Staunton, April 14 – The Kremlin’s insistence that ethnic Russians and Russian speakers in southeastern Ukraine are acting on their own rather than under the direction of Moscow as seems to be the case could blow up in Vladimir Putin’s face by leading Russians in Russian regions to ask the same questions about how they […]
Once again the interim government in Kiev has promised to counterattack pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Once again Kiev has blamed Russia for the separatism and violence. But with evidence growing that Russia is directly manipulating this conflict, possibly as preface to full-scale invasion, there are signs that Kiev may not be capable of restoring […]
Staunton, April 13 – The vehemence of Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s opposition to Moscow’s proposal for the federalization of Ukraine suggests that this Russian demand may not be an ad hoc position reflecting uniquely Ukrainian situation but part of a broader strategy to break and ultimately re-subordinate neighboring countries. Not only would such an approach […]
Staunton, April 13 – For the last several years, many Russian commentators have talked about Russians who have converted to Islam and thereby become even more anti-Russian than ordinary Muslims. Now, a Russian nationalist is focusing on the reality that at least some ethnic Russians are assimilating to other nations and following the same path. […]
Staunton, April 12 – If Kyiv were forced to introduce Russian-style federalism in Ukraine as Moscow is demanding, the consequences would be that “the sphere of use of the Russian language would not increase” as many imagine “but contract,” according to Kirill Yankov, a member of the Yabloko Party and a researcher at the Moscow […]
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 […]
Life is a wonderful thing. Once for a whole half hour I could not stop thinking about the best joke of recent times. It’s called “Our friends and (sort of) brothers looking for a trail of Russian products on their shelves.” No, really: a girl describes in detail of how, using barcodes, she was searching […]
Staunton, April 10 – The majority of Russians support the annexation of Crimea but do not understand the implications of that action and are “not willing to suffer the consequences,” according to Lev Gudkov, the head of the Levada Center, the leading independent polling group in the Russian Federation. In a report issued this week, […]
With the deadline for separatists to vacate government buildings in eastern Ukraine approaching, the government in Kiev has offered amnesty for the gunmen if they surrender their arms. 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 […]
Staunton, April 9 – It is now common ground that Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea represents a revision of the 1991 settlement involving the end of the USSR, with some portraying this as an indication that “Russia is back” and others viewing it as the kind of revanchism that inevitably threatens the international system. But […]
