Old Wounds, New Memorials: the Last Address Project
Walking through Moscow, you may pass by a small steel plaque no larger than your hand. These plaques are affixed to apartment buildings and bear nothing more than a few dates and a name. The dates do not recall some world-famous event. They are the dates of the birth, death, arrest, and rehabilitation of political prisoners. The names are not...
Russia’s Kosovo Fixation
Russia / Europe Backed by the US and the EU, the Serbian government is preparing for reconciliation with Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbian authorities wish to accelerate the process of EU integration, which implies a departure from a current policy aimed at hindering the formation of a Kosovan statehood, amongst...
Mediation for peace
This week, EURACTIV reports from Astana about the various mediation efforts of Kazakhstan on the international scene, including the Syria war and the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, as well as the county’s initiatives as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. …read more Source:...
Russian Government’s Fission Know-How Hard at Work in Europe
In May 2016, prominent Russia expert Mark Galeotti warned that “the [Russian] Foreign Intelligence Service and FSB are now especially active in Europe, and the organizations they support include … separatists from Spain to Scotland.” Fast-forward to September of this year: a sophisticated mix of “Kremlin-run outlets, pro-Kremlin or aligned...
Russian ‘Donetsk republic’ propagandist seized – or killed – in Donbas after speaking too freely
While media reports of Roman Manekin’s brutal murder remain unconfirmed, there seems no doubt that the prominent Russian journalist and propagandist for the so-called ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ [DPR] was taken prisoner shortly after strong criticism of at least one of the ‘DPR’ leaders. There are also reports that the...
How to End the War in Eastern Ukraine
The recent US debate about Russia has focused mainly on Moscow’s disinformation, propaganda, and interference in our elections. But Russia’s aggression against Ukraine remains the original sin and the biggest threat. It’s not just Ukraine’s survival as an independent, democratic state that is on the line, but the future of...
Released Crimean Tatar leader: No ‘liberation’ while my people, my land are not free
There was a sense of Soviet déjà vu in the release of Crimean Tatar leaders Akhtem Chiygoz and Ilmi Umerov, seen in the secrecy with which the special operation was carried out and in the use of a third country. Déjà vu also since just as in the USSR, the number of political prisoners who remain incarcerated is large and on the increase, with...
Luhansk militants sentence 2 young football fans to 17 & 13 years for ’spying for Ukraine’
Two young football fans seized by militants from the self-proclaimed ‘Luhansk people’s republic’ [LPR] in October 2016 have been ‘sentenced’ to 17 and 13 years. 21-year-old Vlad Ovcharenko and 20-year-old Artem Akhmerov were accused of spying for Ukraine over protests against the ‘LPR flag’, photos with the national flag...
Russia-gate Breeds ‘Establishment McCarthyism’
In the past, America has witnessed “McCarthyism” from the Right and even complaints from the Right about “McCarthyism of the Left.” But what we are witnessing now amid the Russia-gate frenzy is what might be called “Establishment McCarthyism,” traditional media/political powers demonizing and silencing dissent that questions mainstream...
Twitter Will Suffer for Russian Ad Ban, Moscow Says
Ban on RT and Sputnik comes as researchers claim Twitter ignored evidence that Russia was using the platform to influence elections. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
