Staunton, May 18 – Despite a ban on any demonstrations by the Russian occupation authorities and a decision by the Milli Mejlis not to hold a mass commemoration lest it become the occasion for a Russian provocation, thousands of Crimean Tatars have assembled in their homeland today to mark the 70th anniversary of their deportation […]
Tag: Anschluss
Crimean Anschluss Hasn’t Made Russia a Great Power, Moscow Analyst Says
Staunton, May 14 – Polls show that many Russians now view their country as once again a great power as a result of the Crimean Anschluss, but that immediate emotional response while very real is neither accurate – this action alone is insufficient for such a status – nor likely to be any longer lasting […]
Ten Ways the Crimean Anschluss is Imposing Costs on Russia
Staunton, May 13 – Even as Moscow continues to celebrate the annexation of Crimea and some Russians push for the absorption of even more Ukrainian territory, ever more commentators are pointing to the very real costs that Putin’s Crimean adventure are imposing on Russians as a people. Ukrainian commentator Oleg Leusenko provides a useful checklist […]
Putin Asserts Right of Russians to Self-Determination Even Though Peoples of Russia Don’t Have It
Staunton, May 10 – Speaking in Sevastopol in Russian-occupied Crimea, President Vladimir Putin called on all countries “to respect the right of Russians to self-determination,” but he failed to note, Boris Vishnevsky points out, that there is no such right for peoples on the territory of the Russian Federation. In an Ekho Moskvy blog post […]
Moscow Unilaterally Suspends Confidence Building Accord with Lithuania
Staunton, May 7 – Two days ago, the Russian government unilaterally suspended its 2001 confidence building agreement with Lithuania and declared that Moscow no longer felt any requirement to inform Vilnius about its military deployments in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. According to the Lithuanian defense ministry, Russian émigré historian Yury Felshtinsky reports, the two […]
Putin Faces Dangers If He Attacks In Ukraine Or If He Doesn’t
Staunton, May 4 – Because Vladimir Putin did not stop after the Crimean Anschluss, the Kremlin leader now faces a Hobson’s choice of his own making: if he expands his aggression in Ukraine, he will face a Ukrainian people in arms backed by the West, but if he does not introduce forces there, he will […]
‘Putin is a Fascist’ Heading Toward War, Feltshtinsky Says
Staunton, May 3 – Only those who are in complete denial can fail to see that Vladimir Putin is a fascist, émigré Russian historian Yuri Felshtinsky says, given that “this analogy is so evident” in the wake of the Crimean Anschluss and the Kremlin leader’s own words and promotion of openly fascist figures like Dmitry […]
Commentator: Unless West Sets ‘Clear Limits,’ Putin Will Expand Russia Up to NATO’s Borders
Staunton, April 30 – Vladimir Putin will seek to expand Russia’s influence and control right up to the borders of NATO because the West has shown that it is not ready to interfere in any serious way to defend countries that have not been able to get into the Western alliance up to now, according […]
FSB Says Crimean Tatars Must Submit to Russian Rule, Face Prison, or Risk ‘Disappearance,’ Cemilev Says
Staunton, April 29 – Mustafa Cemilev, the leader of the Crimean Tatar national movement whom Russian authorities have banned from entering his homeland until 2019, says that the Russian security service has told him and by extension his nation that its members must submit to Russian rule, face prison, or, even more ominously, “disappearance.” Despite […]
Volga Tatars Nominate Crimea’s Mustafa Cemilev for Nobel Peace Prize
Staunton, April 26 – Tatar organizations in the Middle Volga have nominated Mustafa Cemilev, the longtime leader of the Crimean Tatar national movement, for the Nobel Peace Prize, a step that calls attention to Cemilev’s efforts to defend his land against Russian aggression and growing ties between the Tatars of Crimea and the Tatars of […]