Staunton, April 12 – Vladimir Putin insists that his moves in Ukraine are motivated by a desire to protect ethnic Russians, Russian speakers and, Moscow’s latest category, “pro-Russian people” who do not want to live under Kyiv, a view that has been uncritically accepted by large numbers of Russians in the Russian Federation and by […]
Tag: separatism
Ukraine Liveblog Day 49: Separatists Call For Moscow’s “Protection”
After a day of protests and clashes in eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian separatists have called on Moscow to intervene by sending troops across the border. Yesterday’s liveblog
Ukraine Liveblog Day 48: Pro-Russian Protests in the East.
Pro-Russian protesters have stormed administrative buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk today, while other rallies have been held in Dnipropetrovsk. Yesterday, the Russian state news agency, ITAR-TASS reported that the Russian Foreign Ministry has received “sacks of letters” asking for protection from Russia. There have been many rallies and repeated, temporary occupations of government buildings in […]
Crimea Re-Energizing Centrifugal Regionalism in Russia
Staunton, April 5 – The constant invocation by Russian officials of the right of peoples to self-determination in the support of the Kremlin’s policy on Crimea is “inspiring Russian regionalists to call for the self-administration of their territories” and is being regularly invoked by them as “a precedent.” As a result, Ulyana Ivanova writes on […]
Crimea a ‘Catalyst’ for Major Changes in Russian Nationality Policy
Staunton, April 5 – The annexation of Crimea is already becoming “a powerful catalyst” for serious changes in Moscow’s nationality policy and even on the current principle of the national-territorial division of the Russian Federation, according to Margarita Lyange, head of the Guild of Inter-Ethnic Journalism. In an essay on the Nazaccent.ru portal yesterday, Lyang […]
Dugin Tells Separatists in Ukraine What to Do Next
Staunton, April 1 – Aleksandr Dugin, a Eurasianist who is close to the Kremlin, has told ethnic Russians in Ukraine that they must not cooperate with Kyiv in any way, that they must be ready to “act radically,” even to the point of sparking a civil war in that country, and that Moscow will support […]
Inside Russian Federation, Russians Upset About Cost of Crimea; Non-Russians Angry about Rights
Staunton, March 27 – Even though polls show Vladimir Putin’s approval rating close to its highest level ever, his Anschluss of Crimea is upsetting many citizens of the Russian Federation, with ethnic Russians at least so far concerned mostly about its cost and non-Russians upset about the rights Moscow says it is defending in Crimea […]
Kazan Tatars See No Future for Themselves in Putin’s Russia
Staunton, March 24 – Vladimir Putin’s transformation of Russia into a totalitarian, militarist and chauvinist state mean that the Kazan Tatars can see no future for themselves in that country as long as he is its president and is carrying out such policies, according to a declaration of the Millli Mejlis of the Kazan Tatar […]
Moscow Using Russian Regions to Fund Unrecognized States
Staunton, March 20 – When Ramzan Kadyrov promised that Chechnya would help rebuild the economy of Crimea after its absorption into the Russian Federation this week, most observers concluded that he was just being his usual flamboyant self. But the truth is more complicated and potentially more disturbing. As journalist Andrey Pertsev points out on […]
Putin’s Support for Federalism and Ethnic Russians in Ukraine Creating Problems for Moscow at Home
Staunton, March 19 – Vladimir Putin’s push to transform Ukraine into a genuinely federal state and his invocation of the state of ethnic Russians as the reason for his intervention in Ukraine is having an impact at home, leading some to ask why federalism should be only “an export good” and others to demand that […]