Tag: Crimea

Unlike For Stalin, ‘No One Will Die For Putin,’ Sytin Says

January 26, 2015

Staunton, January 25 – Aleksandr Sytin, an historian who quit the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies because of its imperialist and anti-Western views, says that despite widespread support for Vladimir Putin, no one in Russia “will die” for the Kremlin leader. According to Sytin, those who are prepared to die now in Ukraine are a […]

EU Will Not Recognize Crimean Anschluss ‘In This Millenium’

January 16, 2015

Staunton, January 15 – Federica Mogherini, the EU’s foreign policy chief, commenting on Russia’s annexation of Crimea, says that “we will never accept the change of borders by force. Neither now nor in this century nor in this millennium.” But she adds that there should not be any limitson political dialogue with Moscow concerning the […]

Ukraine’s Drive to Become a European Country Leads Russians to See Their Country Isn’t One

January 14, 2015

Staunton, January 14 – Ukraine’s drive to become a European country is forcing Russians to recognize that their country isn’t one, a reflection that helps to explain why many Russians are so angry at Ukraine and so willing to accept the Kremlin’s version of events there, according to Artemy Troitsky. In a commentary in Novaya […]

In Only Ten Months, Moscow has Transformed Crimea into … Belarus, Recent Visitor Says

January 13, 2015

Staunton, January 11 – Ten months after the Anschluss of Crimea, the Russian occupation authorities have succeeded in changing that Ukrainian peninsula to such an extent that Crimea now resembles Belarus, a place where one can live “in sufficient comfort” as long as one doesn’t have “any need to have any contact with the state,” […]

Declaring 1953 Crimea Transfer Illegal Could Spark War Along Entire Periphery of Russia

December 31, 2014

Staunton, December 24 – A proposal by Valentina Matviyenko, the Chairman of Russia’s Federation Council, to declare the Soviet government’s 1954 transfer of Crimea from the RSFSR to the Ukrainian SSR “illegal” could “lead to war not only between Ukraine and Russia but practically along the entire perimeter of the present-day Russian Federation,” according to […]

Russians Increasingly Focus On Short-Term – A Basis for More Protests Or More Kremlin Diversions?

December 30, 2014

Staunton, December 24 – Two reports this week, one suggesting that the events in Ukraine have distracted the attention of many Russians from ethnic conflicts at home and a second noting that the ruble’s collapse has in turn eclipsed Ukraine as an issue for many of them suggests an increasingly short-term approach by the population […]

Ukraine Live Day 314: Protests Outside Rada

December 28, 2014

Yesterday’s live coverage of the Ukraine conflict 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 […]

Russians In Biggest Cities Feel the Most Pain From Crisis

December 26, 2014

Staunton, December 22 – Russians living in the largest cities, the people who benefited the most from the oil-driven boom of the last decade, now feel the greatest concern about the impact on their lives of the economic crisis because they are better informed than those in smaller ones and rural areas, a pattern that […]

Ukraine Live Day 309: Rada Abolishes Ukraine’s Non-Aligned Status

December 23, 2014

Yesterday’s live coverage of the Ukraine conflict 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 […]

‘Black December’ Means Putin Needs a New Grand Bargain with the Population, Belousov Says

December 21, 2014

Staunton, December 21 – The collapse of oil prices and the ruble along with Western sanctions have destroyed any basis for the grand bargain that the Kremlin had made with the Russian people – economic growth in exchange for political passivity – and raised the question as to whether there can be a new one […]