Tag Archives: Vladimir Putin

How Zelenskyy emerged as the antithesis of Putin and proved you don’t need to be a strongman to be a great leader

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been lauded for his resistance to the Russian invasion.
Photo by Laurent Van der Stockt for Le Monde/Getty Images

Michael Blake, University of Washington

Whatever happens in the coming weeks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will go down as the face of Ukrainian resilience during the Russian invasion of his country.

His response to the Russian invasion of his country has been widely praised, both at home and abroad. His speech to the European Parliament in early March received a standing ovation. Western press outlets have referred to him as a “hero,” as the “voice” of his nation, and as a “focal point” for democratic resistance to tyranny. Continue reading →

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Media Networks Suspend Reporting in Russia Over Censorship Law

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The Russian government also blocked access to Facebook, which RSF called the “Kremlin’s latest move to isolate the population from uncontrolled sources of information.”

By Jessica Corbett.  Published 3-4-2022 by Common Dreams

Photo:Anonymous Operations/Twitter

International media companies and journalists around the world on Friday sharply condemned a new Russian law that effectively criminalizes critical reporting of the war on Ukraine, with some outlets even suspending broadcasts or reporters’ work across Russia.

Amid global outrage over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin also blocked access to Facebook on Friday, which was met with intense criticism. The moves come ahead of anti-war protests planned on multiple continents this weekend. Continue reading →

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A letter to the Western Left from Kyiv

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The ‘anti-imperialism of idiots’ meant people turned a blind eye to Russia’s actions

By Taras Bilous.  Published 2-26-2022 by openDemocracy

Photo: Shivam Bangwal/Twitter

I am writing these lines in Kyiv while it is under artillery attack.

Until the last minute, I had hoped that Russian troops wouldn’t launch a full-scale invasion. Now, I can only thank those who leaked the information to the US intelligence services.

Yesterday, I spent half the day considering whether I ought to join a territorial defence unit. During the night that followed, the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed a full mobilisation order and Russian troops moved in and prepared to encircle Kyiv, which made the decision for me. Continue reading →

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Ukraine Officials Warn Chernobyl Radiation Levels ‘Exceeded’

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Experts attribute the increased radiation levels to the Russian military’s current assault on Ukraine.

By Kenny Stancil  Published 2-25-2022 by Common Dreams

Chernobyl Reactor #4 and memorial. Photo: calflier001/Wikimedia Commons/CC

The Ukrainian government warned Friday that radiation near the Chernoybl nuclear power plant has “exceeded” control levels, a day after the Russian military took control of the area during its ongoing invasion, which has reached the capital of Kyiv.

The State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine said that local experts attribute the increased gamma radiation dose rate to the “disturbance of the top layer of soil from [the] movement of a large number of radio heavy military machinery through the Exclusion zone and increase of air pollution.” Continue reading →

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Over 1,000 Russians Arrested for Protesting Putin’s Ukraine Invasion

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“This is an unprecedented atrocity, for which there is no and cannot be any justification,” said nearly 200 officials from cities across Russia.

By Jessica Corbett.  Published 2-24-2022 by Common Dreams

“Russia, don’t touch Ukraine!!” Photo: Хуёвый Питер/Twitter

Critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s long-awaited invasion of Ukraine on Thursday joined open letters and took to Russia’s streets to protest the ongoing air and ground assault—resulting in more than 1,000 arrests.

The protests within and beyond Russia came as Moscow claimed Russian strikes took out at least “74 ground facilities of Ukraine’s military infrastructure.”

“Nothing good will come out of this,” a 36-year-old computer programmer, Dmitry, told The Moscow Times in the Russian capital. “We don’t need war, we need to be able to come to agreements.” Continue reading →

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US and Russian Physicians Warn War in Ukraine Risks Global Nuclear ‘Catastrophe’

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“No matter the genesis, the cause, or who started what, the reality remains that there are 15 operating nuclear reactors in Ukraine that, if conflict breaks out there, could be in peril.”

By Jake Johnson.  Published 2-23-2022 by Common Dreams

Sign for Pripyat Town with Radiation Warning – Chernobyl Exclusion Zone – Northern Ukraine Photo: Adam Jones/flickr/CC

A renowned organization comprised of U.S. and Russian physicians warned late Tuesday that a military conflict involving the two powers in Ukraine risks a nuclear “catastrophe” that could have horrific effects on all of Europe—and potentially the entire planet.

In a new statement, nuclear energy specialists joined members of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW)—a coalition of medical groups that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985 for its non-proliferation work—in noting that while Ukraine does not possess nuclear weapons, it does maintain more than a dozen nuclear power reactors that could be in the line of fire should the current situation descend into all-out war. Continue reading →

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Putin is about to start the most senseless war in history

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A view from Russia: no sanctions will stop Moscow, and its actions will drive more countries into NATO’s arms

By Greg Yudin  Puvlished 2-22-2022 by openDemocracy

Vladimir_Putin. Photo: Kremlin/CC

In the near future, a big war will begin – a war that we have not seen in the lifetime of my generation, and perhaps the previous generation too.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, last night formally recognised the separatist ‘People’s Republics’ in Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as independent territories. Now, he has ordered so-called ‘peacekeeping forces’ into the Donbas region.

Meanwhile, on the borders of Ukraine, Russia has gathered an army of 75% of all available forces. Belarus has officially confirmed that, following extensive exercises, Russian troops are not leaving Belarus. A few kilometres from Ukraine, tanks sit in Russian forests and fields – as can be seen in videos filmed in Russia’s Belgorod, Kursk and Bryansk regions, as well as in Belarus’ Homyel region. This military force is fully prepared for a large-scale operation – and is already in position to attack. Continue reading →

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The Cold War, modern Ukraine and the spread of democracy in the former Soviet bloc countries

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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Alexei Druzhinin / Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images

Michael De Groot, Indiana University

As Russia masses forces and equipment on Ukraine’s border, international tensions over a possible invasion intensify almost daily. Ukraine has emerged as ground zero of what some pundits have dubbed a new Cold War between Russia and the West.

In my view as a Cold War historian, this comparison distorts the Cold War and misrepresents the stakes of the current crisis.

Yet reviewing the Cold War is important because its legacy shapes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s policy toward Ukraine. Continue reading →

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What would Western sanctions mean for Russia?

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The unprecedented measures proposed by the US, the EU and the UK could create chaos in Russia’s economy and impoverish its population

By Isobel Koshiw.  Published 2-8-2022 by openDemocracy

Russian President Vladimir Putin Photo:: Kremlin.ru

Proposed Western sanctions could almost cut Russia out of the global financial system, creating chaos for the Russian economy and impoverishing ordinary Russians, experts have warned.

The measures threatened by the US, the EU and the UK if Russia incurs further into Ukraine would be unprecedented. Previous countries that have faced similar sanctions – such as North Korea and Iran – were peripheral to the global markets in comparison to Russia. Continue reading →

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Trouble on the Belarus-Poland border: What you need to know about the migrant crisis manufactured by Belarus’ leader

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Hopes for a better future?
Maxim Guchek/BELTA/AFP via Getty Images

Tatsiana Kulakevich, University of South Florida

Using migrants as pawns is perhaps nothing new. But rarely do you have a situation in which one country encourages a migrant crisis on its own border for nakedly geopolitical reasons.

That is what appears to be happening at the Poland-Belarus border, where violence has broken out between Polish border guards and Middle Eastern migrants who traveled there via Belarus, and who are set on reaching the European Union. Meanwhile, there is growing concern over those camped out in freezing conditions. Continue reading →

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