Russians continue to protest the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine following a mass march against Putin’s forcible annexation of Crimea last week. (Go here and here for the last weeks’ news.) Defendants in the Bolotnaya Case charged with “instigating riots” remain on trial. The Russian government continues to make moves to suppress dissent, chiefly by blocking […]
Staunton, March 28 – Former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin has said and official Russian news agencies have reported that that Russia’s annexation of Crimea is going to have extremely deleterious effects on the Russian economy, including massive capital flight, and any hope of real economic growth this year. Kudrin said yesterday that Russia will […]
Ulrich Speck is a Visiting Scholar at Carnegie Europe and an expert on German-Russian relations, arguably the fulcrum on which the European Union’s response to Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea will pivot. The Interpreter‘s Editor-in-Chief Michael Weiss invited Speck to explain Berlin’s changing posture toward Moscow, and what effect this may also have on […]
A classified U.S. intelligence assessment gives a high likelihood of Russia’s invading eastern Ukraine, as Russia amasses approximately 30,000 troops on the border. 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 […]
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 […]
Staunton, March 27 – Under international law at the present time, one country can interfere in the affairs of another “either as response to aggression, as a defense of its own citizens, or in reaction to massive force and genocide,” Vladislav Inozemtsev writes in today’s Vedomosti. But Vladimir Putin’s actions in Crimea, which he justifies […]
Staunton, March 27 – The Western powers have long talked about “red lines” in Syria and elsewhere: actions or events that they say have suggested underscore their concern and indicate where they will act. Now, Russian President Vladimir Putin has done the same, and his “red lines” underscore that his moves in Ukraine are part […]
Staunton, March 26 – Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea has not only opened a new divide between Moscow and the West. It has re-ordered relations among the former Soviet republics and that in turn has raised questions about the way such changes will affect the future of many unresolved conflicts there. In an article for Vestnik […]
Staunton, March 26 – By his annexation of Crimea, Vladimir Putin has re-awakened the imperial dimension of Russian messianism, a force that has been contained since 1991 but that now will lead to ever-broader conflicts that will lead either to a Russian victory over all its supposed enemies or the collapse of Russia, Vladimir Pastukhov […]
Staunton, March 25 – Many people are asking themselves what will be Moscow’s next steps in Ukraine, but military analysts are focusing in particular on the question of timing Pavel Felgengauer, a leading independent Moscow expert on military issues, says that Russia will begin military operations in Ukraine by the middle of May or won’t […]
