Section: Atlantic Council (USA)
Kremlin Lays Hands on Faith in Crimea
In Russia this April, a Baptist pastor was jailed for professing his faith. Pavel Pilipchuk’s five-day detention was brief, but excessive. It followed his refusal to pay a heavy fine for organizing street evangelism in the city of Oryol, around 200 miles south of Moscow. By not informing city officials of his plans, a local court ruled the...
War in Ukraine of Global Significance, Says Archbishop
“To those from outside, [the fighting in Ukraine] may seem like a regional conflict, but that’s really not the case,” said Archbishop Zoria Yevstratiy of Chernihiv of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyivan Patriarchate. In an interview at the Atlantic Council on May 19, Yevstratiy described the situation in Ukraine as...
Why Mariupol Will Not be the Next Frontline
Analysts and journalists have begun to ask where the Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine will go next now that the second ceasefire agreement has failed. Skirmishes on the frontline in Shyrokyne, less than ten miles from Mariupol’s city limits, have raised concerns that Mariupol will be the next target. Geographically and...
Europe Needs to Help Ukraine Now!
Ukraine bleeds, but reforms impressively, while the West ignores it. The Minsk ceasefire agreement does not hold, though the intensity of the fighting has faded. In mid-March, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) doubled Ukraine’s international reserves, but the country’s finances remain fragile. Europe’s central banks should...
Remembering Roman
Every Memorial Day, friends leave small bottles of Jack Daniel’s and an American flag on Roman Kupchinsky’s gravestone in Arlington National Cemetery.Kupchinsky was a warrior, both on and off the battlefield. A man of passion who fought for his ideals with a singular determination, he devoted his life to seeing Ukraine become free. He...
As Greek Crisis Looms, Sovereign Debt Restructuring Takes Center Stage
As countries such as Argentina, Greece, and Ukraine struggle to pay down their debt, it is “clear that sovereign debt issues are important today, but they’ll be even more important tomorrow,” says the Atlantic Council’s Andrea Montanino. “The question on the minds of many is whether we will see another Greek default and what [will be...
Four Reasons to Be Hopeful About Ukraine’s Economy
Ukraine’s current economic crisis was years in the making. Former President Viktor Yanukovych grossly mismanaged and looted the country. And it may take years for the country to fully recover. But there are signs that the economy has reached the lowest point and its prospects are brighter than commonly portrayed in the press. …read...
Crimean Tatars: ‘We did not reject Russia, Russia rejected us’
On May 18, 1944, Joseph Stalin deported more than 180,000 Crimean Tatars to Uzbekistan. Once again this community faces major challenges. Today, 230,000 Crimean Tatars, who are mainly Sunni Muslims, represent about 12 percent of Crimea’s population. Virtually all of Crimea’s Tatars opposed Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March...
Russia Has Complete Informational Dominance in Ukraine
Hackers have consistently used low-level cyber warfare tactics to advance Russian goals in Ukraine.A dedicated group of hackers successfully infected the e-mail systems of the Ukrainian military, counterintelligence, border patrol, and local police. The hackers use a spear-phishing attack in which malware is hidden in an attachment that appears...
EU Aspirants Face a Closed, if Not Locked, Door on Enlargement
Aspirant EU members Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine are poised to leave the upcoming EU Eastern Partnership Summit disappointed, though not empty-handed. An advance draft of the Eastern Partnership declaration, to be unveiled at the summit on May 21 to 22 in Riga, Latvia, underscores the European Union’s drift away from stronger engagement...
