Window on Eurasia

Staunton, September 8 – Russia has been transformed by the war in Ukraine, with some calling this a restoration of the past and others a new turn to “Russianness,” but Aleksey Shiropayev argues that what is taking place is in fact the imposition of a fascist system “at a galloping pace.’ On Rufabula.com, the commentator […]

Staunton, September 8 – In the worst traditions of the Soviet past, Russian media outlets at the end of last week put out what they said was an interview with Lyudmila Alexeyeva showing that the longtime head of the Moscow Helsinki Group supports Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Ukraine. But that was a “falshivka,” a whole […]

Staunton, September 8 – The Russian occupation authorities in Crimea are engaging in ethnic cleansing on the Ukrainian peninsula, something that the international community must not only take note of but do everything possible to stop, according to Edgar Rinkevics, Latvia’s foreign minister. And Mustafa Cemilev, the longtime leader of the Crimean Tatars who has […]

Staunton, September 8 – The current ceasefire ends one phase of the war between Russia and Ukraine making this a good time to consider the impact of the conflict in the broadest terms, as Moscow commentator Konstantin Gaaze does so in ten questions and answers. Gaaze’s first question is “Why did we (they) act as […]

Staunton, September 6 – That Vladimir Putin has won another round in his invasion of Ukraine seems clear: he has forced Kiev to reach agreements with Moscow-backed secessionists, he has effectively taken his Anschluss of Crimea off the table of discussion, and he has further undermined Western unity concerning the imposition of sanctions. In all […]

Staunton, September 6 – This month marks the 15th anniversary of the 1999 apartment bombings in Russia that sparked the rise of Vladimir Putin to the Russian presidency and the opening of a new Russian war against Chechnya. Moscow’s failure to investigate fully what happened means that suspicions about the authorship of these terrorist acts […]

Staunton, September 5 – Moscow and the Russia outside the ring road are divided in many ways, including some of the most fundamental. Today, most Muscovite couples without children have chosen that status, while most Russians living elsewhere do not have children because, for one reason or another, they can’t, according to a new study. […]

Staunton, September 5 – “Import substitution” may be the latest term to enter the vocabulary of Russians, but experts say that Russian farmers will not be able to produce enough additional food for the domestic market to compensate for the embargo the Kremlin has imposed on imports unless that measure stays in place for at […]

Staunton, September 5 – Vladimir Putin’s plan to move several ministries from Moscow to Krasnoyarsk and to launch a massive investment program there reflects fears in the Kremlin that separatist attitudes in Russia east of the Urals are growing and that only such steps have the potential to quiet them, according to Anton Chablin. In […]

Staunton, September 5 – Some 200 refugees from Ukraine have been “disinformed” and now find themselves in Sakha “without documents, practically without money, without work and without clear prospects in advance of a severe winter,” according to Yana Lantratova, a member of the Russian Presidential Council for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights. […]