Staunton, October 19 – Russia faces a new “time of troubles” if Vladimir Putin doesn’t escalate the conflict in Ukraine and establish control over all its territory, according to Igor Strelkov, the former defense minister of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk Peoples Republic. And he adds that Putin’s personal survival depends on such an escalation. In a […]
Ukraine
Ukraine Liveblog Day 248: Shells Fall on Outskirts of Mariupol
Yesterday’s liveblog can be found here. An archive of our liveblogs can be found here. For an overview and analysis of this developing story see our latest podcast. Please help The Interpreter to continue providing this valuable information service by making a donation towards our costs. View Ukraine: April, 2014 in a larger map For […]
Ukraine Liveblog Day 247: Ukraine Claims That It Has Evidence Of Use Of Russian Cluster Munitions
Yesterday’s liveblog can be found here. An archive of our liveblogs can be found here. For an overview and analysis of this developing story see our latest podcast. Please help The Interpreter to continue providing this valuable information service by making a donation towards our costs. View Ukraine: April, 2014 in a larger map For […]
Ukraine Liveblog Day 246: Submarines, Gas Deals, And Human Rights
Yesterday’s liveblog can be found here. An archive of our liveblogs can be found here. For an overview and analysis of this developing story see our latest podcast. Please help The Interpreter to continue providing this valuable information service by making a donation towards our costs. View Ukraine: April, 2014 in a larger map For […]
Ukraine Liveblog Day 245: Huge Explosion In Donetsk
Yesterday’s liveblog can be found here. An archive of our liveblogs can be found here. For an overview and analysis of this developing story see our latest podcast. Please help The Interpreter to continue providing this valuable information service by making a donation towards our costs. View Ukraine: April, 2014 in a larger map For […]
Moscow Using Refugees from Ukraine to Further Undermine Non-Russian Languages
Staunton, October 19 – Refugees from Ukraine apparently will not have to study non-Russian languages as required by the legislation of the non-Russian republics but instead will be exposed to more intensive Russian language instruction, yet another way in which Moscow is undermining the status of non-Russian tongues. Because of the sensitivity of language issues […]
Ukrainian Fighting Causing Some Russians to Seek to Avoid the Draft
Staunton, October 13 – Despite claims by Russian officials that all is well with the draft in Russia and that in fact fewer young men are seeking to avoid service than in the past, claims often accompanied by pointing to the problems Ukraine is having filling the ranks, the situation in the Russian Federation with […]
‘Smolensk and Bryansk are Ours, But Belarus Doesn’t Need Them Now,’ Lukashenka Says
Staunton, October 18 – At his press conference yesterday, Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka made so many remarkable statements that it is hard to know where to begin. But perhaps the most significant was that “Smolensk and Bryansk,” two oblasts now within the Russian Federation, are “ours, but Belarus doesn’t need them now.” While most people […]
Russia Should Be Called Muscovy, Some Ukrainians Say
Staunton, October 17 – Given that Vladimir Putin can barely acknowledge Ukraine as a country and has twisted language about Russia’s role there beyond recognition, some Ukrainians think that it would be well for Ukrainians and others as well to use a different name for the Russian Federation than the one Putin does. That name, […]
Zhirinovsky Calls for Ending Direct Election of Russian President
Staunton, October 17 – Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the frequently outrageous leader of the wildly misnamed Liberal Democratic Party of Russia who nonetheless often serves as a bellwether of Russian politics, says that Russia should dispense with direct elections for the Russian presidency because “the democratic costume is too tight for Russia.” In remarks to the Second […]