29, 2014

Staunton, April 29 Aleksandr Dugin, the influential leader of the Eurasian Movement, says that Vladimir Putin is not just being attacked by “a fifth column” of opposition figures but also is being undermined by what he calls “a sixth column” consisting of those within his regime who are actively working to undermine the Kremlin leader. […]

Belarus “Balances” Between EU and Russia and Seeks European Understanding, Foreign Minister Says

Staunton, April 29 – Vladimir Makey, the Belarusian foreign minister, continued to distance Minsk from Moscow by saying that his country seeks a “balance” between Europe and Russia, a statement to a Prague paper that underscores the concerns of Belarus about its own fate in the wake of Moscow’s Crimean Anschluss and Minsk’s new efforts […]

FSB Says Crimean Tatars Must Submit to Russian Rule, Face Prison, or Risk ‘Disappearance,’ Cemilev Says

Staunton, April 29 – Mustafa Cemilev, the leader of the Crimean Tatar national movement whom Russian authorities have banned from entering his homeland until 2019, says that the Russian security service has told him and by extension his nation that its members must submit to Russian rule, face prison, or, even more ominously, “disappearance.” Despite […]

Ukraine Liveblog Day 71: EU and Canada Follow US with New Round of Sanctions

After yesterday’s violence in Donetsk and the shooting of Kharkiv Mayor Gennady Kernes, the situation is extremely volatile in south-east Ukraine today. The European Union and Canada have followed the United States in announcing new waves of sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian officials involved in both the annexation of Crimea and the destabilisation of south-east […]

Ukrainians and Belarusians are Not ‘Byproducts’ of Russian Ethno-National Developmen

April 28, 2014

Staunton, April 28 – Many Russians believe and many in the West accept the notion that Ukrainians and Belarusians are offshoots of the formation and growth of the Russian nation, a reflection of a sometimes innocent confusion between nation building and state building but often as now the result of Kremlin efforts to rewrite history […]

Is Putin at Risk of Being Overthrown by a Coup?

Staunton, April 28 – Many in Russia and the West have speculated that the combination of Vladimir Putin’s policies against Ukraine, Moscow’s increasing isolation internationally, and deteriorating economic conditions at home will eventually lead to a Maidan-style challenge to his rule. That is possible, of course, but a man identified as a former FSB officer […]