Staunton, February 7 – The meeting of Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande with Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss Ukraine without the presence of Ukrainian leaders has led many commentators to draw parallels with the 1938 Munich Conference at which Britain and France sold out Czechoslovakia to Hitler in the name of “peace in our […]
Staunton, February 9 – Aleksandr Sytin, a former researcher at the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies (RISI), a think-tank which was set up by Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), advises the Kremlin and pushed for Moscow to seize Crimea and intervene in the Donbass, says that “a Ukrainian scenario” is “impossible” in the Baltic countries. […]
The last few days have brought depressing developments for those who care about European freedom. Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande went to Moscow to present a Ukraine “peace plan” that actually had been suggested to them by Vladimir Putin. Unsurprisingly, this went nowhere and Merkel has already pronounced that there is no military solution to […]
Staunton, February 7 – The so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR) has declared itself to be the successor to the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic which existed nominally within Soviet Russia in February-March 1918 between Ukraine’s signing a treaty with Germany and Soviet Russia’s signing the treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The 1918 variant presented itself as a response […]
Staunton, February 4 – In any political system, there is always “an alternative” to the current leader, Georgy Satarov says, and consequently, when Vladimir Putin leaves his position, a new head of Russia will emerge — and it won’t necessarily be someone from the current Kremlin entourage or happen peacefully. But it is “another matter” […]
Staunton, February 5 – The Russian government has introduced draft legislation that would make it easier for Moscow to sign up professional soldiers and for commanders to force draftees to convert to that status and thus be available for dispatch to Ukraine, yet another indication Moscow is preparing for a massive invasion and facing difficulties […]
Staunton, February 4 – A proposal by Federation Council member Zhanna Ivanova to restore a nationality line in Russian passports has sparked concern among many who remember how such a line was used against Jews in Soviet times, worry that it may become a test of loyalty under Putin, and amusement about how Russians might […]
Staunton, February 2 — The Kremlin’s calls for a ceasefire and calls by the pro-Russian militants in the Donbass for a mass mobilization are all designed to distract attention from Moscow’s preparations for a massive invasion of Ukraine sometime in the coming days, according to Russian military analyst Aleksandr Golts. And that conclusion is strengthened, […]
Staunton, February 3 – Drawing on the findings of a Levada Center poll, the editors of Nezavisimaya Gazeta say that Russians are “dissatisfied with how they are treated medically and taught, they would like to live better and earn more, but these attitudes are not reflected in their voting in general elections.” Instead, the paper […]
Staunton, February 3 – For most people in the Russian Federation, the history of this or that region begins when it came under Russian control, but plans to gather DNA data from all the peoples of the Russian Federation will change that both for Russians and perhaps even more importantly for non-Russian nations within the […]
