Category: Uncategorized

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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RUSSIA PLAYS THE ANTISEMITIC CARD IN UKRAINE

Russia’s rage at and frustration with Ukraine has become very clearly visible. On October 11, former president and current Deputy Chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, published an expletive-laden article aimed at Ukraine and at President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, describing his country as a vassal state of the US with whom it is impossible to negotiate. He accused the Ukrainian people of losing their identity (which for him and his colleagues is Russian) and described Zelenskyy as disgusting, corrupt, and faithless, having repudiated his (Jewish) identity to serve rabid nationalists. This, Medvedev continued, meant Ukraine’s head of state resembled a Jewish Sonderkommando, a reference to those incarcerated Jews forced on…

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БАБИН ЯР І ГОЛОДОМОР

Якщо ви шукаєте Бабин Яр в Інтернеті через Google або інші пошукові системи, ви знайдете, по суті, таку інформацію: за два дні після Йом Кипура, 29-30 вересня 1941 року, нацисти вбили майже 34 000 євреїв. Увечері на Йом Кіпур, вони наказали київським євреям зібрати свої речі та цінності та прийти наступного ранку о 8 ранку у визначене місце. Іх доставили у Бабин Яр, наказали роздягнутися, розстріляли та спостерігали, як їхні бездиханні тіла падають у яр. Це було перше масове вбивство євреїв під час Голокосту. Хоча ця цифра, безперечно, вражає і, відверто кажучи, майже…

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BABYN YAR AND HOLODOMOR

If you look up Babyn Yar on the Internet through Google or other search engines you will come away essentially with the following information: in two days following Yom Kippur, September 29-30, 1941, the Nazis murdered almost 34,000 Jews. On the evening of Yom Kippur, they advised the Jews of Kyiv to collect their belongings and valuables and come the following morning at 8 AM to a designated place. On the following two days, they brought them to a ravine named Babyn Yar, told them to strip, shot them and watched as their lifeless bodies fell into the ravine. It was the first mass murder of Jews in the Holocaust. While that number is certainly astonishing and…

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RUSSIA MUST BE STOPPED IN UKRAINE

Over the past few weeks, the West has increasingly seen aspects of the full potential force of Russian aggression. These include a menacing military build-up on the Ukrainian border, the weaponization of the energy market against Moldova and support for Belarus’s hybrid warfare, using migrants along its border with the European Union. The lack of clarity in Moscow’s intentions, and the Kremlin’s unwillingness to comply with international law and agreements, only exacerbate the situation. An expansion of the kinetic conflict in Ukraine may not be in the cards, but Russia has put most of the pieces in place should it choose to do so. Given the ever more…

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ЗАВДАННЯ: «ПРИДБАТИ БАГАТО РІЧЕВНОГО МАТЕРІАЛУ ДЛЯ ОРГАНІЗАТОРІВ ПРОТЕСТІВ ПРОТИ ГОЛОДУ»

Напередодні Дня пам’яті жертв голодоморів в Україні, який цьогоріч відзначається 27 листопада, Служба зовнішньої розвідки України публікує низку матеріалів із архівних фондів про те, як українські емігрантські організації створювали комітети допомоги голодуючим, як представники розвідувальних структур УНР і ОУН добували інформацію про голод в Україні, збирали докази злочинів сталінського режиму, виготовляли листівки та іншу пропагандистську літературу, яку нелегально переправляли до УСРР, намагалися донести світові правду про стан справ на батьківщині і як…

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CANADA AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MUST DETER FURTHER RUSSIAN AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) calls on the Government of Canada and the international community to take decisive steps in response to Russia’s escalation of aggression against Ukraine and increased Russian military movement near Ukraine’s borders. These military movements have been coupled with mistreatment and victimization of migrants by the Russian client regime in Belarus, and the purposeful destabilization of security at the EU’s border with Belarus. “For eight years Russia has waged a war of aggression against Ukraine, and is now again signalling a further invasion of sovereign…

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NATO CHIEF SIGNALS SUPPORT TO UKRAINE AMID RUSSIAN TROOP BUILDUP

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has assured Ukraine of the alliance’s backing amid what he called an “unusual concentration” of Russian forces in the area. Speaking at a press conference Nov. 15 in Brussels with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, Stoltenberg said NATO members would continue to provide “significant political and practical support,” including military training, to Ukraine as the standoff continues. Ukrainian officials fear the current military context could foreshadow a repeat of Russian moves that led to Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. NATO and the…

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BIDEN'S DEMOCRACY SUMMIT MUST FOCUS ON RUSSIA

If President Joe Biden’s virtual Summit for Democracy on Dec. 9-10 is to be a serious endeavor, then it needs to spotlight the threat from Russia. Moscow methodically undermines democratic development by attacking the independence of its neighbors and subverting the United States and its allies. Current Kremlin offensives threaten to seize more Ukrainian territory, manufacture conflict between Poland and Belarus over the refugee standoff, and encourage conflict between Serbia and its neighbors in the Balkans. For democracy to prevail, each state’s national security and independence must be assured by directly challenging the foundations of the Putinist autocracy. A passive U.S. democracy policy with noble phrases and…

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THE GATHERING STORM

December 8 marks the 30th anniversary of the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics – an event that Vladimir Putin believes was the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century”. The Soviet empire controlled one-sixth of the world’s landmass but disintegrated after being humiliated in Afghanistan in 1989. This defeat led to unrest at home and most significantly an outright unilateral declaration of independence by its key “colony” Ukraine on August 24, 1991. A month later, the Baltic States seceded, and on December 8, 1991, President Boris Yeltsin formally dissolved the 15-member USSR. Russia’s European satellite states turned to…

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NORD STREAM 2: GERMANY HALTS APPROVAL OF RUSSIAN GAS LINK

The BBC reported, “Germany’s energy regulator has suspended the approval process for the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany. It said the pipeline’s operating company needed to be compliant with German law before it would certify the €10bn (£8.4bn) project. The decision sent UK and mainland Europe wholesale gas prices, already under pressure, to three-week highs. Critics fear the pipeline will increase Europe’s energy dependence on Russia. Russia’s state-owned Gazprom said the pipeline was ready in September, but it has been beset by delays. Running under the Baltic Sea, Nord Stream 2 will double Moscow’s gas exports to Germany, but it will also circumvent Ukraine, which relies on…

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RUSSIA’S ‘IRREGULAR WAR’ AGAINST NATO’S EASTERN FLANK MUST BE CONFRONTED

If you believe you are engaged in strategic competition while your adversary is engaged in a war against you, for all practical purposes you have already lost. This adage could well be applied to NATO as its leaders stare at the unfolding crisis along the alliance’s eastern border, with thousands of migrants from the Middle East and Central Asia herded by the Belarusian government and pushed to force their way into Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. This crisis has been building for weeks now. Precious little attention was paid to it in Western media initially, perhaps because it was happening somewhere “out there” on the borders – to paraphrase a…

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ЯК ПРАЦЮЄ АНТИКОВІДНИЙ РУХ В УКРАЇНІ

Ще рік тому Сергій-Родослав Мікітен просто очолював ГО “Ведичний світ” та читав лекції про те, як досягати своїх цілей. Сам він себе називає спортсменом, журналістом-розслідувачем та правозахисником. Сергій часто брав участь у мітингах проти продажу землі та за несплату комунальних платежів. Публікував у себе в Facebook відео Шарія та матеріали онлайн-медіа Страна.ua. Не оминув плівки Деркача та інтерв’ю Давида Жванії про Майдан, на якому “людей використовували, як масовку для захоплення влади”. Проте з квітня 2020-го його риторика у Facebook змінилась. Тепер це…

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В РИМІ ВСТАНОВЛЕНО ПАМ’ЯТНУ ДОШКУ

14 листопада в папській базиліці Санта Марія Маджоре в Римі відбулося відкриття та освячення пам’ятної дошки українською мовою святим Кирилові та Методієві, творцям слов’янської писемності. Символ вдячності українського народу освятили Блаженніший Святослав, Глава і Отець УГКЦ, та кардинал Станіслав Рилько, настоятель базиліки. Захід розпочався Молебнем до Пресвятої Богородиці в головній каплиці базиліки, де зберігається чудотворна ікона «Salus Populi Romani» («Спасіння римського народу»). Перед початком богослужіння присутніх привітав кардинал Рилько, котрий у своєму слові наголосив на «історичному значенні події встановлення…

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UKRAINE WARNED OF ‘HIGH PROBABILITY’ OF RUSSIAN MILITARY ESCALATION THIS WINTER

Western intelligence suggests a “high probability of destabilisation” of Ukraine by Russia as soon as this winter after Moscow massed more than 90,000 troops at its border, according to Kyiv’s deputy defence minister. Hanna Maliar told the FT at the weekend that while interpretations of western intelligence “need further discussion”, they underlined “the high probability of escalation of the situation”. When asked if the risk of a Russian military aggression was higher than during the past years, she said: “Information of our [military intelligence services] coincides with the information of..

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IS RUSSIA ABOUT TO MAKE A 'SERIOUS MISTAKE' IN UKRAINE?

Russian military shifts and stinging Kremlin criticisms of Ukraine are raising questions about Moscow’s aims. In 2014, Russia’s seizure and annexation of Crimea and invasion of eastern Ukraine led to a strong Western response – a jump in military aid to Ukraine, a NATO buildup on its eastern flank, and unprecedented sanctions. What could be in store now? There are multiple reasons to be wary. On Nov. 1, POLITICO said satellite images showed a “buildup of armored units, tanks and self-propelled artillery” in Russia near Belarus, and a relocation of tanks from near Moscow to Ukraine’s border. President…

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WHY RUSSIA IS PUSHING FOR A NEW ROUND OF AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE

A new wave of destabilization is looming over Ukraine, the one involving internal turbulence in all areas, provoked by outside forces. Today, the Ukrainian public is concerned over the latest reports of Russia’s unusual military activity near the border with Ukraine, while experts are trying to provide more or less adequate assessments of such actions on the part of the Kremlin and answer the question: “Will Vladimir Putin dare to openly invade?” To address this question, we need to find out, why the escalation is unfolding precisely now. After all, late last year, we all saw certain progress in terms of the promotion of peace initiatives put forward by President Volodymyr Zelensky and discussed the main result, which is saving human lives. So what went wrong? Until recently, the key issue for Russia and…

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HOW NATO CAN HELP UKRAINE DETER RUSSIAN AGGRESSION

Seven years after illegally annexing Crimea and launching a semi-covert proxy war in eastern Ukraine, Russia continues to hold Ukraine’s security hostage. Although Ukraine’s armed forces have held the line in occupied Donbas despite incessant Russian shelling and sniper attacks, deterrence has become increasingly tenuous during 2021. Since the spring, President Vladimir Putin has maintained 100,000 or more troops along Ukraine’s borders and in occupied Crimea, while the Russian navy has been aggressively challenging freedom of navigation in the Black and Azov Seas. Russia now also deploys significant ground forces in Belarus along Ukraine’s previously quiet northern border, as the…

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RUSSIA MOVES TO DISSOLVE MEMORIAL NGOS THAT DEFEND POLITICAL PRISONERS AND EXPOSE RUSSIAN AGGRESSION AGAINST UKRAINE

Russia has taken legal steps to get both the International Memorial Society and the Memorial Human Rights Centre forcibly dissolved. In both cases, alleged infringements of the notorious ‘foreign agents’ law are cited as the pretext, however the two organizations, which play a vital role in monitoring political and religious persecution in Russia and occupied Crimea, have long faced different forms of attack. The original reports, perhaps deliberately, only pertained to the International Memorial Society. This is one of Russia’s oldest NGOs and played an inestimable role in uncovering the crimes of the Soviet regime and information about victims of Stalin’s Terror. There are branches throughout the Russian Federation, as well as organizations like the Memorial Human Rights Centre, which are linked, but are…

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RUSSIAN TROOP MOVEMENTS SHOW WIDER CONFLICT IS POSSIBLE, TOP UKRAINE OFFICIAL SAYS

Ukrainian officials told Military Times that the gathering of Russian forces, tanks and short-range ballistic missile systems near the two countries’ border could offer the Russians an easy way to escalate an ongoing conflict. While U.S. military leaders remain reluctant to discuss the massing of Russian forces, Ukrainian officials were more direct. “All available information indicates that the armed forces of Russia permanently sustain a powerful offensive grouping around Ukraine,” Roman Mashovets, deputy head of Ukraine’s Office of the President for national security and defense, told Military Times on Wednesday. During the second half of 2021, Russian forces “conducted a set of large-scale command and staff exercises nearby the Ukrainian border,” Mashovets said. But after the completion of the exercises, “units and…

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VLAD’S EURO WAR

Today is Remembrance Day to commemorate the ending of the First World War, but let’s not forget that Russia has been at war with Europe for seven years, even though few choose to acknowledge that fact. Vladimir Putin’s strategy has been to conduct “hybrid wars” as well as “hot wars” to undermine the European Union (EU) and the sovereignty of all former Soviet satellite nations and republics. His agents and oligarchs operate in the shadows of Euro politics. They own luxury real estate, sports teams, newspapers, peerages, and politicians. They meddle in elections in support of anti-EU populists like France’s Marine Le Pen or Britain’s “Leave” side that pulled off Brexit. They have established a beachhead in Britain’s capital, otherwise known as Londongrad. They create dissension, divide societies and occasionally…

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RUSSIA IS BIDEN’S NEXT FOREIGN-POLICY TEST

While President Biden has been distracted by a climate-change conference and sagging approval at home, President Vladimir Putin is building up Russian forces along the Ukrainian border. The Biden administration must respond to this provocation and do what President Obama didn’t—deter Russian aggression against its Western neighbor—before it’s too late. Russia’s war against Ukraine started in 2014, when Russian forces invaded, seized the Crimean Peninsula, and occupied the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. Since then, Russian forces have carried out sporadic attacks against the Ukrainian military—using artillery barrages, drone strikes and…

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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

The following is the text of the U.S.-Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership signed by U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in Washington, D.C. on November 10, 2021. Preamble The United States and Ukraine: Reaffirm the importance of our relationship as friends and strategic partners, based both on our shared values and common interests, including a commitment to a Europe that is whole, free, democratic, and at peace. Reiterate that the strategic partnership existing between our two nations is critical for the security of Ukraine and Europe as a whole. Underscore that our partnership is founded on…

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BLINKEN MEETS UKRAINE OFFICIAL, WARNS RUSSIA ON NATGAS SUPPLIES

The United States is watching for signs that Russia may be using energy as a political tool in Europe’s energy crunch, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday, adding that Washington was committed to take appropriate action, along with Germany, if Moscow were to take that path. Blinken and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba met at the State Department and signed a charter on a strategic partnership. Discussions focused on Ukraine’s neighbor, Russia, which Kuleba said was already using gas supplies as a weapon. Blinken said Washington was also concerned by reports of “unusual Russian military activity” near Russia’s border…

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BLINKEN WARNS PUTIN NOT TO ATTACK UKRAINE AS RUSSIA SENDS BOMBERS AMID BELARUS BORDER CRISIS

“We don’t have clarity into Moscow’s intentions, but we do know its playbook,” Blinken said Wednesday. “And our concern is that Russia may make the serious mistake of attempting to rehash what it undertook back in 2014, when it amassed forces along the border, crossed into sovereign Ukrainian territory, and did so claiming, falsely, that it was provoked.” Blinken issued that warning alongside Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, whom he hosted to jump-start the strategic dialogue derailed by the political interference controversy that led to former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment. President Joe Biden’s team has tried to stabilize U.S. relationships in Europe while prioritizing the intensifying rivalry with China, but Kuleba cautioned that Russia is playing “a very complicated game” that…

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CLOSING IN

As I close in on my seventieth birthday, I consider myself increasingly more introspective. I have been actively involved in the Ukrainian American community most of my life and have often wondered why so few of my eighth-grade classmates have been involved as I who attended St. George Ukrainian Catholic School which should have been a breeding ground for Ukrainian American community activists. But not so. Frankly of 120 classmates only a handful have come close to being community oriented. A recent bizarre and silly experience gave me reason to consider this question again. I was intent on contributing some of my greatly appreciated stock to a Ukrainian American foundation. I was advised that…

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РОЗДУМИ

Наближаючись до свого сімдесятиріччя, я вважаю себе все більш інтроспективним. Я активно займався українсько-американською громадою більшу частину свого життя і часто дивувався, чому так тільки декілька моїх однокласників з восьмого класу були залучені, оскільки я відвідував українсько-католицьку школу св. Юра, яка мала стати розсадником українсько-американських громадських активістів. Але не так. Чесно кажучи, із 120 однокласників лише небагато наблизилися до того, щоб бути орієнтованими на громаду. Недавній химерний і безглуздий досвід дав мені привід знову задуматися над цим питанням. Я мав намір внести частину моїх цінних акцій до українсько-американської фундації. Мені відповіли, що ця Фундація не має ємності для такого внеску..

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GERMANY: THE WEAK LINK IN THE TRANSATLANTIC COMMUNITY?

Germany should be a leader in countering the destabilization efforts of China and Russia. Yet the new German government could end up being the weak link in the transatlantic community. And, unfortunately, President Biden thus far looks more like an enabler for the downfall of dependable German leadership. The U.S. needs to be more than “back.” Not everything can be resolved in quick trips to Berlin, Paris, and Brussels. Washington must double down on strengthening bilateral relationships across Europe that can preserve a strong Atlantic community. Paris, as it is wont to do, has lately resumed its push for European “strategic autonomy,” particularly for…

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DE-OLIGARCHIZATION OF UKRAINE IS PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY’S TOP PRIORITY

The US-Ukraine Strategic Partnership Commission meets on November 9-10 in Washington. Established during the meeting of presidents Biden and Zelenskyy in September 2021, the Commission will ensure the bilateral US-Ukrainian relationship remains strong and that the US continues to support Ukraine as it works to fulfill its reform promise. One item that will not formally be a focus during this week’s meeting, but which is of critical joint US-Ukrainian interest, is President Zelenskyy’s de-oligarchization agenda. Broad-based reform efforts will only be successful in Ukraine if they are accompanied by a comprehensive de-oligarchization drive. For years…

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UKRAINE SEIZES ALLEGED 'CHIEF BUTCHER' FROM NOTORIOUS IZOLYATSIA ‘CONCENTRATION CAMP’ IN RUSSIAN-OCCUPIED DONETSK

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) reported, “According to Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), the alleged head (or head ‘guard’) of the notorious Izolyatsia secret prison in occupied Donetsk was detained in the early hours of 9 November. The man was identified as Denis Kulikovsky, or ‘Palych’, by Stanislav Aseyev, Ukrainian writer and former Izolyatsia hostage, who has written in detail about both Palych and the forms of torture used against both men and women held prisoner at Izolyatsia. Aseyev referred to Kulikovsky as ‘the chief war criminal of Izolyatsia,’ adding, ‘I can now say that my life has not been lived in vain.’ The SBU did…

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UKRAINIAN LANGUAGE SLOWLY YET STEADILY DISPLACES RUSSIAN IN UKRAINE

Each year on 9 November Ukrainians hold the radio dictation of national unity. Media broadcast how a Ukrainian writer reads aloud selected difficult text in Ukrainian. People write it down and can submit for grammar check. Although symbolical participation, not competition is the main for this event, those who make zero mistakes can win prizes. This year the event was conducted by famous Ukrainian writer Yuriy Andrukhovych. Editor’s Note: On 9 November, Ukrainians celebrate the day of Ukrainian language and writing. It is celebrated since 1997, symbolically, on the day of Nestor the Chronicler, author of the most known chronicle of the…

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UCC STATEMENT ON END OF INDEPENDENT KYIV POST NEWSPAPER

The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) is concerned by the recent wholesale dismissal of Kyiv Post staff, signaling the effective closure of the independent Ukrainian newspaper. The announcement was made in a November 8 statement published by recently dismissed Kyiv Post staff. The statement reads, in part: We consider the cessation of publication and the dismissal of the paper’s staff to be an act of vengeance by Adnan Kivan. He has officially announced plans to ‘reorganize’ the Kyiv Post and to restart operations in a month with a new team. We see this as the owner getting rid of inconvenient, fair and honest journalists. […] We have exemplified high…

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ПОКЕРНИЙ СТІЛ РОСІЙСЬКО-УКРАЇНСЬКОЇ ВІЙНИ: ЧИ СПАСУЄ ЄВРОПА?

Курс на дестабілізацію Європи був обраний Кремлем далеко не вчора, і загроза з боку РФ з кожним роком лише зростає. Активізація НАТО на Східних кордонах з одного боку є позитивом у демонстрації власних спроможностей. Але з іншого – виклик Росією продемонстрував крихкість демократичної системи “країн-ланок” НАТО на прикладах таких країн, як Угорщина. У будь-якому разі, навіть сукупний ВПК країн Східної Європи не може зрівнятись з російським, що зараз на підйомі. Ще один факт – усі ці країни поступаються за військовими показниками Україні, і це навіть без урахування фактору унікального бойового досвіду, набутого за понад 7 років війни. Отже, єдиною…

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RUSSIA KEEPS GRIP ON EUROPE’S GAS MARKET DESPITE PUTIN’S PLEDGE

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised Europe more gas starting on Monday. So far, there are no signs the continent will get any relief. German gas orders via a key Russian pipeline signaled a very small increase in shipments on Monday, while no extra capacity to send additional supplies to Europe was booked in auctions on Sunday. That’s a disappointment for traders who had been counting on Gazprom PJSC to follow Putin’s orders to ease the continent’s supply crunch. Natural gas prices have more than tripled this year as Europe started the heating season with the lowest inventories in more than a decade. Russia had been keeping supplies capped, but traders were…

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U.S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS

U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, last week led Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in introducing an amendment to the FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act to stop the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline project. The amendment imposes mandatory sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG, the Kremlin-owned company in charge of Putin’s malign pipeline project. “For the third year in a row, a bipartisan majority in Congress has acted to stop the malign NS2 project. Since the Biden Administration refused to impose mandatory congressional sanctions on NS2 earlier this year, Russia has cut gas transit through Ukraine and amassed troops and military equipment on the…

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ПУТІНСЬКА ГАЗОВА ТАКТИКА

Німеччина, підтримуючи прокладення газопроводу через Східне море, потрапила в край невигідну позицію. Росія тепер використовує цю ситуацію. Німеччина змушена протидіяти – і здатна до такої дії. Такий висновок робить німецький журналіст Штефан Корнеліюс у мюнхенській газеті «Зюддойче цайтунг» від 9 листопада ц.р. Пропонуємо вашій увазі його – (тривожний і турботливий ) політичний коментар в українському перекладі. – Редакція. Як правило, проблеми не зменшуються, коли їх відкладають на пізніше. Вони ростуть. Такий міжнародний досвід стосується також найбільшої геополітичної проблеми, яка докучає…

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FRANCE AND GERMANY SEEM TO FORGET WHO’S BEHIND RUSSIA’S WAR ON UKRAINE

After witnessing nearly eight years of the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine, one would think the international community would be clear-eyed about what kind of a war is being waged in the Donbas region and who is responsible for it. France and Germany’s recent strange attempts at whataboutism, spurred by a Ukrainian drone strike last week, unfairly let Moscow off the hook for the conflict it keeps alive and kicking. For years now, the Kremlin has been waging a hybrid war against the United States and its partners — ranging from election interference and assassinating dissidents living in the West to fueling secessionist movements and the recent energy crisis in Europe. Russia’s war on Ukraine is the spearpoint of this campaign, and Washington’s efforts to counteract Moscow will be seriously weakened if its partners aren’t on…

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IRONY

he irony here is that Ukraine which cares little for its own citizens and not at all for the Ukrainians residing abroad now faces yet another challenge. The Polish government will soon challenge Ukraine’s treatment of Poles in Ukraine. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is very different than Ukraine’s ministry of similar name and duty. It recently brought to the attention of a special committee on Poles abroad at the Polish parliament the alleged plight of Poles in Ukraine. The irony is palpable because Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will have to respond, not a novel circumstance but completely foreign to its own actions. Ukraine does not pay attention to the more unfortunate Ukrainians abroad. Surely, it welcomes one fourth of its state budget from Ukrainian laborers outside Ukraine helping their families by…

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CIA DIRECTOR DISPATCHED TO MOSCOW TO WARN RUSSIA OVER TROOP BUILDUP NEAR UKRAINE

President Joe Biden dispatched CIA Director Bill Burns to Moscow earlier this week to warn the Kremlin that the US is watching its buildup of troops near Ukraine’s border closely, and to attempt to determine what is motivating Russia’s actions. The rare trip by Burns to Russia, where he held talks with senior Kremlin security officials directly involved in the military activity, came as the US has grown increasingly concerned by Russia’s irregular movement of troops and equipment near Ukraine’s northern border, according to multiple US and Ukrainian sources briefed on the meeting. The Biden administration has ramped up its efforts in recent days to de-escalate growing tensions between…

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ІРОНІЯ

Іронія полягає в тому, що Україна, яка мало піклується про своїх громадян і зовсім не піклується про українців, які проживають за кордоном, тепер стикається з черговим викликом. Польський уряд незабаром оскаржуватиме ставлення України до поляків в Україні. Міністерство закордонних справ Польщі дуже відрізняється від міністерства України з аналогічною назвою та обов’язком. Нещодавно він привернув увагу спеціальної комісії з питань поляків за кордоном при польському парламенті про нібито тяжке становище поляків в Україні. Іронія відчутна, тому що Міністерству закордонних справ України доведеться реагувати, що не є новою обставиною, а абсолютно чужою для його власних дій. Україна не звертає уваги на…

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RUSSIAN MILITARY MANEUVERS NEAR UKRAINE ‘UNUSUAL,’ US WARNS

Satellite images released by Maxar Technologies and taken on Nov. 1, 2021, show tanks, armored personnel carriers and support equipment amid the presence of a large ground forces deployment on the northern edge of the town of Yelnya, Smolensk Oblast, Russia. The United States is keeping a close watch on Russian troop movements near the country’s border with Ukraine, describing the activity as “unusual.” “We continue to monitor this closely,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters Friday, while calling on Moscow to publicly explain its intentions. “Without getting into greater detail right now, I think it’s really a matter of scale. It’s a matter of the size of the…

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ПОРУШЕННЯ ПРАВ ЛІДІЇ КОВАЛІВ-ДЕМАЙ З ЄКАТЕРИНБУРГУ

Гадаємо, немає необхідності представляти вам Лідію Ковалів (Демай) з Єкатеринбургу – одну з найактивніших на сьогодні діячок української діаспори в Росії, голову «Спілки українок Уралу», а також дописувачку сайту «Кобза – українці Росії». За ініціативою або безпосередньою участю цієї уродженки Львова, зокрема, тільки в цьому році, в умовах шаленої антиукраїнської риторики в РФ в Єкатеринбурзі були проведені свято «Щедрий вечір – Новий рік», святкування 30-річчя Незалежності України, а кількома місяцями раніше онлайн-фестиваль «Українська осінь на Уралі», до якого залучилися українці не тільки з Росії, а й з України та Казахстану. Така активність, вочевидь, і не…

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UKRAINE MPS FIGHT BACK AGAINST FAKE COVID VACCINATION CERTIFICATES

In recent months, Ukraine has experienced some of the world’s highest infection and death rates from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this rapidly deteriorating healthcare situation, Ukraine also has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Europe with only around 18% of the population fully vaccinated. A range of different Covid vaccines are currently available in Ukraine, but efforts to vaccinate the country have run into resistance from a strong anti-vaccination movement. This anti-vaccination sentiment reflects traditional Ukrainian distrust of authority rooted in decades of negative experience during the Soviet era. Alarmingly, the…

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WHAT WILL END RUSSIA’S FOREVER WAR IN UKRAINE?

Seven years after Russia’s occupation of eastern Ukraine, the West’s hopes for peace are ostentatiously ignored by Vladimir Putin. The eastern regions of Ukraine remain a warzone; Russia’s forces pepper Ukrainian lines with 120mm and 82mm mortars, small-arms fire, and light and heavy anti-tank grenades. Ukraine’s armed forces respond. Ukrainian servicemen continue to die (most recently on November 2), as the ceasefire and de-escalation agreements about the withdrawal of heavy weaponry are routinely ignored. On October 20, the Organization for the Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) announced that 22 tanks and 48 armored vehicles had been deployed inside the…

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UKRAINE INCHING CLOSER TO LAUNCH DIGITAL E-HRYVNIA

As the world’s economies are becoming tech-powered, banks realize that the future of money will be increasingly digital. To crack into this field, governments worldwide are mulling the launch of digital money backed and issued by state banks. Central bank digital currency, CBDC, is a virtual form of the country’s national currency represented by a digital code and held in a digital wallet. The electronic hryvnia might have many advantages, experts said. It promises faster and cheaper money transfers while reducing fraud and money laundering because digital payments are easier to identify and trace online, experts added. But the transparency of state-backed digital currency also raises privacy concerns as the state can record every hryvnia that citizens spend. The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) would also…

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WEAPONS TRACING STUDY IMPLICATES RUSSIA IN UKRAINE CONFLICT

A study of weapons and ammunition used in the war in Ukraine shows that Russia has been systematically fanning the conflict with arms shipments, according to a new report funded by the European Union and the German government. The study is hardly the first to reach this conclusion: the United States and European countries have sanctioned Russia for years for arms transfers to separatist forces they say Moscow is supporting in Ukraine. But the study is one of the most comprehensive to date on the issue. While unlikely to change the overall picture, it offered a fine-grained view of illicit weapons transfers in Ukraine and illustrated the…

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UNFORTUNATE BUT INEVITABLE: MOLDOVA’S GAS SUPPLY AGREEMENT WITH THE KREMLIN AND GAZPROM

On October 29, Moscow and Chisinau agreed on a conditional resumption of Russian natural gas supplies to Moldova as of October 30. The Russian side had curtailed gas supplies to Moldova by one third in October, and threatened to discontinue the supplies altogether by December 1 (see EDM, October 28), compelling Moldova to accept Russia’s conditions for prolonging the multi-year contract. These conditions are designed to ensure Moldova’s continuing exclusive dependence on Gazprom. This, moreover, entails dependence on electricity generated in Transnistria with Gazprom’s gas nominally supplied (as heretofore) to Moldovagaz. Breaking out of…

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ZELENSKYY’S RECENT GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE SHOWS NO STRATEGY

The Kyiv Post reported, “President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s loyalist, Yulia Svyrydenko, was the last of four ministers appointed by parliament on Nov. 4. Svyrydenko, the ex-deputy head of the President’s Office, became the 51st minister appointed since Zelenskyy took full control of parliament, following his Servant of the People party’s landslide victory in the 2019 parliamentary election. Customs Head Pavlo Ryabkin was appointed minister of strategic industries, Zelenskyy’s party lawmaker Iryna Vereshchuk became the minister for the reintegration of occupied territories and ex-Vice Prime Minister Oleksii Reznikov will now serve as the minister of…

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PUTIN’S UKRAINE WAR: RUSSIAN MP RECALLS EFFORTS TO PUSH CIVIL WAR MYTH

“Russia’s foreign minister accused Ukrainian leaders on Monday of trying to drag Moscow into the conflict in eastern Ukraine, following an escalation in fighting between government forces and rebels in the breakaway region.” The above text reads like a masterclass in Kremlin disinformation, but in fact it was published by international news agency Reuters on November 1, 2021, more than seven-and-a-half years since the onset of Russian military aggression against Ukraine. In its introductory sentence of just 33 words, the Reuters report manages to validate the Big Lie underpinning Putin’s Ukraine War, namely that the conflict is an exclusively Ukrainian internal affair and…

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БІДНА УКРАЇНСЬКА НАУКА

Відомий вчений філолог і літератор Юрій Шерех в одній статті про повість Юрія Косача закінчив такими словами, «пізніша поведнка письменника, якби до неї не ставитись. Не міняє оцінки його попередніх творів.» У мене замало знання про Юрія Косача. Знаю тільки що говорили мені старші друзі і батьки, що це більшовицький агент Про Юрія Шереха я дуже високої думки, навіть з особистих зустрічей а тим більше з його творчості. До речі він був кровним німцем але став найбільшим мабуть українським філологом. Тут одначе не можна стовідсотково годитися бо людина не змінюється на 180 відсотків. Просто треба брати під увагу цілий хід життєвий людини при оцінці її творчості. При цьому я хотів…

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BLACK SEA SECURITY: REVIVING US POLICY TOWARD THE REGION

Why the Black Sea region matters to the United States “Security and stability of the Black Sea are in the U.S. national interest and are critical to the security of NATO’s Eastern Flank…Russia’s destabilizing activities in and around the Black Sea reflect its ambitions to regain a dominant position in the region and to prevent the realization of a Europe that is whole, free, and at peace.” – US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.1 As Secretary of Defense Austin said on his recent trip to Romania, Georgia, and Ukraine, stability in the Black Sea region (BSR) is in the national security interest of the United States. The US cannot afford to neglect key…

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UKRAINE’S GOVERNMENT APPROVES DEAL WITH UK TO BUY WARSHIPS, NAVAL EQUIPMENT

The Kyiv Post reported, “Ukraine’s government approved a draft agreement with the United Kingdom on taking out a billion-dollar loan to build up the nation’s navy. In the making since late 2020, the deal envisages a 1.25 billion pound ($1.6 billion), 10-year loan provided to Kyiv for procuring from Britain a number of warships, both new and used, as well as anti-ship missiles and equipment for naval bases. The government decree was signed by Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Oct. 28. The vast effort titled Ukraine’s Naval Capabilities Enhancement Program (UNCEP) was launched in October 2020. Following a number of memorandums signed by the two governments, the U.K. is ready to build two brand new Protector P-5oU platform missile boats for Ukraine’s navy. Six more vessels of the class can be built in…

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SATELLITE IMAGES SHOW NEW RUSSIAN MILITARY BUILDUP NEAR UKRAINE

New commercial satellite photos taken on Monday confirm recent reports that Russia is once again massing troops and military equipment on the border with Ukraine after a major buildup this spring. The new images taken by Maxar Technologies and shared with POLITICO show a buildup of armored units, tanks and self-propelled artillery along with ground troops massing near the Russian town of Yelnya close to the border of Belarus. The units, which began moving in late September from other areas of Russia where they are normally based, include the elite 1st Guards Tank Army. Meanwhile, a new analysis by Jane’s on Monday reveals that equipment from Russia’s 4th Tank Division has been moved to areas around Bryansk and Kursk close to Ukraine’s northern border. The units are equipped with T-80U main battle…

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SENATORS BACK UKRAINE AGAINST RUSSIA FOLLOWING DRONE STRIKE

Russian President Vladimir Putin will provoke “sanctions from hell” if the frozen conflict in Ukraine turns hot, according to a prominent Republican. “I’m hoping that they understand that the Russian economy, as weak as it is, if they invade parts of Ukraine, it will get weaker,” South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham told the Washington Examiner. Graham, the top Republican on the Appropriations subcommittee that allocates State Department funding, issued that warning as tensions flare between Kyiv and Moscow. Ukrainian forces reportedly conducted an unprecedented drone strike against Russian-controlled artillery in eastern Ukraine, drawing renewed threats from Russia that coincided with reports of troop movements within western Russia that put Western officials on the watch for any ominous military buildup. France and…

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BAYRAKTAR DRONES IN DONBAS SKY

On 26 October, the Armed Forces of Ukraine used Turkish Bayraktar drones on the battlefield for the first time. After the positions of the 93rd brigade and the village of Hranitne, Volnovakha district, Donetsk region, had come under enemy howitzer fire, Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valery Zaluzhny ordered striking Russian 122mm howitzer positions with a drone, after which the shelling stopped. The German Federal Foreign Office expressed concern about the increase in the intensity of hostilities in eastern Ukraine, as well as the report by the Ukrainian Army’s General Staff that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had used a drone in response to artillery shelling, the killing of one soldier, and the wounding of another. Later, the same statement was made by the…

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КОМАНДУВАЧ ОС ОЛЕКСАНДР ПАВЛЮК: КОЛИ МИ ПОСТАВИМО НАШІ ПРАПОРИ НА КОРДОНІ – ЦЕ БУДЕ ПЕРЕМОГА

Він був командиром українських миротворчих військ у Косові (2006-2007). Саме там майбутній командувач ОС отримав перший досвід співпраці з підрозділами НАТО та помітив відчутну різницю у ставленні до особового складу. Учасник російсько-української війни. З 2017 по 2020 р. командував військами оперативного командування “Захід”. З 2020 року — командувач підготовки Командування Сухопутних військ ЗС України. 28 липня 2021 року призначений командувачем Об’єднаних сил. Ми продовжуємо серію інтерв’ю з представниками нової генерації українських військових, які вперше приймали присягу вже новітній Державі. Про російське озброєння у війні, протистояння гібридній агресії, допомогу Заходу, застосування “Байрактарів” та…

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UKRAINE GAS CHIEF URGES EUROPE TO RESIST RUSSIA PRESSURE ON NORD STREAM 2

Europe risks giving in to Russia if Germany approves the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as a condition for more gas supplies from Moscow, the head of Ukraine’s state energy company has said. Yuriy Vitrenko, chief executive of Naftogaz, said in an interview with the Financial Times that Russian president Vladimir Putin was using gas as a “geopolitical weapon” by insisting any extra supplies go via the $10bn pipeline, which bypasses Ukraine to supply Germany directly via the Baltic Sea. “If anyone has any doubts about it, then Putin is telling everyone to their face: ‘You allow NS2 to become operational or you won’t get any more gas’,” Vitrenko said. “He wants to reverse the clock and go back to the situation that…

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In July, President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed to reimpose sanctions if Vladimir Putin used gas as a “geopolitical weapon.” This agreement constituted a concession in return for Biden’s waiver of sanctions on Nord Stream 2, which allowed its completion. Merkel had already vouched for continued gas deliveries through Ukraine — a questionable pledge from a politician leaving office. Despite these Biden-Merkel assurances, Putin’s Kremlin has engaged in undisguised blackmail to render Europe hostage to Russia’s gas monopoly, Gazprom. Putin’s blackmail aims to force the speedy certification of Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline by delivering less gas to Europe. Putin’s ultimate goal: Destroy the European Union’s competitive and transparent energy market. Although Putin is using gas as…

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RUSSIAN TROOP MOVEMENTS NEAR UKRAINE BORDER PROMPT CONCERN IN U.S., EUROPE

The Washington Post reported, “A renewed buildup of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border has raised concern among some officials in the United States and Europe who are tracking what they consider irregular movements of equipment and personnel on Russia’s western flank. The officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to discuss the matter publicly, said the troop movements have reignited concerns that arose in April, when the largest buildup of troops by Russia near the Ukrainian border in years sparked an international outcry. The renewed movements of Russian forces in the area come as the Kremlin embraces a harder line on Ukraine. Russian officials from President Vladimir Putin on down have escalated their rhetoric in recent months, attacking Kyiv’s…

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WHEN WILL NON-OLIGARCHIC POLITICAL PARTIES FLOURISH IN UKRAINE?

Oligarchs are often regarded as the guardians of corruption within Ukraine’s political system. Over the years, they’ve entrenched themselves in nearly all aspects of the country’s economy and political life. Hopes for political renewal soared when new grassroots parties formed after the Euromaidan Revolution, yet most have now failed, while oligarchic political projects still persist in Ukraine. Why is this the case, and what needs to happen for the status quo to change? Ukraine’s current political and economic landscape formed under chaotic conditions after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when Ukraine rapidly transitioned from a planned economy into…

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U.S. AIR FORCE BOMBERS ARE REHEARSING THEIR NEW MAIN MISSION—SINKING RUSSIAN SHIPS

The U.S. Air Force’s 40-year-old B-1 bombers don’t have much time left. Worn out by the air campaigns over Iraq and Afghanistan, the B-1s are in line for replacement as the USAF’s new B-21 stealth bombers enter service over the next decade. But it’s clear what the B-1s will be doing in their final years—hauling stealthy anti-ship missiles to threaten enemy fleets. Dramatic exercises over the Black Sea in recent years have underscored the swing-wing bomber’s new maritime strike role. Four B-1s from the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base in Texas in early October deployed to the Royal Air Force base at Fairford. In the pre-dawn…

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PROJECT FACTS

The following contains researched material made available to the Ukrainian community to swiftly counter cases of defamation and calumny against Ukraine and Ukrainians. “Project FACTS” Backgrounder: Conflicting Disinformation The Ukrainian Resistance/Liberation Movement led by the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN) and the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) had been accused by both Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia of supporting the opposing side during World War II. FACTS: This conflicting disinformation that was promoted by Hitler’s and Stalin’s propaganda machines is reflected in countless documents of the time. To witness: Nazi accusation “Ukrainian people, take notice!…Moscow gives orders to the OUN! Moscow’s agents, who receive and carry out orders from bloodthirsty Stalin and…

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ТАМ І ТУТ

При одній недавній зустрічі з студентами Києво Могилянської Академії он лайн мене запитали про надання українським діяспорчанам подвійного громадянства. Я відповіві хіба не звичаєм представника діаспори, що я не бачу це важливою справою оскільки не розумію великої користі з такого для України чи для діаспори. Зрозуміло я свідомий що чимало представників діаспори, а зокрема провідних вважають це важливим питанням., правда при тому роблять різницю між діаспорами, мовляв тільки для діаспорчан котрі мають громадянство держав які дружать з Україною, але у жодному випадку не для тих хто мають громадянство держав агресорів проти України. Я пішов так далеко що висловився критично про представників діаспори які дуже сильно це пропихають, хоча…

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CONFUSION, DESTABILIZATION AND CHAOS: RUSSIA’S HYBRID WARFARE AGAINST CANADA AND ITS ALLIES

Operating in the shadows of the grey zone that lies between war and peace, Russia’s hybrid warfare aims to undermine targeted societies and democracies through a toxic mix of disinformation, cyber-attacks, transnational repression, economic pressure and the use of both regular and irregular military force. These operations are intended to support the Putin regime’s ultimate objectives: to erode Western alliances, re-consolidate Russia’s Soviet-era regional and global influence and remain in power as long as possible. The Russian government’s use of non-kinetic strategies and tactics to advance its interests and gain an advantage over its enemies is not…

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RUSSIA HAS LAUNCHED A CAMPAIGN IN UKRAINE AGAINST VACCINATION

According to the results of the analysis of the information field of the Telegram channels of Ukraine, the Center for Counteracting Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council confirmed the information operation of the Russian Federation aimed at reducing the level of vaccination and increasing the number of deaths in Ukraine. Source: report of the National Security and Defense Council. Details: The report demonstrates how media outlets, such as social media and messengers, spread reports of alleged negative effects of vaccination. Emphasis is placed on the allegedly popular Ukrainian political Telegram channels related to the Russian Federation. They promote destructive narratives through both publications and bots in comments to…

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EUROPE MUST DEFEND ITSELF AGAINST VLADIMIR PUTIN’S ENERGY WEAPON

Russia’s role in Europe’s current gas crisis should be a wake-up call for Europeans who prefer to downplay the threat posed by Vladimir Putin’s revisionist regime. As the reality of Russian energy blackmail becomes more difficult to deny, calls are now mounting for the European Union to reduce its reliance on Russia and reassess its relationship with Moscow. In an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on October 20, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned that the European Union was “vulnerable” as it currently imports 90 percent of its gas, much of it from Russia. “Europe today is too reliant on gas and too dependent on gas imports,” the Commission President stated in a thinly veiled reference to Russia. Meanwhile, in a widely quoted interview…

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UKRAINE HAS RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE: UKRAINE’S AMBASSADOR TO GERMANY RESPONDS TO BERLIN’S “CONCERNS” OVER DRONE USE

“The German government’s criticism of the Ukrainian Army related to the recent first-time use of a Bayraktar TB2 strike drone in Donbas has led to diplomatic tensions between Kyiv and Berlin. The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, firmly disagreed with Germany’s position on the issue in a comment to Bild. ‘The Ukrainian side firmly rejects today’s warning from the Foreign Office,’ Melnyk told the newspaper. Ukraine has ‘the legitimate right to self-defense if its territory is bombarded day and night with heavy Russian weapons and if civilians and soldiers are killed.’ For this reason, Ukraine for its part ‘calls on the German government, instead of expressing concern about the dramatic situation in the occupied territories, to redouble its efforts as a mediator in order to convene a Normandy Four…

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UKRAINE CONDUCTS AIRSTRIKE WITH BAYRAKTAR TB2 ARMED DRONE FOR FIRST TIME

Ukrainian Armed Forces have employed the Bayraktar TB2 armed drone for the first time in combat, Mil.in.ua reported Tuesday. Citing a report from volunteer Roman Donik, Mil.in.ua reported that Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 armed drones were used for the first time to destroy enemy artillery that fired on the village of Granitne, after which the Russian-backed separatists announced the alleged liberation by the Ukrainian Armed Forces of the village of Staromaryivka. The Bayraktar TB2 managed to find, track and destroy a 122mm D-30 howitzer south of occupied Boykivske (formerly called Telmanovo). The howitzer had been responsible for the attacks against the village of Granitne. Roman Donik noted that it was decided to use Ukrainian armed drones to strike from…

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DUTCH COURT: CRIMEAN TREASURES MUST BE SENT TO UKRAINE

An Amsterdam appeals court ruled Tuesday that a trove of historical treasures from Crimea that have been stored for years at a Dutch museum must be given to Ukraine, saying they are “part of the cultural heritage of the Ukrainian state.” The judgment, which can be appealed to the Dutch Supreme Court, upheld a lower court’s ruling and was the latest development in a protracted legal tug-of-war about the fate of the artifacts that stems from Russia’s annexation of Crimea. Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, a month after the Allard Pierson Museum opened the “Crimea — Gold and secrets of the Black Sea” exhibition, sparking a dispute over where the borrowed treasures should be returned to. The exhibits have been stored in Amsterdam pending resolution of the dispute. Nearly five…

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EUROPE MUST FACE UP TO THE CHILLING REALITY OF PUTIN’S ENERGY BLACKMAIL

As Europe watches in sheer disbelief while gas prices spiral out of control amid mounting suspicions of Russian energy blackmail, the Kremlin appears to have set its sights on two much-coveted geopolitical prizes. The first has been widely reported in the mainstream media and focuses on Moscow’s efforts to pressure EU officials into approving the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline by limiting supplies to Europe. Many of those who initially doubted the Kremlin’s intentions have since had second thoughts when president Vladimir Putin himself recently suggested his country could send 10% more gas to Europe once Nord Stream 2 is approved. The…

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UKRAINE SEEKS ROLE IN GERMAN CERTIFICATION OF PUTIN’S PIPELINE

Germany’s Federal Network Agency, BnetzA, announced on 8 September that Nord Stream 2 AG (NS2AG) had submitted a complete application for certification. This marked the starting date for the process to certify Vladimir Putin’s geopolitically sensitive pipeline project. According to the EU’s Gas Directive, BNetzA has four months from the receipt of a complete application to prepare a draft decision. Concurrently, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy has three months to provide its assessment to BNetzA on the impact of the NS2 pipeline on the security of supply to the market. A market assessment by the Ministry is expected by…

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EXCLUSIVE FRONT-LINE REPORT: MODERN TRENCH WARFARE IN EASTERN UKRAINE

The Ukrainian soldier warns me to speak no louder than a whisper. The enemy lines are less than 50 meters away, he tells me, and my voice — if too loud — can easily carry across no man’s land and invite gunfire from the other side. “We see each other, and we shoot at each other every day,” says the soldier, whose name is Mykhailo. “Everyone is afraid, we are afraid, and the Russians are afraid of us.” We’re standing at one end of a ruined factory on the outskirts of the city of Avdiivka in Ukraine’s eastern war zone. Ukrainian soldiers seized the building in a bloody 2017 battle that involved close-quarters combat. On this day in October, the war-ravaged structure…

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NOW EUROPE KNOWS WHAT RUSSIA’S “GAS BLACKMAIL” IS

Ukrinform reported, “This year, Europe has learned what the Russian policy is of ‘gas blackmail.’ That’s according to Lana Zerkal, an adviser to the Minister of Energy of Ukraine, who spoke in an interview with RFE/RL’s Ukrainian service. She stressed that the current situation in the gas market is ‘painful for everyone.’ In Europe, prices for the ‘energy basket,’ which includes coal, oil, and gas, have risen by 95%. So now everyone feels what it is. And this will even affect the UN summit, scheduled for later this month, which will be devoted to climate change. That’s because, even though everyone wants to achieve zero emissions by 2050, say, Britain is now returning to coal generation and mothballed stations are being reopened to ensure heating to residents,’ said Zerkal. According to the official, Ukraine has…

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RUSSIA FEARS COMPLICATE NATO’S NEW CHINA FOCUS

One of U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s top jobs at the NATO ministerial conference this week was to keep steering the 30-member alliance’s focus to China, but some Eastern European allies say the U.S.-China rivalry must not overshadow concerns about Russia. The two-day meeting between defense chiefs yielded new agreements on tech investments and policies, mirroring the Pentagon’s focus on technological competition with China. When asked by reporters about China, Austin made clear the U.S. sees NATO as its ace. “Regarding China, let me just say that alliances like NATO are one of our greatest strengths. No other country enjoys the…

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RUSSIA IN REVIEW: OCTOBER 7-21, 2021

The Kremlin advanced two key lines of effort to increase Russian influence globally at the 2021 Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) ministerial summit—leveraging international organizations and expanding Russian cyber capabilities and influence. The CICA is an inter-governmental forum of 27 Asian and Eurasian member states founded in 1992 to enhance cooperation and promote security and stability in Asia.[1] CICA held the 2021 iteration of its biannual conference in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, on October 12. Russian negotiators at CICA advanced the Kremlin’s campaign to develop a network of Russia-amenable international organizations. The Kremlin seeks to cultivate a network of coalitions and international organizations to amplify Russia’s limited power, diversify…

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JAILED RFE/RL JOURNALIST APPEALS TO BIDEN FOR HELP TO FREE MORE THAN 100 POLITICAL PRISONERS IN RUSSIAN-OCCUPIED CRIMEA

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported, “Imprisoned RFE/RL freelance correspondent Vladyslav Yesypenko has appealed to U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. lawmakers to do more to free the more than 100 political prisoners detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) over their activities in Crimea. Yesypenko, who has been in detention in Russian-occupied Crimea since March, made the appeal in a letter read publicly for the first time on October 21 at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington. ‘There can be no greater hell than being trapped in these four walls day after day, month after month, for half a year now, only allowed outside on command for a few breaths of fresh air and then back to your cell, helpless to change a thing,’ Yesypenko said. He called on Biden and…

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THE BATTLE FOR HISTORY AND BUILDING OF IDENTITY: FAKE NEWS CONFRONTS PROFESSIONAL NEWS

The expert community in the West does not seem critical enough towards the phenomenon of Russian imperialism. Here, one should mention the strong traditions of Russo/Soviet-philia, which are often based on dirty Russian money, an interest in the Byzantine tradition, love of Russian ballet, in particular the music of Ukrainian Petro Tchaikovskyi, Russian literature, in particular the works of Ukrainian Mykola Gogol, and approval of Putinism as a special civilizational path. The “battle for history” thesis (fundamental to the politics of memory) is unacceptable to professional historians because its subjective approach diverges from their prime task of…

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UKRAINIAN HELSINKI UNION AND RUKH

Gorbachev’s introduction of perestroika and glasnost were probably the two decisions that began, what I call, The Great Unwind, a description unlike the usual depiction of the end of the USSR as a sudden collapse. The end did not happen in a day, a week or even a month. I have often wondered if Gorbachev ever read Macbeth – The Witches Chant – Double, double, toil and trouble – the double, double of glasnost and perestroika did indeed lead to toil and trouble for Gorbachev, despite his best intentions. But while major policy decisions in Moscow were being made in the mid-1980s, most people throughout Soviet Ukraine at the time were neither fully aware…

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CENTURIES LATER, RUSSIA STILL CLAIMS UKRAINE’S CULTURAL, SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE

At first glance, there was nothing unusual about the September presentation of the logo for the 2023 Ice Hockey World Championship planned to be held in Russia. Several top officials of the Russian Ice Hockey Federation entered the stage a moment before the bright red curtain opened and the audience could see the new emblem for the first time. “The logo of the 2023 Championship was created as a tribute to the glorious Russian traditions in art and ice hockey,” the event’s host said. “It was inspired by the Russian avant-garde.” Except it wasn’t. The team used a fragment from the “Sportsmen” painting by Kazimir Malevich, the iconic Kyiv-born artist of Ukrainian and Polish origin. “A man who was born in Ukraine and had a vast amount of his…

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NOW IS THE MOMENT TO TRANSFORM UKRAINE

With the support of President Zelenskyy, Ukraine is on the verge of enacting a fundamental reform that has been thirty years in the making. Ukraine’s new judicial reform laws, which recently passed the Verkhovna Rada, have the potential not only to build a judiciary that is trusted by Ukrainians by holding corrupt judges to account, but also to reduce the influence of vested interests who use the current system to undermine rule of law in Ukraine for their own personal benefit. While passage of the laws was an enormous achievement, implementation of the actual reforms, including the “integrity checks” of judicial body members, must now take place. This is a daunting challenge that requires political courage and determination in the face of powerful opposition from vested interests. It is courage tha…

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RUSSIA’S NEIGHBORS HAVE MORE LEVERAGE THAN THEY THINK

If the Belarus opposition had won the Nobel Peace Prize, as some thought it might, anti-government protests could have again engulfed Minsk and heightened anti-Kremlin sentiments. This scenario underscores the complexities Russia faces in seeking to influence or dominate post-Soviet neighbors. Despite their three decades of independence, the Kremlin seems to view neighbors as less than fully sovereign. Talk of “red lines“ implies that Moscow may use force to seek to prevent neighbors from someday joining NATO or the European Union. The post-Cold War vision of Europe open, free, and at peace has been put in abeyance by Russia’s wars with…

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UKRAINE WELCOMES AUSTIN BUT CALLS FOR AIR DEFENSE AND VOCAL SUPPORT TO JOIN NATO

Laying a wreath for fallen Ukrainian soldiers in the ongoing war with Russia, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III in Kyiv on Oct. 19 voiced support for the 30-year-old democracy, but Ukraine security experts say the Biden administration naively falls short and leaves Ukraine open to Russian invasion. “I want to commend Ukraine’s brave men and women in uniform, who continue to stand up to defend our shared values and our core democratic principles,” Austin said at the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, where DOD officials have helped the largest democracy in Eastern Europe strengthen its military institutions and doctrine. “The United States calls on Russia to end its occupation of Crimea, to stop perpetuating the war in eastern Ukraine, to end its destabilizing activities in the Black Sea and…

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BRITAIN IN TALKS WITH UKRAINE TO SELL MISSILES

Britain is in discussions with Ukraine to sell it weapons for the first time amid concerns that Russia could exploit the gas crisis to seize territory. Under the plans, Britain would provide surface-to-surface missiles for Ukrainian patrol boats and missiles for aircraft as the nations increase co-operation after Brexit. The Ministry of Defence is discussing the sale of surface-to-surface maritime Brimstone missiles designed by MBDA UK that can hit “swarms” of targets simultaneously and would be deployed on vessels that the Ukrainian navy has in service. The proposals come amid anxiety in the Ukrainian defence ministry that Russia could try to exploit the gas crisis to seize more of its territory. A Ukrainian diplomat told The Times that any escalation in fighting between Russia and Ukraine would have “unpredictable…

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ТЕНДЕНЦІЇ ПОРУШЕНЬ ПРАВ ЛЮДИНИ В ОКУПОВАНОМУ КРИМУ ЗАЛИШАЮТЬСЯ НЕЗМІННИМИ – ЗВІТ КРЦ ЗА 9 МІСЯЦІВ 2021 РОКУ

У п’ятницю, 22 жовтня, Кримськотатарський Ресурсний Центр представив аналіз порушень прав людини в окупованому Криму за 9 місяців 2021 року. За даними організації, за звітний період російські силовики провели 46 обшуків, 238 затримань/утримань і 238 допитів, опитувань і «бесід». Загальна кількість арештів за 9 місяців поточного року становить 147. Велика частина порушень з боку окупантів припадає на представників корінного кримськотатарського народу. Така практика набула на півострові системний характер. У пресконференції взяли участь Голова Правління Кримськотатарського Ресурсного Центру, голова управління з правових питань та закордонних справ Меджлісу…

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HRYHORIY HALAHAN: UKRAINE IS BECOMING AN EQUAL PARTNER FOR NATO MEMBER STATES

Commander of the Special Operations Forces Hryhoriy Halahan is an outstanding example of a new generation of Ukrainian commanders who took oath in times of Ukraine’s independence and have a qualitatively different mindset. From 2002 to 2014, Hryhoriy Anatoliyovych served at the SSU Center for Special Operations “Alpha” in Simferopol and was one of 10% of Crimean SSU officers who did not betray the oath with the onslaught of the occupation of the peninsula. He survived the Russian-Ukrainian war, was awarded the Order of Courage of the 3rd degree and the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky of the 3rd degree. In August 2020, Hryhoriy Halahan was…

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U.S., UKRAINE AIM TO IMPLEMENT STRATEGIC DEFENSE FRAMEWORK

The US Department of Defense reported on October 19, “Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III met with Ukrainian leaders in the capital city of Kyiv to strengthen ties between the nations and look for ways to implement the Strategic Defense Framework that was signed at the end of August. Austin assured Defense Minister Andriy Taran that U.S. support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty is unwavering. Later in the day, Austin is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The strategic defense framework provides the…

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UKRAINE DEFENSE MINISTER: DON’T COMPARE US TO AFGHANISTAN

Ukraine’s defense minister fired back Tuesday at Russian predictions that the U.S., in light of its rushed exit from Afghanistan, will eventually abandon Ukraine. “I’m not going to compare relations between the U.S. and Ukraine with relations between the U.S. and Afghanistan,” Andriy Taran said. “Ukraine is a country that fights for its own independence and territorial integrity. We have no doubt of the support from our strategic partner.” “The U.S. understands the importance of our fight, the fight of Ukraine for its independence, for the deterrence of Russian aggression,” he added. Taran’s defiant comments came…

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