Category: Uncategorized

THE FALL OF RUSSIA’S ODESA

Even a city with such an historically pro-Russian outlook has embraced the movement toward Ukrainization. By DAVID KIRICHENKO March 12, 2023 POLITICO   Russia’s invasion

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ARE SANCTIONS WORKING?

March 6, 2023 DIANE FRANCIS Economic warfare against Russia includes sanctions, disinvestment, asset seizures, oil price caps, and other measures designed to cripple Putin’s economy

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THE WEST VS. THE REST

March 2, 2023 DIANE FRANCIS China and India will dominate this century, economically and politically, and both are subsidizing Putin’s war with massive purchases of

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TO VICTORY

by Askold S. Lozynskyj Mar 1, 2023   The Role of the Ukrainian Bard Taras Shevchenko Every year, Ukrainians observe various historical events and honor

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GIVE UKRAINE WHAT IT WANTS

Russia Shouldn’t Get to Veto Western Military Aid By John Herbst, David J. Kramer, and William Taylor February 24, 2023 Foreign Affairs   For Ukrainians,

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CHINA’S PUTIN PLAY

February 23, 2023 DIANE FRANCIS The last few days has been “Superpower Week” — a lengthy, televised version of geopolitical theater beginning with full-throated support

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RUSSIAN THEATRE

by Askold S. Lozynskyj Feb 23, 2023  Russia’s Aggression in Ukraine will bring about new theatre in the Russian Empire Two events of recent production,

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PUTIN CANNOT WIN

February 20, 2023 DIANE FRANCIS The anniversary of Putin’s invasion looms on February 24, and today U.S. President Joe Biden paid a secret and courageous

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EVIDENCE OF RUSSIA’S WAR CRIMES

EVIDENCE OF RUSSIA’S WAR CRIMES AND OTHER ATROCITIES IN UKRAINE: RECENT REPORTING ON CHILD RELOCATIONS FPC BRIEFING NATHANIEL A. RAYMOND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF YALE’S HUMANITARIAN

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WILL THE NON-RUSSIANS REBEL?

By ALEXANDER J. MOTYL 02/13/23 The Hill   As if Russian strongman Vladimir Putin didn’t have enough problems with a shrinking economy, restive population, grumpy

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RUSSIA AND THE US PRESS

Duncan Campbell 4 February 2023 Byline Times Two and a half years ago, the Columbia Journalism Review refused to publish Duncan Campbell’s investigation into The

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UKRAINE IN OUR FUTURE

Timothy Garton Ash Jan 26, 2023 Tetiana, a young activist I met in Lviv last December, works part-time as a tattooist. People often ask for

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BAN RUSSIA FROM OLYMPICS

February 13, 2023 DIANE FRANCIS Volodymyr Androshchuk grew up in Letychiv, a modest village of 11,000, with a brickworks, a dairy, and a construction materials

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STOP WEAPONS OF MASS DECEPTION

February 9, 2023 DIANE FRANCIS A new book entitled “Invisible Trillions” by anti-corruption activist Raymond Baker warns how unbridled financial secrecy and corruption now threaten

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FEAR HAS BIG EYES

By Stephen Blank February 06, 2023 Real Clear Defense   Russia either has just launched its expected offensive or it is imminent.  Yet Ukraine’s allies

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ON PUTIN AND BABYN YAR

By VLADISLAV DAVIDZON Feb 01, 2023 Tablet Magazine The appointment of the controversial Russian film director Ilya Khrzhanovsky as art director of the Babyn Yar

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UKRAINE IN OUR FUTURE

New York Review Jan 26, 2023 Timothy Garton Ash Tetiana, a young activist I met in Lviv last December, works part-time as a tattooist. People

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THE TRAGEDY OF UKRAINE

Askold S. Lozynskyj A eulogy for a flawed icon This is not about the war. This is about all of Ukraine’s wars, spanning centuries, and

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THE SPECTER OF 2016

McGonigal, Trump, and the Truth about America Timothy Snyder January 26, 2023 We are on the edge of a spy scandal with major implications for

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POLAND’S MORAL LEADERSHIP

January 26, 2022 DIANE FRANCIS Germany and Russia spent centuries partitioning, exploiting, or destroying the countries between them, disdainfully referred to in German as “inzwischenlander”

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GERMANY’S WORLD WAR III

DIANE FRANCIS January 23, 2023   Germany, the country that ruined the 20th Century, is damaging the 21st. Berlin’s political decisions facilitated Putin’s invasion of

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EQUITY FOR UKRAINE

By Ira Straus Jan 16, 2023 Atlantic Council Equity is the avowed watchword of the Biden administration on issues of social justice and equalization of

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ENEMY ARCHIVES

Over a decade ago, my colleague, Volodymyr Viatrovych, then serving as director of the Ukrainian Institute for National Memory, in Kyiv, laid out a series

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EPIPHANY

I am back in Lviv, four days before the observance of the Baptism of Jesus according to the Old Julian Calendar and nine days after

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THE SAKHA (YAKUT) PEOPLE

The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of roughly 1 million. Yakutsk is

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THE BATTLE OF BAKHMUT

By Ilia Ponomarenko The Kyiv Independent Jan 9, 2023 BAKHMUT, Donetsk Oblast — It’s the last days of December and the heat of the holiday season.

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PUTIN’S DARK PRINCE

January 9, 2023 DIANE FRANCIS The war bodes badly for Putin but he cannot remain Tsar if he loses or surrenders. His health deteriorates. Potential

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PUTIN’S RECESSION

January 5, 2023 DIANE FRANCIS   One minute after midnight on January 1, American-made HIMAR rockets obliterated a community college in occupied eastern Ukraine where

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THE CASE FOR TAKING CRIMEA

By Andriy Zagorodnyuk January 2, 2023 Foreign Affairs For Ukrainians, 2022 was a year of both tragedy and historic achievements. Russia invaded Ukraine in February with nearly

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MOSCOW’S INVASION OF UKRAINE

MOSCOW’S INVASION OF UKRAINE TRIGGERS ‘SOUL-SEARCHING’ AT WESTERN UNIVERSITIES AS SCHOLARS RETHINK RUSSIAN STUDIES January 01, 2023 By Todd Prince RFE/RL   When more than

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UKRAINE’S VOLUNTEERS

The New York Review January 2023 Tim Judah It was dark and getting colder. The four-wheel drive was slipping and straining as we tried to

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BAKHMUT IS STALINGRAD 2.0

On his seventh visit to the ‘Somme-scape’ of the embattled and besieged eastern Ukrainian city, John Sweeney believes the Russian President has set a military

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STATEMENT OF THE MFA

Statement of the MFA of Ukraine on the illegitimacy of the Russian Federation’s presence in the UN Security Council and in the United Nations as

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A UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS GIFT

A UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS GIFT Lubomyr Luciuk Dec 24, 2022 It was masterful. Presented before Congress, and not in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s mother tongue, it

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  JOY TO THE WORLD

In his celebratory Christmas message, the local Pastor where I reside highlighted the positive,  beginning with how fervently Pope Francis of Rome is praying for

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OFFENSE NOT DEFENSE

December 22, 2022 DIANE FRANCIS President Volodymyr Zelensky clearly won the pre-Christmas “shuttle diplomacy” photo-ops that took place this week. The Ukrainian was invited to

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NUREMBERG NOT NEGOTIATIONS

December 19, 2022 DIANE FRANCIS The world wants peace, but Putin does not. On November 15, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky presented a sensible 10-point peace

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PUTIN’S WAR

A Times investigation based on interviews, intercepts, documents and secret battle plans shows how a “walk in the park” became a catastrophe for Russia.  

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HERO CITY

  Kharkiv was Ukraine’s science hotbed until Russia attacked. The crippled city refuses to give up 7 DEC 2022 By RICHARD STONE Science   Kharkiv,

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THE BASHKIRS

The Bashkirs are an ancient people of Eurasia, formed in the Southern Urals as an independent ethnos in the first half of the I millennium

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GRATITUDE TO UKRAINE

Security, Freedom, Democracy, Courage, Pluralism, Perseverance, Generosity Timothy Snyder December 11, 2022 Debts are awkward, especially debts of gratitude.  When we owe others too much,

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PUTIN MUST PAY

December 5, 2022 DIANE FRANCIS Ukraine’s foe is Russia, but its allies face political and funding fatigue as billions flow to stop Putin. Feeding concerns

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TARGET CRIMEA

Partisans are mobilizing, and Russians are trying to sell their holiday homes — as fear grows that the war is closing in on the peninsula.

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UKRAINE’S SUPERIORITY

December 1, 2022 DIANE FRANCIS Putin’s failure in Ukraine is rooted in his flawed belief in Russian military superiority and that Russia defeated Hitler. But

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A PARADIGM SHIFT

STEFAN MEISTER Nov 29, 2022 EU Observer   The EU must build a new set of ambitious policies that treats Russia as a major threat

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THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE MUST DIE

A better future requires Putin’s defeat—and the end to imperial aspirations. By Anne Applebaum Nov 14, 2022 The Atlantic   During the quarter century of

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RUSSIA’S OTHER PROBLEM

A federation is a group of states with a central government in which, in theory, those states may maintain independence in internal affairs. The Russian

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RUSSIA’S DANGEROUS DECLINE

The Kremlin Won’t Go Down Without a Fight By Andrea Kendall-Taylor and Michael Kofman November/December 2022 Foreign Affairs At a White House ceremony on August

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STAR WARS

October 31, 2022 DIANE FRANCIS Russia tried to destroy Ukraine’s internet access at the outset of the war until Kyiv’s IT experts did a workaround

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UCCLF WELCOMES ANNOUNCEMENT OF INTERNMENT STATUE AT ALBERTA LEGISLATURE For immediate release (Calgary, October 26, 2022) The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Foundation (UCCLF) welcomes news

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MEDIA RELEASE

October 24, 2022 Edmonton In the midst of the accusations and hate vandalism, the Ukrainian community has endured Nazi labels, and has repeatedly said this

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HOW TO BEAT RUSSIA

October 24, 2022 DIANE FRANCIS Putin is a dictator with staggering riches and a nuclear arsenal. In February, he audaciously started “World War III”, and

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By Robyn Dixon and Natalia Abbakumova October 16, 2022 The Washington Post Police and military officers swooped down on a Moscow business center this past

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MP YVAN BAKER IN UKRAINE

Oct 14, 2022 On Wednesday, I was in Ukraine with Minister Harjit Sajjan. We were there in the aftermath of Russia’s horrific missile strikes on

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UKRAINE’S PATH TO VICTORY

How the Country Can Take Back All Its Territory By Andriy Zagorodnyuk October 12, 2022 Foreign Affairs For too long, the global democratic coalition supporting

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STOPPING THE SLAUGHTER

October 3, 2022 Diane Francis   On September 30, Vladimir Putin strode into St. George’s Hall of the Great Kremlin Palace in Moscow through 30-foot-high

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RUSSIA: A TERRORIST STATE

September 29, 2022 Diane Francis On September 26, Putin’s war escalated after explosions disabled gas pipelines beneath the Baltic Sea linking Russia to Germany and

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RUSSIA IS A FAILED STATE

By ALEXANDER J. MOTYL 09/27/22 The Hill The first step in Russia’s disintegration was Vladimir Putin’s painstaking construction of a fascist political system centered on

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RUSSIA WILL SNAP

September 26, 2022 Diane Francis   A mass exodus afflicts Russia because few believe that only 300,000 men with military experience will be called up.

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UKRAINE WILL WIN

A tour of frontlines and liberated cities during Zelensky’s great counteroffensive revealed a country ruined, ravaged, and on the brink of victory By BERNARD-HENRI LÉVY

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CHINA ISOLATES RUSSIA

September 15, 2022 Diane Francis Vladimir Putin has suffered a serious military setback in his war in Ukraine in recent days, but China’s Xi Jinping

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PUTIN’S WATERLOO

September 12, 2022 Diane Francis There’s reason to be optimistic that Ukraine will kick out Russia, but also to be wary of military talking heads

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PUTIN’S TWO CHERNOBYLS

September 5, 2022 Diane Francis The slow-motion nuclear disaster underway now is part of Vladimir Putin’s war against Europe. The Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in

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RUSSIA’S TRAGIC TROIKA

September 1, 2022 Diane Francis Mikhail Gorbachev’s death marked the passing of a significant figure in the 20th century who lifted the Iron Curtain and

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THE WORLD PUTIN WANTS

How Distortions About the Past Feed Delusions About the Future By Fiona Hill and Angela Stent September/October 2022 Foreign Affairs Vladimir Putin is determined to

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PUTIN’S NEW PERIL

August 22, 2022 Diane Francis The most audacious attack in this war against Vladimir Putin personally took place on August 20 in Moscow when the

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PUTIN’S ON THE BRINK

By HERMAN PIRCHNER, JR. 08/18/22 The Hill   In Vietnam, Afghanistan and many other conflicts, the stronger power lost because it could not win, and

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WHY KYIV’S ‘THOUSAND BEE STING’ STRATEGY IS COSTING RUSSIA DEARLY By Max Boot August 17, 2022 The Washington Post   If you want to understand

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RUSSIA’S 9/11

August 15, 2022 Diane Francis Yellow ribbons painted on poles or walls suddenly appear in Kherson, the only regional capital city that Russia has captured

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THE OTHER UKRAINIAN ARMY

by Anne Applebaum August 10, 2022 The Atlantic History has turning points, moments when events shift and the future seems suddenly clear. But history also has

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RUSSIA’S SUICIDE

August 4, 2022 Diane Francis History will show that Vladimir Putin’s fatal miscalculation was his belief that Europe would buckle if he invaded Ukraine because

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STRAIN OF THOUGHT

As I get older wisdom remains neutral as experience broadens and brain cells wither. Irony and paradox are the hallmarks of septuagenarians. Pure unadulterated idealism

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EU-TOPIA, WAKE UP

July 28, 2022 Diane Francis Europe’s been asleep until February when Putin said he wouldn’t invade Ukraine and launched Stalingrad-like sieges of cities the size

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KAZAKHSTAN DEFIES PUTIN

July 21, 2022 Diane Francis This newsletter is about an obscure country to most people, but represents a significant geopolitical development in the war against

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JUST THE FACTS

On Thursday, July 14, “The New York Times” (NYT) carried a relatively even story about the recall of Ukraine’s Ambassador in Berlin, Andrij Melnyk for

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WRITING OFF RUSSIA

VOLODYMYR RAFEYENKO interviewed by MARCI SHORE Project Syndicate   According to the writer Adam Gopnik, “We breathe in our first language and swim in our

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TRUMP IS TOAST

July 14, 2022 Diane Francis President Donald Trump and his cabal attempted a coup d’etat on January 6 by concocting voter fraud, then organizing and

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BEWARE OF UKRAINE FATIGUE

The fate of the West increasingly depends on our own fickle, fleeting attention By BERNARD-HENRI LÉVY July 11, 2022 Tablet Magazine When asked in 1917

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USEFUL PRIMITIVES

During a recent debate among the Republican party candidate and pretenders for Congresswoman Liz Cheney’s seat from the state of Wyoming, Ms. Cheney shone as

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PUTIN-FLATION

July 7, 2022 Diane Francis   The Great Russian Recession looms as Putin intends to cripple Germany, Europe’s engine of economic growth and Russia’s biggest

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HOW UKRAINE WILL WIN

By Dmytro Kuleba June 17, 2022 Foreign Affairs As Russia’s all-out war of aggression in Ukraine drags on for a fourth consecutive month, calls for

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WHY WAR FAILS

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the limits of military power By Lawrence Freedman July/August 2022 Foreign Affairs On February 27, a few days after Russia

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HOW THIS ENDS

Glen Howard The Jamestown Foundation June 11, 2022 The magnificent resistance of the Ukrainian people has drawn the admiration of the whole world, but we

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TIMOTHY SNYDER

June 9, 2022 Twitter Web App  Speaking of the Russo-Ukrainian war, a number of commentators begin from the premise a nuclear power cannot lose a

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WHY RUSSIA MUST LOSE

June 9, 2022 Diane Francis History will show that Vladimir Putin lost the war against Ukraine before it began when he published “On the Historical

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CANNES AT WAR

The specter of Russia’s assault on Ukraine haunted the famously politics-averse festival, which featured a spate of gritty, genuine films about the invasion By VLADISLAV

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JOURNALISTIC LIES THAT KILL

May 31, 2022 Volodymyr Viatrovych On 9 May 2022, the board of the world’s most prestigious journalistic prize, the Pulitzer, announced a decision: “The Pulitzer

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THE RUSSIANS

The New York Review of Books recently published a review of two new publications on language that read: “There are recent reports that Ukrainian defense

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TO THE TOPIC AT HAND

May 28, 2022 Nazar  Rozlutsky, PhD, author of six books, currently a junior sergeant in the Armed Forces of Ukraine: “I am not a military

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DECOLONIZE RUSSIA

To avoid more senseless bloodshed, the Kremlin must lose what empire it still retains. By Casey Michel The Atlantic May 27, 2022 The former national

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NO MERCY FOR RUSSIA

May 19, 2022 Diane Francis Cracks appear in Western resolve. Hungary sabotages the EU oil ban against Russia, France suggests a face-saving off-ramp for Putin,

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VICTORY DAY IN KHARKIV

As Russia celebrated May 9 with pomp and parades, Ukrainians began reclaiming a ruined city By DANNY GOLD May 16, 2022 Tablet It’s fine, don’t

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VLADIMIR PUTIN, FAMILY MAN

As Western nations place sanctions on people close to the Russian leader, including family members, the strict secrecy surrounding his private life is being punctured.

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ROUNDING UP RATS

Diane Francis May 9, 2022   Putin in his speech today did not announce an escalation of his war, Jill Biden spent Mother’s Day in

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PUTIN’S MAY 9 MOVE

May 5, 2022 Diane Francis On May 9, Putin will host his big annual Victory Day shindig in Moscow to celebrate Russia’s defeat of Germany,

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NUKE OR NO NUKE?

May 2, 2022 Diane Francis President Joe Biden asked Congress for $33-billion to help Ukraine and stock markets tanked because the allocation indicates that Russia’s

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PROPAGANDA UNLEASHED

Pete Shmigel 29 April 2022 Spectator Putin’s right-hand man and Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, has publicly described propaganda and disinformation as weapons of equal standing

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A TURNING POINT

Diane Francis April 28, 2022 This week, Russia’s war against Ukraine became Russia’s war against Europe and NATO. America declared unequivocal support and major allocations

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FROM UKRAINE, WITH LOOT

By ALEXANDER J. MOTYL 04/26/22 The Hill While Russian men have been killing, raping and pillaging in Ukraine, their families have been no less busy

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DAVID AND GOLIATH

April 21, 2022 Diane Francis This week Russia launched its full-scale offensive to take the portions of Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region that it didn’t conquer

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THOUGHTS FROM KYIV

Mychailo Wynnyckyj April 17, 2022 Today is a very holy day for Christians throughout the world. In the West, today is Easter Sunday. In the

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EASTER RUMINATIONS

This is both a blessed and difficult time for me as a Ukrainian Catholic. I feel the overwhelming victory of my Lord and Saviour. This

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THE GREAT DE-GLOBALIZATION

April 14, 2022 Diane Francis Russia’s war has mobilized the West. Military equipment floods Ukraine, draconian sanctions crater Putin’s economy, and U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet

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RUSSIA IS A FAKE POWER

by Janusz Bugajski April 09, 2022 Washington Examiner Winston Churchill famously called Russia a “riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” A more accurate

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 75 YEARS AGO

At the beginning of the modern Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate from the Bryansk Metropolitan-ate issued an unambiguous

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NEW WORLD DISORDER

Diane Francis April 7, 2022 Russia’s war against Ukraine has divided the world geopolitically into three main blocs: pro-Ukraine, pro-Russia, and fence-sitters. The United Nations

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UN AND NATO FAIL

April 7, 2022 Diane Francis Imagine a legal system where the accused sits on the jury? That’s the UN Security Council. Or imagine a police

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THE UKRAINIAN ARMY HAS GOT BETTER AT FIGHTING RUSSIAN-BACKED SEPARATISTS

What to make of the military analysts who calmly list the reasons why the most serious war in Europe since 1945 might begin in January? The flat, muddy terrain of south-eastern Ukraine will be frozen solid by then, allowing Russian tanks to roll in. It is in the middle of the deployment cycle for the conscripts who make up much of Russia’s ground forces. And Russia may find itself with a pretext for invasion, since the new year has in the past brought front line flare-ups in Ukraine’s war against Russian-backed separatists. Besides, the 100,000 Russian troops massed near the border are more than mere theatre; Russia is setting up field hospitals and calling up its…

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NATO CHIEF SAYS ALLIES MUST PREPARE FOR THE WORST IN UKRAINE

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned Tuesday that the U.S.-led military organization must prepare for the worst as concern mounts that Russia could be preparing to invade Ukraine. NATO is worried about a Russian buildup of heavy equipment and troops near Ukraine’s northern border, not far from Belarus. Ukraine says Moscow kept about 90,000 troops in the area following massive war games in western Russia earlier this year, and could easily mobilize them. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that his country’s intelligence service had uncovered plans for a…

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UKRAINE AND THE 30 ALLIES WILL DECIDE WHEN UKRAINE JOINS NATO

Speaking at a press conference following the meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated, “You know, just the question is reflecting something, which I think we should be very much aware of, that is not acceptable. And that is that Russia has a sphere of influence. They try to re-establish some kind of acceptance that Russia has the right to control what neighbours do, or not do. And that’s the kind of world we don’t want to return to, where big powers had a say, or a kind of right, to put limitations of what sovereign, independent nations can do. I, myself, I’m coming from a small country bordering Russia. And I’m very glad that our NATO Allies have never respected that Russia has the kind of right to establish a…

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FIGHT OVER PUTIN'S PIPELINE CONSUMES US CONGRESS

Axios reported, “The Biden administration, House and Senate Democrats and even the German government have been engaged in a multi-pronged effort to stop Congress from imposing mandatory sanctions on a Kremlin-backed natural gas pipeline. President Biden’s decision to let Nord Stream 2 proceed has put his allies in an uncomfortable bind. Republicans have already blocked dozens of Biden’s foreign-policy nominees, and the dispute threatened to derail an annual defense bill passed by Congress every year for six decades. Democrats and Republicans have for years opposed Nord Stream 2, which would…

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LIZ TRUSS URGES NATO ALLIES TO BLOCK RUSSIA’S NORD STREAM 2 GAS PIPELINE

Britain’s foreign secretary has joined a last-minute push to urge Nato allies to block the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, warning that Moscow would exploit its position if European nations became reliant on it for energy. Liz Truss, at her first Nato foreign ministers meeting in Riga, also warned that Russia would be making a strategic mistake if it invaded Ukraine, promising an economic and diplomatic response by Nato. The UK has been at the forefront of Nato countries, along with Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states, to question the wisdom of the pipeline, which will take gas from Russia to Europe through the…

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THE DUAL THREATS CONFRONTING UKRAINE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s allegation of a foiled Russian coup attempt against him underscores the linked external and internal threats confronting Ukraine. The external threat is most visible in the approximately 114,000 troops Russia has massed on Ukraine’s borders because Russian President Vladimir Putin understands that his patrimonial autocracy cannot survive with an independent Westward-leaning Ukraine on its borders. Since empire is the historical corollary of Russian autocracy and are equally dependent on each other to survive, from Moscow’s standpoint Ukraine cannot be…

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ПРО НАС

Вся історія відносин між Москвою та Україною на протязі більше як 250 літ, з моменту злуки цих двох держав є планомірне, безоглядне, безсоромне, нахабне нищення української нації всякими способами, вщерть до стертя всякого сліду її, щоб навіть імени її не лишилось….І здавалось, така політика мала успіх…Лишився сам народ, без панства, без літератури, без школи, безграмотний, знесилений, оплутаний законами й державними апаратами визиску. Він уже забув свою історію, свою колишню боротьбу за соціальне й національне визволення… Здавалось, зроблено було все чисто: закопано, засипано, землю на могилі вглажено й пісочком присипано…Отже, ніби…

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SENATE DEMOCRATS’ RUSSIAN PIPELINE HEADACHE JUST WON’T GO AWAY

The Biden administration’s decision to waive sanctions on a Russian-built pipeline in Europe keeps hitting close to home. The move to let the pipeline go forward, which drew bipartisan criticism at the time, not only kicked off the Republican-led blockade of President Joe Biden’s foreign-policy nominees — now it’s imperiling passage of the annual defense policy bill, typically a bipartisan affair that’s become law each year for six decades. GOP senators have resorted to hardball tactics to force the administration to implement sanctions on the Russia-to-Germany natural gas line, known as Nord Stream 2. Republicans have slow-walked confirmation of…

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RUSSIA-UKRAINE BORDER: WHY MOSCOW IS STOKING TENSIONS

When Russia wanted the US to sit up and take notice last April it sent tanks towards the Ukrainian border. The show of force worked: President Joe Biden called Russia’s Vladimir Putin and in June the two men met in Geneva. But whatever they agreed about Ukraine at their summit, something has since gone awry. In recent weeks, Russian tanks have been moving west towards Ukraine once again, prompting fresh, even starker warnings from US intelligence circles that a cross-border offensive could be on the cards. This build-up of Russian forces was spotted some 300km (185 miles) from Ukraine Moscow insists that’s “anti-Russian” hysteria, and…

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THREAT OF RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE TESTS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION

The White House is reviewing options to deter a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine, including providing more military aid to Kyiv and threatening sanctions, to dissuade Russian President Vladimir Putin from escalating the simmering conflict into a full-blown transatlantic crisis. The deliberations come as President Biden and his aides prepare for a virtual call with Putin next month, a moment that analysts see as an opportunity to signal the costs of an invasion to the Kremlin but also present a path for reducing tension. Amid spiking U.S. concern over unusual movements by Russian troops on the Ukrainian border, Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarked…

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PUTIN'S DANGEROUS UNDECLARED WAR AGAINST EUROPE

Finally, western leaders are waking up to the fact that Vladimir Putin has been waging an undeclared war against Europe and the west since 2014 when it annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. This is because he has escalated his warfare. In August, he weaponized energy exports by throttling back natural gas shipments, creating shortages and enormous price hikes. Also during the summer, Putin’s proxy, Belarus, weaponized migration. Thousands of residents from the Middle East were encouraged to fly to Minsk, then were transported to the border with Poland where they were promised they could easily sneak into the…

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UKRAINE’S ZELENSKY ALLEGES RUSSIA PLOTTING COUP AGAINST HIM FOR NEXT WEEK

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that a group of Russians and Ukrainians is planning to stage a coup d’etat in Ukraine next month and that the plotters are trying to enlist the help of the country’s richest man, Rinat Akhmetov. Zelensky, speaking at a “press marathon” for local and international media, said that audio recordings, obtained by Ukraine’s security services, caught plotters discussing their plans and mentioning Akhmetov’s name. Akhmetov was not involved in the actual coup plot, however, Zelensky said. “I believe [Akhmetov] is being dragged into the war against Ukraine,” Zelensky said. “This will be a big mistake, because it is impossible to fight against the people, against the president elected by the …

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THE LETTER FROM HELL

Russia’s most recent military build-up at the borders of Europe’s largest country may be preparatory to a possible expansion of its invasion and ongoing occupation since 2014, writes Victor Rud. And it’s weaponising of human suffering is not new, this time with the engineered refugee crisis at the Belorussian/Polish border. The two are integrated moves on the chessboard and, minimally, the final test of Western resolve. Seemingly long ago, immediate post WWII Europe spoke to the West’s ossified, sell-defeating mindset that has led to the tinder box in…

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ГОЛОДОМОР-ГЕНОЦИД 1932-1933 В УКРАЇНІ: ВИЗНАННЯ ЗАРАДИ ВІЛЬНОГО МАЙБУТНЬОГО СВІТУ

Щорічно в останню суботу листопада українці та усі вільні народи світу вшановують пам’ять мільйонів людей, які загинули від штучного голоду – цілеспрямованого геноциду, організованого в Україні комуністичним окупаційним режимом впродовж 1932-1933 років. Після завершення Першої світової війни, коли імперії впали, а поневолені народи здобули свободу, українці розпочали боротьбу за власну державність. На жаль, після довгого збройного спротиву, ці прагнення зазнали краху. У 1921 році більша частина українських земель опинилися під контролем російських більшовиків. Однак окупація України не означала підкорення її народу, який…

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HOLODOMOR REMEMBRANCE DAY: WHY THE PAST MATTERS FOR THE FUTURE

As Americans sit down to their Thanksgiving meals on the last Thursday in November, Ukrainians will be commemorating the memory of millions who were murdered in 1932-33. The last Saturday in November is Holodomor Remembrance Day in Ukraine, a time to mark the anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s engineered starvation of the nation. In the West, the date should also be remembered as a pivotal event that ensured the viability of the Soviet Union, with its consequent implications for hundreds of millions in the free world. The Holodomor in Ukraine is too often mistakenly grouped…

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RUSSIA WON’T LET UKRAINE GO WITHOUT A FIGHT

Ominous signs indicate that Russia may conduct a military offensive in Ukraine as early as the coming winter. Moscow has quietly built up its forces along the Ukrainian border over the past several months, which could be a prelude to a military operation that aims to resolve the political deadlock in Ukraine in its favor. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin may once again be engaging in coercive diplomacy, this time around Moscow may not be bluffing. If no agreement is reached, the conflict may renew on a much larger scale. Why would Putin risk geopolitical and economic upheaval by reigniting the…

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THE RUSSIAN PUBLIC IS BEING PRIMED FOR ANOTHER OF PUTIN’S WARS

Domestic propagandists and state TV pundits are promoting the idea of an inevitable confrontation with the West as Russia’s military posture grows increasingly hostile, causing major concern for its nearest neighbors and NATO. Ukraine remains the crown jewel for the Kremlin and the Russian public is being primed for the intended absorption of more territories under the umbrella of the Russian Federation, while NATO is being accused of fomenting the potential escalation. Whether or not the Kremlin is planning to speed up its creeping assault against Ukraine’s Donbas region in the near future is a mystery even to the most knowledgeable experts with close access to…

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СИТУАЦІЯ НАВКОЛО РОСІЙСЬКОЇ АГРЕСІЇ В УКРАЇНІ

Російська Федерація продовжує збройну агресію проти України та вживає заходів з недопущення інтеграції української держави до європейських структур безпеки. Основною метою політики Російської Федерації щодо України є знищення української державності та встановлення над нею повного контролю. При цьому керівництво Росії червоними лініями для себе визначило наближення НАТО до кордонів з Росією та повноправне членство України в Альянсі. Для досягнення своїх політичних цілей Російська Федерація розпочала збройну агресію проти України та значно наростила воєнний потенціал на Південно-Західному напрямку. З 2014 року в Південному та Західному військових округах були створені…

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ARE WE READY TO DIE FOR KYIV? HOW TWITTER IS HELPING TO PUSH THE WEST TOWARDS SURRENDERING UKRAINE

In a November 19 article in the Politico publication, Samuel Charap, an analyst with the Rand corporation analyzes Russia’s military threat on Ukraine’s border. Ascertaining that the US approach towards containing the buildup isn’t working, Charap suggests that “an unsavory compromise may be everyone’s best hope,” thereby preparing Western readers and policymakers to sell out Ukraine. Charap does not suggest this openly, but rather in a veiled way, urging the US to use its “largely untapped” leverage with Ukraine to nudge Kyiv to implement the Minsk agreements and thereby hamper Russia’s thirst for a…

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Politico reported, “Two senators are pushing to boost shipments of lethal weapons to Kyiv as the West nervously watches Russian troops and equipment mass along Ukraine’s eastern border. Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) are seeking to increase Pentagon funding to arm Ukraine by another $50 million as part of annual defense policy legislation being debated on the Senate floor. But their effort, along with a heap of other proposals from senators in both parties, is in limbo after a push to secure votes on amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act hit a roadblock on the floor last week. And those measures could founder if senators don’t strike a deal when they return to finalize the defense bill after Thanksgiving. The…

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CANADA CONSIDERS BOOSTING MILITARY AID TO UKRAINE AS RUSSIA AMASSES TROOPS AT THE BORDER

Canada is considering bolstering its military mission to Ukraine, amid a debate over whether additional NATO forces would deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from further aggression against his country’s neighbour. Two sources with knowledge of the deliberations said Defence Minister Anita Anand is considering deploying hundreds of additional troops to support the Canadian soldiers already in Ukraine on a training mission. Other options being looked at include moving a warship into the Black Sea, or redeploying some of the CF-18 fighter jets based in Romania. Any reinforcement would be intended as a…

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HOW TO SURVIVE WINTER, CONFOUND PUTIN AND SAVE UKRAINE

Russian President Vladimir Putin is engaged in a multi-pronged escalation of threats within Europe. His schemes can be defeated. Exploiting what he judges a superior strategic position in the face of US retreat and fragmentation and weakness in Europe, Putin sees opportunities to make substantial gains in what Russia considers its sphere of influence in Europe’s East. Faced with this set of challenges to its authority and cohesion, the West really has no choice but to stand firm in the face of Russian aggression. These are serious threats and could signal a winter of Russia-induced hardship, the likes of which Europe has not experienced for decades. There are at least five immediate threats. Russia is: •Squeezing Europe’s gas supplies ahead of the…

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DEFENSIVE PUTIN ACCUSES WEST OF IGNORING RUSSIAN RED LINES

In recent weeks, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been escalating his hybrid war against the Western world. However, his annual speech to Russian ambassadors on November 18 saw Putin at his most uninspired and defensive. The Russian leader’s long list of criticisms and complaints left the distinct impression that while everything in Russian foreign policy has gone wrong, none of it is actually his fault. Unsurprisingly, Putin dedicated much of his speech to the war in Ukraine, which he acknowledged as the Kremlin’s key foreign policy concern. Less typical was his sharp criticism of the role played by Germany and France in efforts to resolve the conflict. Putin accused Paris and Berlin of “indulging the current Kiev leadership’s course on dismantling the…

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VLADIMIR PUTIN IS TESTING THE “WEAK” WEST IN UKRAINE AND POLAND

In recent months, international attention has been focused on a mounting border crisis manufactured by Kremlin-backed Belarusian dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka on the European Union’s eastern frontier. As this border crisis now slowly deescalates, all eyes have turned to the nearby Ukrainian border with Russia, where Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has amassed a formidable potential invasion force. European and North American policymakers need to recognize that these two dramas are inter-related elements of Putin’s broader hybrid war against the West. The Kremlin strongman aims to reverse the…

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NO NEED FOR A MUNICH SELLOUT

For the second time this year, President Vladimir Putin is risking war with Ukraine to destroy its independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity. Earlier in the spring, he mobilized approximately 100,000 troops on the border but pulled them back a short (relatively speaking) distance while leaving their equipment in place. Now he has again mobilized about 114,000 troops, including elite units, and U.S. intelligence is warning allies that a war might break out in the winter. Russia has also dramatically intensified its rhetoric and claims that it is under threat from Ukraine and the West. Indeed, Putin has told the Foreign Policy Board that Russia will keep making threats and raising tensions because only that…

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US CONSIDERING SENDING EXTRA WEAPONRY TO UKRAINE AS FEARS MOUNT OVER POTENTIAL RUSSIAN INVASION

The Biden administration is weighing sending military advisers and new equipment including weaponry to Ukraine as Russia builds up forces near the border and US officials prepare allies for the possibility of another Russian invasion, multiple sources familiar with the deliberations tell CNN. The discussions about the proposed lethal aid package are happening as Ukraine has begun to warn publicly that an invasion could happen as soon as January. The package could include new Javelin anti-tank and anti-armor missiles as well as mortars, the sources said. Air defense systems, such as stinger missiles, are also under…

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WHAT THE HELL IS PUTIN DOING?

On May 23, using the phony claim of a bomb threat, Belarusian fighter jets forced a Ryanair passenger jet en route to Vilnius from Athens to land in Minsk. This was a pretext to arrest one single passenger—the Belarusian dissident Roman Protasevich. In response to this act of piracy, the European Union levied heavy sanctions against high-ranking Belarusian apparatchiks. Belarus’s dictator, Alexander Lukashenko, vowed to flood the EU with migrants and drugs: “We were stopping [them],” he raved. “Now you will catch them and eat them yourself.” He kept his promise. Over the summer, Iraqi and Belarusian travel agencies sold visas in tourist packages to Minsk to migrants seeking to enter the EU. As soon as they arrived in Minsk, Belarusian authorities picked…

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DOCUMENTARY PUBLICATION “HOLODOMOR: THE UKRAINIAN GENOCIDE”

We are pleased to announce the publication of the Second Edition of HOLODOMOR: THE UKRAINIAN GENOCIDE, 1932-1933. The Second Edition has been thoroughly updated and vastly expanded with new data, documents and analyses divided into 10 Parts, which, among others, cover such issues as historical and political contexts of the Ukrainian famine, key Soviet documentation proving the intentionality of the Holodomor, Ukrainian demographic losses and impact of the genocide, and a comprehensive bibliography on the Holodomor. HOLODOMOR: THE UKRAINIAN GENOCIDE, 1932-1933 is a hard cover publication of 320 pp., thoroughly and pointedly illustrated, “reader-friendly”, and a strictly not-for-profit project intended for…

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ДОКУМЕНТАЛЬНЕ АНГЛОМОВНЕ ВИДАННЯ “HOLODOMOR: THE UKRAINIAN GENOCIDE”

Повідомляємо, що уже вийшло друком друге видання англомовної книги-компендіума “HOLODOMOR: THE UKRAINIAN GENOCIDE, 1932-1933.” Це видання книги значно доповнене новими даними, інформацією, документами і аналізами, що включає такі аспекти, як: історичний і політичний контекст Голодомору; основну совєтську документацію, яка виявляє планомірність Голодомору Москвою, з наміром задавити повстання в Україні проти совєтської окупації; демографічні втрати українців і наслідки геноциду; всебічну сучасну бібліографію про Голодомор. Книга “HOLODOMOR: THE UKRAINIAN GENOCIDE, 1932-1933” – це науково-популярне видання на 320 сторінок у твердій обкладинці, що складається…

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TOP DEMOCRAT PROPOSES CRUSHING SANCTIONS IF RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) has introduced an amendment that would trigger a cascade of sanctions against top Russian officials, the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, major financial institutions, sovereign debt transactions and more in the event of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. U.S. officials have been sounding the alarm about Russia’s massive military buildup on the eastern border of Ukraine. The sanctions threat is intended to serve as a powerful deterrent against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Menendez’s proposal was introduced late Thursday night as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, a must-pass defense-spending bill on which the Senate will vote after the Thanksgiving break. It would require…

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US INTELLIGENCE SHOWS RUSSIAN PLANS FOR POTENTIAL UKRAINE INVASION

Bloomberg reported on November 21, “The U.S. has shared intelligence including maps with European allies that shows a buildup of Russian troops and artillery to prepare for a rapid, large-scale push into Ukraine from multiple locations if President Vladimir Putin decided to invade, according to people familiar with the conversations. That intelligence has been conveyed to some NATO members over the past week to back up U.S. concerns about Putin’s possible intentions and an increasingly frantic diplomatic effort to deter him from any incursion, with European leaders engaging directly with the…

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RUSSIA PREPARING TO ATTACK UKRAINE BY LATE JANUARY: UKRAINE DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY CHIEF

Russia has more than 92,000 troops amassed around Ukraine’s borders and is preparing for an attack by the end of January or beginning of February, the head of Ukraine’s defense intelligence agency told Military Times. Such an attack would likely involve airstrikes, artillery and armor attacks followed by airborne assaults in the east, amphibious assaults in Odessa and Mariupul and a smaller incursion through neighboring Belarus, Ukraine Brig. Gen. Kyrylo Budanov told Military Times Saturday morning in an exclusive interview. Russia’s large-scale Zapad 21 military exercise earlier this year proved, for instance, that they can drop upwards of 3,500 airborne and special operations troops at once, he said. The attack Russia is preparing, said Budanov, would be…

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UWC TAKES RUSSIA TO THE EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The Registry of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has accepted for consideration the application of the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) on violations by the Russian Federation (RF) of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. These violations result from the decision on July 11, 2019, by the Office of the Prosecutor General of the RF declaring the activities of the UWC as undesirable on the territory of the RF. The UWC challenged this decision in all judicial instances available to it in the RF; however, its claims were denied. On August 26, 2021, the UWC sent an…

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DAY OF DIGNITY AND FREEDOM

Today, the people of Ukraine and Ukrainians all over the world mark the Day of Dignity and Freedom. On November 21, 2013, the Ukrainian people rose up to defend their right to choose their own common destiny and their right to freedom and democracy. In response to the Yanukovych regime’s refusal to sign the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, the Ukrainian people took to the streets in protest. On the night of November 29-30, at Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square) in Kyiv, the regime responded with violence. Yanukovych’s security forces attacked and savagely beat student demonstrators. The next day, hundreds of demonstrators were joined by millions. In Kyiv, and cities and towns across the country, the Ukrainian people demanded that…

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THIRTY EX-KYIV POST JOURNALISTS TO LAUNCH OWN MEDIA OUTLET

The fired team of Kyiv Post, which was abruptly shut down last week by its owner Adnan Kivan, is going to launch a new media outlet with the “values and spirit” of Ukraine’s largest and oldest English-language newspaper. They informed on their Facebook page Save the Kyiv Post: “A week ago, the Kyiv Post as we know it ceased to exist. The good news is that we continue to carry on its values and spirit. We are now moving to launch a new media outlet with 30 ex-Kyiv Post employees onboard to continue its legacy.” Olga Rudenko, the former deputy chief editor at the Kyiv Post, will be the new Editor-in-chief, the announcement said. Kyiv Post was previously headed by Brian Bonner, who expressed a desire to…

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EU SANCTIONS RUSSIA’S WAGNER GROUP TO THWART PRIVATE MILITARY MERCENARIES WITH SUSPECTED KREMLIN TIES

European Union foreign ministers agreed to impose sanctions on Russian mercenary company Wagner Group, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Monday, as European diplomats warned that the company poses a growing threat to EU interests. The preliminary agreement came after France said repeatedly over recent weeks that Mali’s government appeared close to inviting Wagner into the country, where France has thousands of troops and the EU offers significant assistance. Washington and some EU countries accuse Wagner Group of being a proxy force for Russia’s Defense Ministry. The Kremlin has denied any formal connections with the group. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said…

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PUTIN’S WAGNER

Russia’s undeclared “War against Europe” includes weaponization of its energy market and of illegal migration at the Polish-Belarusian border, but much much more. The war extends to Europe’s former colonies: Last month, American and French governments condemned the nation of Mali for hiring the Wagner Group, an organization named after Hitler’s favorite composer. But the Wagner Group is not an orchestra. It’s a private armed force that employs thousands of Russian mercenaries to wage war or simply to stir up trouble around the world. Such soldiers of fortune have been around throughout history, but Wagner is unique. It has grown in just…

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THE U.S. IS WARNING RUSSIA ON UKRAINE. SO FAR, THE MESSAGE ISN’T GETTING THROUGH.

The guns of November are locked and loaded, as Russia continues to defy U.S. and European pressure to withdraw its troops from the volatile Ukraine border. The tense Ukraine standoff is a case study in diplomatic signaling that, thus far, hasn’t worked. For weeks, senior U.S. and European officials have warned Russian President Vladimir Putin to pull back what looks ominously like an invasion force — or face harsh consequences from a U.S.-led coalition. The warning message hasn’t connected. Instead, Putin seems to be relishing the West’s anxiety. He claimed Thursday that the United States and its allies were…

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ПОМЕР НАЙТИТУЛОВАНІШИЙ УКРАЇНЕЦЬ-ГЕНЕРАЛ, ЯКИЙ ДОКОРІННО ЗМІНИВ АРМІЮ США

Найближчими днями у West Point – The U.S. Military Academy відбудеться похорон українця Миколи Кравціва — генерал-майора Армії США, який народився у Львові і виростав в Пласті. Своїми ідеями та новаторством від докорінно реформував американське військо, яке ніяк не могло оговтатись після війни у В’єтнамі. Він був єдиним українцем, якого у 100-річчя Статуї Свободи в Ню-Йорку особисто відзначив мер міста медаллю Свободи…

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THE WORLD IS WORRIED PUTIN IS ABOUT TO INVADE UKRAINE. HERE’S WHY

President Vladimir Putin is being watched closely by experts and officials who fear Russia might be planning a military escalation with its neighbor Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Russian troops have reportedly gathered at the border with Ukraine, and experts fear Russia could be about to stage a repeat of its 2014 invasion and annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which prompted global outrage and sanctions on Moscow. “We all should be very worried, to be honest, I do share this assessment,” Michal Baranowski, director and senior fellow at the German Marshall Fund’s Warsaw Office, told CNBC when asked if Russia could be about to embark upon military action against Ukraine, describing Russia’s highly tense relationship with Ukraine as being a conflict “under the threshold of war.” “This assessment is shared by many here…

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