Staunton, May 15 – Russian commentators have talked openly about dividing up Ukraine and Moldova in order to support ethnic Russian communities there and weaken these two countries, but now one Moscow writer has taken such ideas further and called for the dividing up of Romania in support of Russian national interests in the Balkans. […]
Ukraine
Donetsk a Distillation of the Worst of Soviet and Imperial Past, Rufabula Writers Say
Staunton, May 15 – Just as Transdniestria has sometimes been described as the Soviet Union frozen in time, so too, the writers of the Rufabula.com portal say, “the so-called ‘Donetsk Republic’ concentrates in itself all the abominations which remain from the post-Soviet and post-imperial heritage” and which many had thought had passed from the scene […]
Moscow Faces Problems In Absorbing Crimea Into Russian Legal Space
Staunton, May 15 – Having annexed Ukraine’s Crimea, Moscow is now finding it difficult to bring that region into the common Russian legal space. The situation there is now one of “legal chaos, the complete adaptation of the region legally will take another two or three years, and the echoes of this will last for […]
Russian MPs: OSCE Plan a ‘Face Saving’ Cover for West’s Retreat On Ukraine
Staunton, May 15 – A survey of Russian parliamentarians present and past shows that they are nearly unanimous in believing that the OSCE proposal about Ukraine shows that “the West is retreating” from its earlier positions on the conflict there but wants to do so in a “face-saving way.” As it often does on political […]
Ukraine Liveblog Day 87: Russia Closer To Turning Off the Gas
Yesterday’s liveblog 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. An interactive map of the situation: View Ukraine: April, 2014 in a larger map For links to individual […]
Defining Novel about the Crimean Tatars Appears in Ukrainian
Staunton, May 14 – More than most people suspect, memoirs, novels and films about a nation’s struggles often play a defining, even revolutionary role not only in uniting its members to achieve their common goals but also and perhaps even more important in presenting their case to the broader world in ways more forceful and […]
Crimean Anschluss Hasn’t Made Russia a Great Power, Moscow Analyst Says
Staunton, May 14 – Polls show that many Russians now view their country as once again a great power as a result of the Crimean Anschluss, but that immediate emotional response while very real is neither accurate – this action alone is insufficient for such a status – nor likely to be any longer lasting […]
Western Imperialism in Ukraine, Or Just Moral Equivalence?
Russia says imperialism is the reason why Western governments, and the Western media, back the ‘coup’ in Kiev and paint Russia in such a negative light. This week, Boston College Professor Matt Sienkiewicz and Interpreter Magazine’s managing editor James Miller discuss imperialism, propaganda, NATO expansion, and, ultimately, moral equivalence. See our Ukraine front page for […]
Ukraine Liveblog Day 86: National Guard Warns of House to House Fighting if Army Enters Slavyansk
Yesterday’s liveblog 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. An interactive map of the situation: View Ukraine: April, 2014 in a larger map For links to individual […]
Putin’s War in Ukraine Last Gasp Effort to Save Russian Empire, Pastukhov Says
Staunton, May 13 – Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine which to so many appears only as an act of aggression is in back “profoundly defensive,” an effort to stop the disintegration of the Russian empire by injecting “patriotic morphine” into the veins of Russians, according to Vladimir Pastukhov. But like the use of any drug […]