Western Anxiety Over Zapad 2017 — Justified or Not?
Transatlantic TakeBERLIN — Next week, Russia will launch a large-scale military exercise. Titled Zapad (West), these war games take place every four years. They typically assume a NATO attack on Russia’s ally Belarus, and they train the militaries of both countries to repel such an attack. The core components of the exercises take place in...
Watch List: Sept. 6, 2017
The items listed below represent potential emerging issues that our analysts are tracking. These can be long term or short term, but will be updated daily. If an item on our Watch List becomes critical, we will email you a full analysis explaining its significance. Each Saturday, we will follow up our daily Watch List for each week with our...
Fears for the life of young Ukrainian abducted by Donbas militants
There is still no information about the whereabouts of 22-year-old Mykola Petukhov who was seized by armed militants of the so-called ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ in the early morning of August 31. The abduction is of immense concern since Mykola’s mother reports that a young man, identified only as Oleksiy, was seized just a...
Russia under Putin: Small child solemnly swears to prosecute her mother if required
At a ceremony in St Petersburg on September 1 marking the beginning of the academic year for future ‘investigators’, a little girl solemnly promised Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee that she would shop her mother if that were required by her work …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
Kleptocracy Daily: September 1, 2017
A Florida lobbying firm has been hired by a Turkish government-controlled bank implicated in a major Iranian money laundering scheme by the U.S. Justice Department. (Daily Caller) Gerhard Schröder is pressing on with plans to join the board of Rosneft, despite mounting criticism. (AP) China is rolling back Western global influence through a...
American Jackboot Diplomacy
The latest extraordinary roughshod violation of Russian diplomatic rights by the American authorities shows that the US doesn’t want to restore normal bilateral relations. Indeed, it has now resorted publicly to jackboot diplomacy.The rapid ordering of Russia to vacate three of its diplomatic properties – in a matter of hours – amid...
How to Finish the Revolution in Ukraine
More than three years after the Euromaidan, Ukraine still hasn’t successfully prosecuted any high-level crooks, and we’ve got plenty here. …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
The Deep Roots of Russia’s Young Protestors
Politics This year’s anti-corruption protests first flared up over four months ago. But social media and traditional news media are still abuzz. What’s keeping the conversation alive? Largely, a fascination with how young the protestors were. After the first photographs from the protests were published, the media were flooded with...
The Brexit ‘divorce bill’ is nothing of the sort
Now that Polly Toynbee is weighing in with wails about the size of the Brexit bill, we know two things about the process. It’s a good thing to do and it’ll be remarkably good value. Every political compass does require its butt end after all. However, one thing everyone must understand is that we’re not being asked to pay a...
Russia Eyes New Law On Foreigner Expulsions For ’Undesirable’ Behaviour
Russian lawmakers are examining possible new legislation envisioning the deportation of foreigners who engage in “undesirable” behavior deemed to be interference in the country’s internal affairs. …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
