Us to send ukraine $18 million in food, health, shelter aid

[humble3d]

Us to send ukraine $18 million in food, health, shelter aid

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The United States will supply Ukraine with nearly $18 million in aid to provide shelter, food vouchers, potable water and health and sanitation in regions affected by fighting between government forces and pro-Russia fighters.

The White House says Vice President Joe Biden informed Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko (por-oh-SHEHN'-koh) about the new assistance in a telephone call Monday.

The two men are welcoming efforts by the Organization for Security and Cooperation Europe to seek a permanent ceasefire in areas still experiencing fighting. Both are calling on Russia to abide by earlier agreements and stop moving troops along the Russia-Ukraine border.

The call came as U.S. and Ukraine troops kicked off joint training exercises intended to help bolster Ukraine's defenses against incursions from the Russian-backed separatists in the east.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BIDEN_UKRAINE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-04-20-19-41-22

[dMog]

why are thy called pro-russian when everyone and their dog knows they are russian regular army

[sternog]

Being tired of this bs - everyone? Read and educate yourself on what`s actually going on: http://townhall.com/columnists/ronpaul/2015/04/20/american-double-standards-on-display-in-ukraine-n1987865/page/full

[Gugudoll]

why are thy called pro-russian when everyone and their dog knows they are russian regular army

Yes, you are 100% correct.

Neither terrorists, rebels, nor separatists, but occupation force fights against Ukrainian army

Russians are completely brainwashed by 24/7/365 propaganda... few have true news access and even those with internet chose not to believe in reality! Thank god there are still few intelligent, but they are getting jailed, have to leave country or are killed.

Russia could have been a free and democratic country where rule of law and human rights would be considered sacred. Instead is a gas station on the way to bankruptcy. Putin and his cronies stole and continue to steal and use western banking system to clean the money. It's a kleptocratic regime, a Mafia state.

Russians are like Germany was in 1938, and so is the west. History shows that appeasement policy lead to two world wars.

UkeTube records, interviews, aggregates & shares the best Ukrainian content possible.

[dMog]

putin is doing what the conspiracy nuts THINK democratic leaders have been doing since the beginning of time...and not one of them nut cases will speak up and admit to themselves putin is doing it

[dMog]

actually i can see why Putin wants at least part of the ukraine ...a RUssian military port for a large part of his navy resides there...i do not think anyone would expect him to give that up...but an easily brokered pact would have sufficed rather than him invading with his army (with identifying insignias hastily removed) a few seconds before they crossed the border i might add too

[gipsy]

Being tired of this bs - everyone? Read and educate yourself on what`s actually going on: http://townhall.com/columnists/ronpaul/2015/04/20/american-double-standards-on-display-in-ukraine-n1987865/page/full

maybe u'll try tell me what's goin' on man? especially after Russia brought a salt ! as humanitarian help in Donbass ,but took away some extra valuable factories when convoys went to Russia?

Ukrainians never hate Russians but your fuckin' goverment doin' all for situation will change,thnk about it before answered ,find some brave for don't be a marionette.

[AlexCross]

why are thy called pro-russian when everyone and their dog knows they are russian regular army

Yes, you are 100% correct.

Neither terrorists, rebels, nor separatists, but occupation force fights against Ukrainian army

Russians are completely brainwashed by 24/7/365 propaganda... few have true news access and even those with internet chose not to believe in reality! Thank god there are still few intelligent, but they are getting jailed, have to leave country or are killed.

Russia could have been a free and democratic country where rule of law and human rights would be considered sacred. Instead is a gas station on the way to bankruptcy. Putin and his cronies stole and continue to steal and use western banking system to clean the money. It's a kleptocratic regime, a Mafia state.

Russians are like Germany was in 1938, and so is the west. History shows that appeasement policy lead to two world wars.

UkeTube records, interviews, aggregates & shares the best Ukrainian content possible.

You made my day, since when England or the US are "free countries" to give them as example, when in London you are being monitored by at least 5 cams on every corner, or in the US where cops kill everything that moves :))

Russians are completely brainwashed by 24/7/365 propaganda

I'm not sure about that, thinking about it, what are you doing right now? Saying what you hear/see on the TV. Russia does this and that. So who's brainwashed ?

Thank god there are still few intelligent, but they are getting jailed, have to leave country or are killed.

That's the most stupid thing that I have heard in the last weeks :)

Again people start to talk about this and that just to put out there their personal hatred.

[Gugudoll]

In Memoriam: Boris Nemtsov

Slava Russia, one day will be a free democratic country.

[sternog]

Ukraine is a democratic country itself I guess, this is very democratic

[Gugudoll]

Hundreds of Russian tanks have been supplied in East Ukraine - NATO Official

Mark Laity, Chief Strategic Communications at SHAPE, NATO said taking part in the international conference in Brussels.

The international conference "War in Ukraine: where are we now and where are we going?" organized by the Ukrainian Think Tanks Liaison Office in Brussels in cooperation with the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels on the 23rd April, 2015 took place in Brussels.

The main conclusion of discussion was that we all are together in this war. It's not an internal conflict, it is not a bilateral Russia – Ukraine war, it is an attack on the global security order, which ceased to exist.We should look for the responses to this attack at the national, European and international levels.

The key messages of the conference were: the hybrid war needs the hybrid response; we have to fight together in this war; European and international community should stand with Ukraine in order to defend themselves.

...

War in Ukraine (International conference full video).

Source

[Gugudoll]

Ukraine is a democratic country itself I guess, this is very democratic

Lies: Petro Poroshenko Promised that Children from Donbas would be Sitting in Cellars

Russians are completely brainwashed by 24/7/365 propaganda... few have true news access and even those with internet chose not to believe in reality! Thank god there are still few intelligent, but they are getting jailed, have to leave country or are killed.

It will take time but I hope Russia one day will be a free democratic country.

Slava Russia.

[gipsy]

Ukraine is a democratic country itself I guess, this is very democratic

nice try man.keep tryin'.let's count Olgino ought u some benefits already ;) but next time use full news without a cuts .

[Gugudoll]

Russia in 1839 and 2015: has anything changed?

Russia in 1839 and 2015: has anything changed?

2015/04/28

Article by: Andriy Ljubka

The “dark wasteland of the Russian soul” and its manic desire to conquer world have deep roots. You can verify this by reading the book of the French Marquis de Custine “Russia 1839″.

“This huge empire that suddenly appears in front of me to the east of Europe, that Europe, where society suffers in poverty of each recognized authority – this empire makes an impression on me of a revolt of the dead. I think that I am among the nations of the Old Testament, and I pause in horror mixed with curiosity, before a laboratory of antediluvian monsters,”

wrote the French nobleman in a letter from Russia in 1839. He was prompted to go there by the frustrated proto-democratic republican France, he believed that the absolute power of the empire was better than chatter and democratic debate. So he went with the hope of magic and returned from the Russian Empire with these words:

“Anyone who gets closely acquainted with tsarist Russia will be happy to live in any other country. It is always good to know that there is a state in the world in which happiness is impossible.”

This book (curious readers can find it in different languages ​​on the Internet; in English here) does not lose relevance today. Finally, it should be recognized that each generation opens it for itself, right after its publication it became a bestseller in France, and the Russian censorship just as promptly banned it (notably the Russian government then began a campaign to discredit the Marquis of Custine in Europe, for money, [paid] and through a network of agent’s promotional materials published in the leading European media – all that just like now, right?). Later Herzen [Aleksandr Herzen was a Russian writer and thinker known as the “father of Russian socialism” and one of the main fathers of agrarian populism – translator] wrote of “Russia in 1839″: “Without a doubt, this is the most interesting and brightest book written by a stranger on Russia.”

It was especially relevant to the Ukrainian soul which in its own skin knew the “beauty” of life under the Russian boot. After World War II Dontsov [father of Ukrainian nationalist ideology from Melitopol, south-eastern Ukraine – translator] addressed comments from the Marquis of Custine book in which he often emphasized that the USSR under Stalin and Khrushchev were different from that Imperial Russia described by the Frenchman in name only. After all, it was Custine himself who captured this main characteristic of Russia:

“The Russians have only names, but there is nothing in reality – a country of facades.”

The “Potemkin-ite” essence of the Moscow empire, which was cleverly illustrated for the strangers eyes, was captured by the French traveller in just three months of travel.

Today it is the turn of our generation to open the striking relevance of the Marquis of Custine’s observations. It appears that nothing has changed, so this book can and should be given Ukrainian officials, MPs, military and foreign politicians, Western negotiators and the “useful idiots” of Putin’s regime in the West. Is it not it worth it to read the current opinion, written 175 years ago:

“All I can tell you, is that from the time I was in Russia, I see a black future of Europe. (…) Why is Russia so dependent on feeling itself a severe threat to Europe? To influence European policy? (…) Russia sees in Europe prey that through our [Europe’s – translator] divisions, sooner or later, will be given to the wolves. “

Following Herzen and Dontsov, I must admit that I have not read a book better and wiser about Russia in which would be so subtly captured the essence of the criminal and brutal Russian soul. Every subsequent generation, opens “Russia in 1839″ by the Marquis of Custine for themselves – and can be horrified by the relevance of these travel notes. This book helps eliminate unnecessary illusions and dispels the smokescreen put out on European eyes by the Kremlin propaganda machine – and leads to the conclusion that with a deceitful Russia it makes no sense to agree about anything, you can only win against it and force it to respect our rights.

And finally the Marquis de Custine:

“At the heart of the Moscow people there is disorderly ambition; this ambition knows no bounds, it can only poison a depressed soul, and it is powered by the misfortune of an entire nation. This nation is essentially aggressive and bent due to poverty; in its lowly roots it cherishes a hope to extend tyranny and dominance over others; [the acquisition of] fame and wealth that it hopes will divert its mind from the shame in which it exists, and to wash off its wicked donation (forfeit) of social and personal freedom, the slave on its knees dreams of world domination.”

An observation of Russia from 1839! And nothing to add.

[Gugudoll]

The Pro-Kremlin Youth Group: Putin's Propaganda Machine (Part 1)

Published on Apr 27, 2015

Despite sanctions, a plummeting economy, and isolation from the world as a result of its actions in Ukraine, a wave of patriotic fervor is spreading across Russia. Thousands of Russians have attended rallies in support of President Vladimir Putin, whose popularity ratings remain sky-high, while voices of the opposition are increasingly stifled.

On the streets and in the media, the Kremlin has tightened its grip on power. State-controlled television channels spin facts to bolster the government line, whipping up anti-Western sentiment and paranoia about internal enemies. Independent broadcasters are struggling to make themselves heard as the country grows more dangerous for journalists and popular figures who are critical of the authorities.

In part one of our two-part series, VICE News travels to Siberia to meet Noize MC, the outspoken Russian rapper whose anti-government views have drawn the close attention of the Kremlin, while in Moscow we get inside access to Project Network, a pro-Kremlin youth group dedicated to molding the next generation of Russians in the image of their president.

Controlling the Media: Putin’s Propaganda Machine (Part 2)

Published on Apr 28, 2015

Despite sanctions, a plummeting economy, and isolation from the world as a result of its actions in Ukraine, a wave of patriotic fervor is spreading across Russia. Thousands of Russians have attended rallies in support of President Vladimir Putin, whose popularity ratings remain sky-high, while voices of the opposition are increasingly stifled.

On the streets and in the media, the Kremlin has tightened its grip on power. State-controlled television channels spin facts to bolster the government line, whipping up anti-Western sentiment and paranoia about internal enemies. Independent broadcasters are struggling to make themselves heard as the country grows more dangerous for journalists and popular figures who are critical of the authorities.

In the concluding part of our two-part series, VICE News investigates how the Kremlin uses state-controlled television to manipulate public opinion and whip up anti-Western sentiment, giving rise to a far-right nationalist movement, while narrowing the media landscape, and silencing — sometimes violently — dissenting points of view.

[gipsy]

another "father" of nation ....but some Russian hv poor memory,before him was another "fathers": Lenin,Stalin... & we all know what happened after they died.

"ministry of propaganda"? r u kiddin' me? this word combinationfrom is from nazi Germany (means Goebbels ).what's next?

[Gugudoll]

Putin’s war on truth

"Even to use the expression "civil war" in Ukraine distorts the nature of the conflict"
Anne Applebaum

[Gugudoll]

A Must-Read. John Herbst Speech at JCE Conference: It’s Not Russia Against the West, It’s Reaction Against the Future

Video version

(copy/past it, because time tag doesn't work)

John Herbst served for thirty-one years as a Foreign Service Officer in the US Department of State, retiring at the rank of Career-Minister. For the most of his career he was involved in CIS and Middle East issues. He was a US Ambassador to Ukraine from 2003 to 2006. Currently John Herbst is the Director of Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center of the Atlantic Council, an influential think tank. You can listen to this speech at the JCE Conference Online broadcast, Day 2, Stream 1, 9:29.

I’m going to be speaking at a relatively high level of abstraction. The title for this event is “Is Ukraine going to Europe?” And I think that’s a mistitle. I think the question is “Is Ukraine going towards the future?”

The notion of Ukraine going to Europe as opposed to Ukraine going to Russia is one more example of a rather naïve West accepting the Kremlin terms of the current crisis. Because the values driving Ukraine right now, the values that drove the Euromaidan, are values that are necessary for societies to succeed in the next 20, 30, 100 years. This is not an issue of Russian versus European values. This is an issue of values that will nurture a society that will develop a modern economy and provide a good life for its citizens.

We live in one of those critical turning points in history in terms of socio-economic development. We are (or maybe not so much, but will be in 20-50-100 years from now) in an advanced stage of the information age. We had the Neolithic revolution, the agricultural revolution, after that we had the industrial revolution, and now we have the information age revolution. In the late 19th century and in the early 20th century, the concentration of industries gave an advantage to either totalitarians or authoritarians who wanted to mobilize their society. And you saw these dreadful states emerge – Nazi Germany, various communist states.

The events of the past more than 30 years, the evolution of the computer, the invention of the Internet, now social media – have all produced a very different phenomenon: the individual citizens as opposed to the centers of power are being empowered. And this age more than any other brings home effect that has always been true – the key to progress is unlocking human mind, and unlocking human mind requires letting people alone so that they can develop their talents. And the way you succeed today and for the foreseeable future is by doing precisely that – and at the same time, because they are related – integrating globally.

It is absolutely amazing – the way the Arab spring morphed from this fishmonger in Tunisia setting himself for flame because of corruption – how that moved across the Arab world very quickly. That happened because of the social media.

We may not like the results of it today, but the phenomenon was the result of the way the global society works – the fact that in very poor Africa most people have cellphones, that they now know what’s going on in New York City or in Shanghai. And we’ve faced – or rather we have enjoyed – unprecedented prosperity since the end of the cold war for two big reasons. One I’ve just talked about – the information age, the way the economy has developed, much enhanced global integration. The other was the peace that was established in Europe and Eurasia. The greatest success story economically of the last 20-30 years, and the one that is having the global impact, is the rise of China. And China did not get where it is today by establishing an autarkic economic system. Exactly the opposite.

How does that relate to the topic of today – to the Ukraine-Russia crisis – or more precisely, the crisis of a reactionary Kremlin? It works like this. Civil society in Ukraine which has been a factor since the first days of independence, or the pre-days of independence, has driven this country towards Europe (in a current phrase). But it is really driving this country towards openness, towards empowerment of its citizens. That is precisely the opposite direction that Mr. Putin has been leading Russia for the last ten years. Since he’s not an idiot, he poses this as a question of Russian values versus Western values. But it is really reaction versus the future.

Who was Steve Jobs 30 years ago? No one. He was a kid working in his garage, right? Obviously, a man with mathematical talent. He became Steve Jobs because he lived in a society which let him develop his idea and did not have some police captain take it away from him once he turned it into profit.

The Russian people have produced in the past 50 years a very high percentage (comparatively) of the world’s great mathematicians and scientists. How many Soviet Nobel laureates were there? Why is there no world-class software firm in Russia? Because there are too many police captains and FSB (or KGB) colonels who will take it away from them once it turns into profit. All of that talent has produced world-class hackers – no world-class firms.

And where does this Ukraine-Russia crisis begin? Over the question of whether Ukraine was going to integrate in some fashion with the EU. And what was the Kremlin’s objection? “Well, we really want to have Ukraine in the Eurasian Economic Union”. Which is a dead end for Russia, as it is for every country that would be part of it. China is China because it was able to compete across the global economy. There are no world-class innovators in the Eurasian Economic Union. Russia only has the GDP per capita that it has because of hydrocarbons. Without hydrocarbons its GDP per capita would be less than Ukraine’s. Because talent there is not allowed to develop.

What does this all mean (again, I’m speaking here at a pretty high level of abstraction)? I can’t tell you how this current crisis is going to turn out. I have some ideas but I’m not going to give them to you today. I can tell you this. If Mr. Putin succeeds in Ukraine and he builds his Eurasian Union – he is consigning Russia to oblivion for the next 20 to 40 years. Because that’s the Russia that will not develop and that will ultimately come crashing down. And when it comes crashing down – not because the CIA is devising some plot but because it’s not sustainable, just as the Soviet Union came crashing down – Russians will be freed and Ukrainians will be freed. So ultimately you, Ukrainians, will find yourselves on the path to the future. I suspect you can get there sooner than that, I suspect that the current Kremlin project in Ukraine will fail. But the point is – this is not a civilizational crisis – this is a crisis between reaction that is bound to fail – and the future, where there will be progress.

Last point. Klyuchevskiy said famously: “when Russia marches, the Russian people suffer”. And that’s precisely what is happening today: repression at home, aggression abroad. Mr. Putin’s objectives are (as he said countless times): to change post-cold-war order, to have a Russian sphere of influence – but the Europeans would be against if we try to establish ours in the Latin America (once we had it). You poor Obama for reconciling with Cuba, while at the same time some Europeans say that Putin deserves his own sphere of interests. What type of logic is that?

And Mr. Putin’s objectives go beyond Ukraine. He will ultimately fail because he is piloting an economy which will not be able to sustain his concept of empire. But we could make his life much harder and our own lives much better, starting with Ukrainians, if we hold him now.

Thank you!

Source

[Gugudoll]

Garry Kasparov: "Putin is more dangerous than Hitler"

Interview video link inside ^^.

The successful chess player Garry Kasparov and opponent of Putin warns European leaders for Putin. The Russian leader, he said the first steps to convert to absolute power. "His career tells all about him," said Kasparov. If we look closely at him as we see similarities with how Hitler built up his dictatorship.

Kasparov has been conducting active opposition against Putin. After having been arrested several times, fled from where he now carries his opposition abroad. The policy of the Russian leader has according to him has nothing to do with politics. "Russia is expanding its only agenda because a dictator wants to stay on as long as possible," said Kasparov. He is more dangerous than Hitler potentially considers the Russian activist. "Putin has no boundaries. Every day he stays longer in power, he is dangerous."

Putin is a dictator, no negotiating partner
Kasporov believes that European leaders Putin fighting too much with weakness rather than strength, and that is exactly what you should not do because he believes "a dictator weakness is the best food." What Europe has not, according to him, is that Putin wants to destroy the security of Europe. "It's not about Ukraine. Putin violates all agreements it has signed. In your strategy, you should therefore take into account that Putin is no negotiating partner."

What would be the best strategy of European leaders may be how to deal with Putin? "Putin can only be removed by someone from his own circle, but his power is too strong for now, but between sanctions and war is still a lot of play," said Kasparov. We can draw many lessons from history. The manner in which Churchill, Hitler then tackled according to him a good way. "We need to show him that a dictatorship is not acceptable," said Kasparov. "And we do not buy peace with weakness."

(Google translated)

One of the best/informative interviews by Garry Kasparov. The interview is in English with Dutch subtitles.

[Gugudoll]

NEVER AGAIN? OR OVER AND OVER… Russia celebrates the Victory day
May 10 2015

Yesterday Russia solemnly celebrated the 70th anniversary of the victory in the most horrible and deadliest war in its history. That war took millions of lives, destroyed half of Europe, changed completely the world order and affected everyone’s life and outlook in some way.

The Soviet people called this war ‘The Great Patriotic War,” while to the rest of the world it was World War II. For every Soviet person the war started on June 22, 1941 and ended on May 9, 1945. Our nation preferred to forget about the period of 1939-1941, during Stalin and Hitler’s collaboration, about the Molotov-Ribbentrop Non-Aggression treaty, about the USSR’s war against Finland and the invasion into the Baltic States.

Our nation preferred to celebrate the end of the war one day later than the rest of the world. And our nation preferred to neglect the contribution of the Allies to the war attributing the victory mostly to ourselves. Who cares about the American lend-lease program to the Soviet Union? Why discuss how the Soviet troops behaved on the liberated territories? Could the Soviet Union have avoided so many losses if the strategy had been smarter, if the Soviet leadership hadn’t committed so many errors (and crimes!) at the cost of people’s lives and if the country had been better prepared for the war?

However, the war was “sacred.” There was no debate regarding the role of the Soviet Union in the war. We were the nation-liberator. That war and our victory were the key elements of our nation’s self-consciousness and self-identification. Everybody could relate to it, be proud of that part of our history forgetting all black pages in it. Our victory in that war was an undeniable value unifying all of us. Even when the Soviet Union collapsed, the war and our victory remained the only unchangeable concepts in our consciousness and discourse. Victory Day was and is the most popular holiday, which could unify the entire nation: all ethnicities, all ages, all religions, and all political views.

While all other Soviet values vanished with the Soviet Union, it was very natural for the new Soviet-style dictator, Vladimir Putin, to use Victory Day to his favor. His regime and constant propaganda has conducted a laser surgery on the nation substituting a righteous national pride by twisting it into an ugly and threatening militaristic and pseudo patriotic frenzy.

The Russian people, as a nation, haven’t reconciled our past, haven’t analyzed our mistakes, violations and crimes, and haven’t ask for forgiveness and redemption. We painted the truth with many colors turning it into a half-truth and then to a complete lie. We are still outraged with the Baltic countries for their museums of occupations. Our overwhelming majority of people believe only the Soviets won the war and liberated Europe. We completely forgot about our Afghan war, and not speaking about Soviet tanks in Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

How can we move forward to the future as a nation without deep reflection of our past, without reconciliation with it and paying the price for our wrong doings? Well, our present responds to this question. What do we have? The war against Georgia in 2008, the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the war against Ukraine in 2014-2015.

If Victory Day taught us anything, it taught us about the great sacrifice of a nation and the horrors of war. That we are now facing several wars and threats of others shouldn’t be celebrated, but should be met with the knowledge that the new Putin adventurism will come with the loss of life and prosperity. Is Russia ready for this? Do the Russian people understand what path they are be led down, or do they only believe wearing a black and orange ribbon is the extent of their patriotism?

Nevertheless, we should remember the war, our role in the victory, mourn those who died for our better future and esteem our veterans. It was a great idea to organize a march of the “Immortal Regiment.” The initiative came from a Siberian region and it’s very genuine and touching. It’s great we still have a holiday unifying the nation. It’s terrible that Putin’s government imposes myphologemes of the Soviet period and revives Stalin’s veneration. It’s great that veterans whom we are rapidly losing every year feel respected and honored yesterday. It’s wrong they are being remembered only on a Victory Day and before the elections. It’s great that the Victory anniversary was organized in such a grand style. It’s sad the Kremlin spends more money on military expenses and parades and holidays than on pensions for our veterans and their healthcare.

Victory Day is a day of honoring our veterans. It’s not a day of shaking Russia’s military muscle. “My dear, if only there was no war,” says a popular song. Let’s remember that war, learn from our history and live in a peace. Never again!

Source

[Gugudoll]

Learning Military and Intelligence Lessons: Past and Current International Mistakes Featured

Sunday, 03 May 2015 23:05

Today the world faces a deeply corrupt Russian state where state control of the media is almost total, where control of major financial and resource assets resides almost exclusively close 'friends' many of whom have have KGB or St Petersburg connections (or both) going some way back, where increasingly neo nationalism is encouraged by the State up to a form of cult worship of the new 'Great Leader', a state which is not concerned with any former international agreements it's predecessors may have the signed - the Budapest Memorandum, Helsinki Accords and even the United Nations founding charter are clearly regarded as non binding. A Russian state increasingly is hurtling back to it's past. So tell me: was the Cold War won?

...

Source

[humble3d]

Oh! Well

If world leaders prefer proxy wars over nuclear annihilation,

I guess, as usual, there WILL be winners and losers... :rolleyes:

[Ballistic Gelatin]

Just give John Kerry (U.S. Secretary of State) a one-way ticket to Moscow. Putin can have him.

[Gugudoll]

Boris Nemtsov allies release report on Russian troops in Ukraine

Fellow opposition figures unveil 65-page document based on work started by the Kremlin critic before he was killed in February

Ilya Yashin holds a report based on work carried out by Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov before he was killed.

Photograph: Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

Colleagues of Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov have released a report on Russian soldiers secretly fighting in Ukraine that he had worked on before he was killed in February.

The 65-page report – called Putin. War – details the takeover of Crimea by Russian troops in February 2014 and their subsequent deployment to aid separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine. According to the publication, at least 150 Russian soldiers were killed there in August and at least 70 soldiers were killed helping pro-Russia rebels take the strategic town of Debaltseve in February. Low-level fighting has continued in the region despite a February ceasefire.

The real casualties are likely to be higher, but these numbers were the only dead the report’s authors could confirm, Nemtsov’s friend and fellow activist Ilya Yashin said after a press conference presenting the report.

“We want people to start asking questions of the politicians representing them,” Yashin said. “We want to change public opinion.”

...

Source

[Gugudoll]

Timothy Snyder, Monday, March 9, 2015

Published on May 5, 2015

Russia and Ukraine, War and History

Timothy Snyder is the Housum Professor of History at Yale University and a permanent fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences. He received his doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1997, where he was a British Marshall Scholar. Before joining the faculty at Yale in 2001, he held fellowships in Paris, Vienna, and Warsaw, and an Academy Scholarship at Harvard.

Among his many publications are several award-winning books, all of which have been translated into other languages. His recent book, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin (2010) examines the history of Nazi and Soviet mass killing on the lands between Berlin and Moscow and has won 12 cross-disciplinary awards including the Emerson Prize in the Humanities, a Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Leipzig Award for European Understanding, and the Hannah Arendt Prize in Political Thought. Bloodlands has been translated into more than thirty languages and was a bestseller in six countries.

Snyder is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Modern European History and East European Politics and Societies. His scholarly articles have appeared in many journals and he writes frequently for major publications around the world including Foreign Affairs, The Nation, and The New Republic.

He is a member of the Committee on Conscience of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and sits on the advisory councils of the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research and other organizations.

Professor Snyder's talk is sponsored by the Center of Human Rights and the Keck Center for Strategic and International Studies.