Section: The Jamestown Foundation (USA)
Mikheil Saakashvili Appointed Governor of Ukraine’s Odesa Province (Part One)
On May 30, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko appointed Mikheil Saakashvili, former president of Georgia, as chairman of the state administration (governor) of Ukraine’s Odesa province. On the preceding day, Poroshenko conferred Ukrainian citizenship to Saakashvili “as a matter of national interest of Ukraine.” The cabinet of ministers...
Circassian Activists in Russia Become a Serious Force
The Russian government moved against Circassian activists in late May 2015, coinciding with events marking the 151st anniversary of the end of the Russian-Circassian war. The authorities targeted two well-known leaders of the Circassian movement, Ruslan Kesh and Adnan Khuade. On May 23, police in Maikop, Adygea, briefly detained Kesh, who had...
Weakening Russia Curtails Population’s Access to Publicly Available Information
Russia’s deteriorating economic situation is exacerbating the various social problems in the country, and the authorities are apparently finding no other way to deal with such issues but to shut down all outlets for public debate. Last week (May 28), President Vladimir Putin expanded the definition of information constituting state secrets...
Putin or Bust: Relations of Russian Cossacks With the Kremlin
Cossacks in St. Peterbsurg recently unveiled a bust of President Vladimir Putin in the guise of a Roman emperor (Gazeta.ru, May 17). The bust, made from synthetic materials, was originally designed to be two and half times larger and made from bronze. It features a Nero-like Putin in a toga but without the ceremonial garland. According to the...
European Union Snubs Georgia on Visa Free Travel Rules, as Pro-Russian Sentiments Grow in the Country
At the Eastern Partnership summit, held on May 21–22, in Riga, Latvia, the European Union delayed granting Georgia (along with it Ukraine) visa free travel rules for its citizens. Although Georgians were highly hopeful that their country would be granted a visa waiver for travel to the EU’s Schengen area, it was plainly clear even before...
Moscow Restoring Soviet-Style Repression and Aggression
This week (May 26), Russia’s Ministry of Justice added the private charitable foundation Dynasty, which specializes in distributing grants and stipends to Russian scientists, to the register of organizations that the government classifies as “foreign agents.” Another non-governmental organization (NGO), the “Liberal Mission” foundation,...
The Kremlin Grows Nervous About the Future—and With Good Reason
It is still difficult to figure out what sorts of conclusions President Vladimir Putin drew from the long meeting he held with US Secretary of State John Kerry two weeks ago (May 12), in Sochi (see EDM, May 19). But the recent behavior of top Russian officials betrays much apparent anxiety and even nervousness about the future in the halls of...
Putin and Latvia’s Latgale: Ethnicity as Explanation Vs. Ethnicity as Excuse
Vladimir Putin’s use of ethnicity to justify his actions in Ukraine has been widely accepted in the West but not commonly understood. That is to say, his claims that he can intervene on behalf of ethnic Russians or others that he feels are close to his “Russian world” are accepted as somehow plausible or even legitimate if the Kremlin can...
Donetsk, Luhansk ‘People’s Republics’ Seek International Legitimization Through Local Elections (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. The armistice signed in Minsk on February 12, 2015, (Minsk Two agreement) opens the way for staging local elections in the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (“DPR, LPR”) and the possible validation of those elections’ outcome by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe...
Sergei Shoigu: Putin’s Point Man in the Ukraine Conflict
Since the Russian military became a policy tool in the Kremlin’s conflict in Ukraine, Defense Minister Army-General Sergei Shoigu received surprisingly little attention from observers of Russia’s defense policies. Shoigu offered broad support for the operation to “restore” Crimea to Russia, while emphatically denying the presence of...
