Moscow intends to close parts of the Black Sea to foreign military and official ships for six months Such a move could affect access to Ukrainian ports in the Sea of Azov, which is connected to the Black Sea through the Kerch Strait, on the eastern tip of the Crimean peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014 The naval blockade comes

Caught on the frontline between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists, Marinka is a town forgotten by the world. Oksana Grytsenko Marinka, Ukraine Sun 18 Apr 2021 18.16 BST Vera Basova stands by her house holding a local newspaper. The front page headline says Russia is bringing tanks to the eastern Ukrainian border. “What do they want from us? Why are they dragging those

PAUL MIRENGOF. April 17. 2021 As I contended here, when it came to Russia, Donald Trump spoke softly but carried a stick. He didn’t attack Vladimir Putin personally, but he punished Russian misconduct to some extent and took meaningful measures to thwart Russian expansionism. So far, Joe Biden has adopted the opposite approach. He calls Putin “a killer,” but does not

UkraineAlert by Brian Whitmore It turns out that Russia isn’t the only country massing troops on Ukraine’s border. In addition to the large Russian buildup that has gotten the world’s attention in recent weeks, reports surfaced earlier this month that Belarus was also deploying forces and military hardware to its Ukrainian frontier in a manner that appears to be coordinated with Moscow’s actions. Julian

Prescient article from September 25, 2020. Ukraine—and the world—cannot afford another reset with Moscow ARIANA GIC, HANNA HOPKO and ROMAN SOHN Last month, Politico Magazine published an open letter calling for a rethinking of U.S. foreign policy toward Russia, and the letter inspired multiple responses. The relationship between the United States and Russia has direct consequences for countries dealing daily

Russia’s military buildup is a test of western resolve and Ukraine has suffered enough from territorial aggressions by its neighbour 14 April 2021 The motive for Russia’s military buildup on the border with Ukraine is unclear, but opacity is the point. Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy is meant to defy and confound international onlookers. Ordinary Russians have nothing to gain from

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky visits positions of armed forces near the frontline with Russian-backed separatists in Donbass region, Ukraine, on April 9, 2021. Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Reuters BY SIMON SHUSTER / SHUMY, UKRAINE APRIL 12, 2021 2:48 PM EDT “They want us to be afraid,” Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, says as his plane starts to descend, bringing him home from

April 12, 2021 We don’t understand Russia’s words, or counter its deeds. What is Vladimir Putin up to? That is the question burning a hole in the desks of decision-makers in Berlin, Brussels, London, Washington, DC, and elsewhere. Is the military build-up in southern Russia and occupied Ukrainian territories the prelude to war? Is it designed to intimidate the authorities

The West must be mindful that this standoff could easily morph into a full-blown conflict. 13 April 2021 The deployment of Russian forces along the border with Ukraine is causing deep concern in the capital Kiev but should also trigger alarm bells across Europe. More than 80,000 Russian troops have amassed close to the frontier – a number almost as great as

April 12, 2021 Poland is constantly working towards strengthening the EU sanctions regime against Russia over its aggressive policy in Ukraine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland informs. The Ministry’s statement says that Russia’s confrontational policy, traditionally backed by demonstrative military movements and provocative military exercises, as well as large-scale and aggressive disinformation policy, “is particularly evident in

Then-Vice President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2011. (AP) By Rick Gates, 09 April 2021 Russia’s position on the U.S. is clear. Biden is weak, compromised and can be exploited. Since Biden’s inauguration, Putin has set in motion a series of events that are aggressively testing Biden’s foreign policy leadership. Over the last several weeks Russian has maneuvered

Tim Ogden & Vazha Tavberidze. April 7, 2021 Even with Alexei Navalny imprisoned, Russia’s opposition continues to struggle against Vladimir Putin and his quarter-century of Kremlin rule. This already daunting task has been made harder by the fact that key figures are now imprisoned or in exile: the opposition leader’s principal aides Vladimir Ashrukov and Leonid Volkov have fled to

By Egbert Spang. April 7. 2021 Since imperial times, Russia has been run by a few hundred families: the ‘Siloviki’. They control most of the wealth via a system of cronyism. This system requires the cooperation of civilised democratic countries. These people send their children to school in London, Florida, Switzerland etc. They own multiple $billions worth of property, investment

6 April 2021 In the current murderous escalation in the Donbas that has been cynically inflicted by Russia, mainstream media worldwide have been yet again acting wittingly or unwittingly as components of the kremlin war machine; constantly referring to Russian occupiers as ‘rebels’, ‘pro-Russian forces’, ‘militants’, ‘proxies’, ‘separatists’ etc, when they are no such thing. As Glasnost Gone points out

SUN, APR 4, 2021 UkraineAlert by Peter Dickinson A Russian soldier pictured during the 2014 military takeover of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula. In recent weeks, a major Russian military build-up in occupied Crimea and close to the border with eastern Ukraine has sparked fears of a possible imminent escalation in the seven-year conflict between the two countries. (REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov) Russia has

‘This crisis has the potential to escalate into a pan-European or world war’ By Will Stewart for MailOnline 03 Apr 2021 Military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer warned events could see ‘war in a month’ Footage shows dozens of Russian tanks deployed to disputed Donbass region Felgenhauer said it requires a ‘psychoanalyst’ to determine Russia’s intentions A European or even World War could

Zelensky on Russian troops near border: Ukraine is ready for any provocations 02.04.2021 President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the so-called “muscle-flexing” in the format of military exercises and possible provocations along the border is a traditional affair of the Russian Federation, which is trying to create an atmosphere of threat and pressure during the peace talks. The head of

Fast Thinking by Atlantic Council Related Experts: Melinda Haring,Alexander Vershbow, John E. Herbst JUST IN Russia is massing military forces on its border with Ukraine and in Crimea, sparking fears of renewed aggression and leading to US President Joe Biden’s first direct phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Moscow is even warning NATO to not deploy troops should the conflict escalate. Seven years after Russia first invaded

UkraineAlert by Peter Dickinson. April 1 2021 Russian President Vladimir Putin pictured during his end-of-year news conference in Moscow. December 17, 2020. (REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov) The headline read like a Moscow propagandist’s dream. “Kremlin says fears Ukrainian side could restart civil war in eastern Ukraine,” it declared. Here were all the key elements of the disinformation narrative underpinning Russia’s seven-year campaign of aggression

The incredible story of Maria Butina: part one: https://youtu.be/MR2itGbzGUA

March 31. 2021 On 25 February, Antoni Macierewicz, the head of the Committee for the Re-Investigation of the Smolensk Plane Crash, former Polish defence minister and incumbent MP, made a statement at the Polish Sejm, saying that the government plane crashed as a result of the detonation of an explosive device. Macierewicz pointed out: “The main thesis, or rather the

Opinion by Vladimir Kara-MurzaGlobal Opinions contributorMarch 30, 2021 at 9:06 p.m. GMT+3 There are many ways to kill an opponent. Sometimes it’s done out in the open, for the whole world to see — as happened with Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, who was gunned down in plain sight of the Kremlin by an Interior Ministry officer. Often it’s done with techniques

March 30. 2021 EPA/Scanpix Troops of self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) attend military exercises near Russian proxy controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine, in August 2020. On 28 January, at the forum ‘Russian Donbas’ convened by the DPR leadership, Margarita Simonyan, Chief Editor of the Russian state TV channel Russia Today, announced: ‘The people of Donbas want to live in their

By Ross Clark. March 31. 2021 Should we believe the World Health Organisation report into the origins of the Sars-CoV-2 virus which, as expected, dismissed the possibility of a laboratory accident and promoted the theory that the virus was imported from overseas via frozen foods? The first thing to note is that the report does not claim to be independent

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at a news conference with the European Council chief in Kyiv on March 3. (Sergey Dolzhenko/Pool/Reuters)By David L. SternMarch 29, 2021 at 4:00 a.m. EDT By David L. SternMarch 29, 2021 at 4:00 a.m. EDT KYIV — The word of the moment in Ukrainian politics is “de-oliharkhizatsia” or de-oligarchization: a renewal of the long-held goal — and